Jennifer Craven reports on new guidance on contentious provisions in the Bribery Act relating to extraterritoriality
The government’s latest guidance on the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) seeks partly to clarify the controversial provisions relating to extra-territoriality, which had previously been largely overlooked. Section 7 (5) governs the failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery.
It states:
(1) A relevant commercial organisation (C) is guilty of an offence under this section if a person (A) associated with C bribes another person intending—
(a) to obtain or retain business for C, or
(b) to obtain or retain an advantage in the conduct of business for C.
A relevant commercial organisation is defined as:
(a) a body which is incorporated under the law of any part of the United Kingdom and which carries on a business (whether there or elsewhere),
(b) any other body corporate (wherever incorporated) which carries on a business, or part of a business, in any part of the United Kingdom,
(c) a partnership which is formed under the law of any part of the
