The Ministry of Justice has indicated that the Bribery Act 2010
will not be implemented in April this year, as previously expected,
but will instead come into effect three months after publication of
the Government's final guidance on putting in place
"adequate procedures" for the purpose of the defence to
the corporate offence.
Following a consultation on the draft guidance that ended in
November last year (see our previous
Law-Now), the final guidance was expected to be published in
January 2011, in time to allow businesses to review their policies
and procedures before April, when the offences were due to take
effect. However, the Ministry of Justice ("MoJ")
has now confirmed that there will be a delay in publishing this
guidance and, as a result, there will be a three month delay before
the offences created by the Act come into force. According to
a spokesman for the MoJ quoted by the Financial Times:
"We are working on the guidance to make it practical and
comprehensive for business. When the guidance is published it will
be followed by a three-month notice period before implementation of
the Bribery Act."
Comment
Despite the uncertainties created by this announcement, it is
highly unlikely that the text of the Bribery Act (which has been
the subject of much debate in Parliament) will change. The
announced delay is in fact consistent with the Government's
previous indications that they would give businesses a three month
period to prepare for the offences after the guidance was
published. It is unfortunate, however, that the guidance is
itself delayed and that no revised time for publication has been
provided. It is hoped that the MoJ will use this additional
period to take account of the feedback from stakeholders during the
consultation and provide businesses with firmer, more practical
guidance on the key issues arising under the Act.
Click here to view the draft guidance on
the MoJ's website.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 01/02/2011.