Warning over lax laws on bribery

IRISH-BASED companies involved in bribery and corruption are unlikely to be prosecuted because our laws create huge barriers to establishing corporate criminal liability, a key report warns.

The latest report from the OECD Working Group on Bribery said there have been improvements, but the Government must expand corporate liability for acts of foreign bribery and do so urgently.

“Currently the prosecution and conviction of companies for corrupt activities appears unlikely due to the very high barriers required to establish corporate criminal liability”, it said.

It also found that the laws on foreign bribery are covered by two different laws that are not consistent, and as a result could prevent offences being effectively prosecuted.

“Ireland should act at the first opportunity to consolidate the corruption offences into a single piece of legislation,” it advises.

The report said the Government needs to urgently amend the lax legislation on foreign bribery.

The UN estimates that 15% of all companies in the developed world bribe or make under-the-counter payments to do business in other countries, especially in the less developed world.

Transparency International says that such practices help keep countries poor as money goes into private pockets.

“Every society is as corrupt as its institutions and practices allows,” it says, emphasising the need for comprehensive legislation.

The Paris-based OECD reviewed Ireland’s enforcement of the Anti-Bribery Convention after its last report found the country had not met its obligations.

The report praised efforts to raise awareness of the foreign bribery offence within the Irish public and private sector and welcomed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008 currently making its way through the system.

This will allow for Irish nationals to be prosecuted for acts of bribery committed abroad, and to protect whistleblowers.

This was the second time the examiners came to Dublin to evaluate the country’s response to the Convention. The high-level examiners first visited 14 months ago.

Yesterday’s report was welcomed by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.