Are British corruption laws up to scratch?
The former US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once famously said that although he might not be able to define pornography, “I know it when I see it.” The same might be said for the definition of “corruption” under laws applicable in the United Kingdom. The principal statutory corruption offences applicable in the UK are contained in the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 1916. These statutes, aimed at bribery of public officials and of agents (whether in the public or private sector), broadly prohibit “corruptly” giving an advantage as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do something relating to a public body, or to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to the affairs or business of an agent’s principal. Although the corruption statutes prohibit such acts that are done corruptly, they do not define that term. The Law Commission in its 1998 report noted that judicial interpretations of the meaning of the word “are in ‘impressive disarray’”. It is wide
