Reforming Bribery Report

LAWCom No 313

Law Commission Report No 313 on Reforming Bribery was laid before Parliament and ordered to be printed by the House of Commons on 19th November 2008. On 20th November 2008 the Law Commission published their report and made recommendations for reform of the law in this area. Law Commission's Reforming Bribery report

Lord Woolf commented on the proposals of the commission, stating that

"although the proposals still have to be reduced to their final form, it is already clear that these amendments would result in a much needed improvement to our law and would redress the criticisms that have been made of our existing law by commentators from home or abroad. The new law should be much easier to enforce and while requiring higher standards of conduct is still perfectly fair. Those who conduct their business ethically should not fall foul of the proposed law, while those who seek to hide their dishonest conduct by the use of third parties should not be able to do so."

Jack Straw said that he was "grateful to the Law Commission for undertaking their thorough review." He also stated that "our current law is old, complex and fragmented, as the OECD also recently pointed out, and the government is committed to improving it."