Bribery and modern slavery

In this subtopic, we examine the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) and its impact on the way commercial organisations must conduct themselves. The BA 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. It is substantially broader than previous anti-corruption legislation. The BA 2010 applies to any commercial organisation that is incorporated or trades in the UK. It covers bribery committed by the organisation, or on its behalf, in the UK and, crucially for many commercial organisations, anywhere else in the world (ie the BA 2010 has extraterritorial effect).

This subtopic also contains content relating to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015)—MSA 2015 is aimed at eliminating modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.

Bribery Act 2010

The BA 2010 is designed to provide an effective legal framework to tackle corruption in both the public and private sectors, modernising the UK’s anti-corruption legislation and replacing the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889–1916.

The BA 2010 created four offences:

•
bribing another person (BA 2010, s 1)

•
soliciting or accepting a bribe (BA 2010, s 2)

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