The Bribery Act 2010—an introductory guide


Produced in partnership with Joanne Kane of Serjeants' Inn
Practice notes

The Bribery Act 2010—an introductory guide


Produced in partnership with Joanne Kane of Serjeants' Inn

Practice notes
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The Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) was passed to ensure the UK’s compliance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and came into force on 1 July 2011. It was 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. For detailed guidance on historic anti-corruption law, see Practice Notes: Corruption and common law bribery—pre-Bribery Act 2010 [Archived], Pre BA 2010 bribery and corruption—Practicalities [Archived] and Pre-Bribery Act 2010 corruption—sentence tracker [Archived].

BA 2010 has major implications for any business that is incorporated or trades in the UK. It applies to bribery committed by it, or on its behalf, anywhere in the world.

Offences under the Bribery Act 2010

BA 2010 criminalises four distinct types of conduct (offences):

  1. •

    bribing another person

  2. •

    soliciting or accepting a bribe

  3. •

    bribing a foreign public official, and

  4. •

    (for a business only) failing

Joanne Kane
Joanne Kane

Barrister, Serjeants' Inn

Joanne has a wide-ranging defence practice in criminal law. She has a particular interest in fraud and financial crime. Joanne is a committee member of the Young Barristers' Committee and the Female Fraud Forum.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Bribery definition
What does Bribery mean?

The Bribery Act 2010 consolidated and reformed the law on bribery.

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