Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Bribery definition

What does Bribery mean? Bribery describes the offering, promising, giving, requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting a financial or other advantage to induce or reward the improper performance of a function or to influence a person in a position of trust. In England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, bribery is principally governed by the Bribery Act 2010, which consolidated and reformed the law. It creates offences of active and passive bribery (sections 1–2), bribery of a foreign public official (section 6), and the corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by associated persons (section 7), with a statutory defence of having adequate procedures....

Bribery Act 2010, section 7: Failure to Prevent Bribery—Corporate Liability, Adequate Procedures Defence, MoJ/SFO Guidance, Self‑Reporting, Sentencing, DPAs and Investigations

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

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This Practice Note outlines the corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent Bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010). It was the first economic crime offence to attach culpability to a company’s failure to stop an offence carried out on its behalf. See Practice Note: Corporate criminal liability. For background on the evolution of corporate criminal liability, see Practice Note: Corporate criminal liability reform—tracker.

Corporate criminal liability for bribery—section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010

The failing to prevent bribery offence applies only to relevant commercial organisations (RCOs), not to individuals. BA 2010 defines RCOs as:

bodies incorporated, or partnerships formed, under the law of any part of the UK, that conduct business anywhere, i.e. within the UK or abroad
bodies incorporated, or partnerships formed, anywhere that carry on any business in the UK

Business includes a trade or profession. An RCO commits the offence of failing to prevent bribery if a person associated with it bribes another with the intention of obtaining or retaining business, or a business advantage, for the RCO...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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