Prevention of Corruption Act 1906

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Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 [1]
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, variant 1).svg
Long title An Act for the better Prevention of Corruption.
Citation 6 Edw.7 c.34
Territorial extent  England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
Dates
Royal assent 4 August 1906
Commencement 1 January 1907
Repealed1 July 2011
Other legislation
Repealed by Bribery Act 2010 (UK)
Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018 (Ireland)
Status: Repealed
Text of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 (6 Edw.7 c.34) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it was then). It was the second of three pieces of legislation regarding corruption which after 1916 were collectively referred to as the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 1916. [2] [3] It was repealed by the Bribery Act 2010.

Contents

Section 1 made it an offence (formerly classified as a misdemeanour) subject to imprisonment up to 7 years:

The 2017-19 prosecutions of Peter Chapman, [4] and of Alstom [5] and its company officers for conspiracy to corrupt in Lithuania may have been the last prosecutions for this offence. [6]

Agent and principal

An "agent" includes any person employed by or acting for another, and a "principal" includes an employer. [7]

The "principal" is the person the agent is employed by or acting for. [8]

Anyone working for the government counts as an agent. [9]

A prosecution in England and Wales for an offence under this Act could not be instituted without the consent of the Attorney-General, [10] who could discontinue an investigation that was working towards a prosecution under the Act.

See also

References

  1. This short title was conferred by section 4(1).
  2. UK Legislation, Prevention of Corruption Act 1916, section 4(1), as enacted, accessed 1 April 2021
  3. Pinto QC, Amanda; Evans QC, Martin (2021). Corporate Criminal Liability. London: Sweet & Maxwell. pp. 12–018. ISBN   978-0-414-07528-3. OCLC   1130762863.
  4. R v Chapman [2017] EWCA Crim 557 (31 March 2017), Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
  5. R v Alstom Network UK Ltd [2019] EWCA Crim 1318 (23 July 2019), Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
  6. R v Wikstrom [2018] EWCA Crim 1155 , Court of Appeal (England and Wales)R v Reynolds [2019] EWCA Crim 2145 , Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
  7. The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, section 1(2)
  8. s.1(2)
  9. s.1(3)
  10. s.2(1)