Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889

Last updated

Public Bodies Corrupt Practice Act 1889 [1]
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Variant 1, 2022).svg
Long title An Act for the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of Bribery and Corruption of and by Members, Officers, or Servants of Corporations, Councils, Boards, Commissions, or other Public Bodies.
Citation 52 & 53 Vict. c. 69
Territorial extent  England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
Dates
Royal assent 30 August 1889
Repealed1 July 2011
Other legislation
Repealed by Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Bribery Act 2010 (UK)
Flag of Ireland.svg Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018 (Ireland)
Status: Repealed
Text of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 69) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it was then). It was one of the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 1916, a collective title adopted in 1916.

Contents

The act made the active or passive bribery of a member, officer or servant of a public body a criminal offence.

Specifically, the act prohibited a person covered by the act, whether by himself, or in conjunction with any other person, from corruptly soliciting or receiving, or agreeing to receive, for himself, or any other person, any gift, loan, fee, reward or advantage whatever as an inducement to, or reward for, doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction whatsoever, actual or proposed, in which the public body is concerned. A person may also not corruptly promise, or offer, any gift, loan, fee, reward, or advantage whatsoever, to any person, whether for the benefit of that person, or of another person, as an inducement to or reward for doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction whatsoever, actual or proposed; in which the public body is concerned.

Offences under the act required the consent of the attorney general to proceed with a prosecution. In relation to offences created by the act, the burden of proof was on the defendant to show (on the balance of probabilities) that the money, gift, or other consideration was not received corruptly.

In March 2006, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that, following complaints by the Scottish National Party and others, they were investigating possible breaches of the act. A total of £14 million in loans was given by wealthy individuals to Labour during the 2005 general election campaign and four of these men were subsequently nominated for Life Peerages. (See main article Cash for Peerages.)

Section 3 was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the entire act was repealed by the coming into force of the Bribery Act 2010.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political corruption</span> Use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain

Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bribery</span> Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action

Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action." Gifts of money or other items of value that are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, are not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost of electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, formally introduced into Parliament on 19 November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September. It received royal assent and came into force on 14 December 2001. Many of its measures are not specifically related to terrorism, and a Parliamentary committee was critical of the swift timetable for such a long bill including non-emergency measures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Corrupt Practices Act</span> United States federal law

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau</span> Independent agency of the government of Singapore

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) is an independent agency of the Government of Singapore responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible serious or complex fraud and corruption in Singapore. The CPIB has the mandate to investigate into any acts or forms of corruption in the public and private sectors in Singapore, and in the course of doing so, any other offences under any written law, with the powers of arrest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offences Against the Person Act 1861</span> UK criminal statute

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier Consolidation Act, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828, incorporating subsequent statutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrupt practices</span>

Corrupt practices in English election law includes bribery, treating, undue influence, personation, and aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring personation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrupt Practices Act 1695</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Corrupt Practices Act 1695 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1696, the long title of which is "An Act for preventing Charge and Expence in Elections of Members to serve in Parliament." It was intended to counter bribery of the electorate at parliamentary elections, and it established that no candidate was to make any "Gift Reward or Entertainment" to a particular person, or a place in general, in order to be elected to serve in Parliament. This included acts by the candidate themselves, on their behalf, or at their expense, and both direct or indirect activity. Any person found guilty of engaging in, promising, or allowing such behaviour was to be considered incapacitated from serving in Parliament, and would not be allowed to take their seat or vote. To all intents and purposes, this would annul their election as a member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prevention of Corruption Act 1906</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 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. It was repealed by the Bribery Act 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal Law Act 1967</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force.

In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence they may hold. The terms "politically exposed person" and senior foreign political figure are often used interchangeably, particularly in international forums.

Prevention of Corruption Act is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to corruption and bribery. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Prevention of Corruption Bill during its passage through Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988</span> 1988 act of the Parliament of India

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bribery Act 2010</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Bribery Act 2010 (c.23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to bribery. Introduced to Parliament in the Queen's Speech in 2009 after several decades of reports and draft bills, the Act received the Royal Assent on 8 April 2010 following cross-party support. Initially scheduled to enter into force in April 2010, this was changed to 1 July 2011. The Act repeals all previous statutory and common law provisions in relation to bribery, instead replacing them with the crimes of bribery, being bribed, the bribery of foreign public officials, and the failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery on its behalf.

The first signs of the modern distinction between criminal and civil proceedings were during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The earliest criminal trials had very little, if any, settled law to apply. However, the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation.

The Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act is an anti-corruption law in force in Canada. It was passed in 1999, ratifying the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and is often referred to as the Canadian equivalent to the United States' Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forgery of Foreign Bills Act 1803</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Forgery of Foreign Bills Act 1803 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Prior to its repeal in 2013, it created offences of forgery of foreign instruments in Scotland.

Several statutes, mostly codified in Title 18 of the United States Code, provide for federal prosecution of public corruption in the United States. Federal prosecutions of public corruption under the Hobbs Act, the mail and wire fraud statutes, including the honest services fraud provision, the Travel Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) began in the 1970s. "Although none of these statutes was enacted in order to prosecute official corruption, each has been interpreted to provide a means to do so." The federal official bribery and gratuity statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 15 U.S.C. § 78dd, and the federal program bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 666 directly address public corruption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Slovenia</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Slovenia is examined on this page.

Anti-corruption comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measures is sometimes drawn. In such framework, investigative authorities and their attempts to unveil corrupt practices would be considered reactive, while education on the negative impact of corruption, or firm-internal compliance programs are classified as the former.

References

  1. This short title was conferred by section 10.

References