The explanatory notes to the Bribery Act 2010 have now been published.

• Background – The UK’s current law has been considered to be unsatisfactory because it is inconsistent with the OECD Bribery Convention, which the UK ratified in 1998. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlighted many of the problems with the current law in its October 2008 report about the UK’s application of the OECD Bribery Convention. In particular, the OECD heavily criticised the judicial handling of the investigation into bribery allegations against BAe Systems.

The OECD recommended changes to UK law and the Law Commission published detailed proposals, including a draft Bill, in November 2008. This led to the Bribery Bill being introduced into parliament in November 2009. The Bribery Act received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010 and is due to come into force later in 2010, see Commencement.

For more information on the Act and its provisions – read more: