SFO wants plea-bargain system for bribery cases

Companies that admit to bribery will be given more lenient sentences if proposals put forward by the Serious Fraud Office this week come into effect.

The SFO is consulting on the future of the agency, with one of its key proposals being the introduction of a plea-bargain-style system for corruption cases. It is hoped that the system, similar to that run by the US Department of Justice, will speed up the handling of such cases according to The Times.

The proposals follow a report from former US prosecutor Jessica de Grazia that looked into the effectiveness of the SFO and how similar work was carried out in the US. She found that 'the SFO uses significantly more resources per case than its New York counterparts and achieves significantly less for its efforts'.

Last year the agency was subject to a storm of negative publicity when it abandoned its three-year corruption investigation into defence contractor BAE Systems over the Al-Yamamah arms deal.

Further reading:

More 'diligent' auditing required to halt bribery

Transparency International-USA slams SFO

Former head slams SFO direction

Corruption laws go back to the drawing board

SFO drops Saudi 'slush fund' probe