The Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, the Hon. Trevor G. Moniz, JP,MP is pleased to announce that the Bribery Act 2016 will come into force on 1 September 2017.
Minister Moniz explained: "The Bribery Act 2016 will modernize Bermuda's anti-corruption laws by introducing a new, simplified and comprehensive statute prohibiting bribery. It will help investigators, prosecutors and the courts to tackle bribery effectively whether committed at home or overseas. The Bribery Act will also help to enhance Bermuda's international reputation for the highest ethical standards.
" In summary, the Bribery Act will contain the following offences:
- a general offence of bribery covering the offering, promising or giving of a financial or other advantage,
- a general offence covering the requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of a financial or other advantage;
- an offence of bribing a foreign public official;
- a strict liability offence of failure by a commercial organization to prevent bribery, subject to an 'adequate procedures' defence;
- an offence of failure by public officials to report instances involving bribery and corruption; and
- an offence of interfering with this duty by public officials to report."The Act requires that guidance be drafted and published which assists in determining whether commercial organizations have failed to prevent bribery. The Ministry has consulted in recent months in respect of such guidance which will be released shortly. In the interim the Act can be found on www.bermudalaws.bm