The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions was drawn up under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and adopted at Paris on the 21st of November 1997. 

This Convention was ratified on behalf of the Ireland on the 22nd of September 2003.

The full text of the Convention is available on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Irish Treaty Series database.

Click here:http://www.dfa.ie/uploads/documents/treaties/docs/

The Convention is also available on the OECD’s website together with other information on procedures for evaluating member states’ implementation and enforcement of its provisions, country monitoring reports (including Ireland’s) on implementation, current list of states parties, relevant national legislation, and frequently asked questions.

Click here:www.oecd.org

Main Provisions of the OECD Convention

The principal provisions of the OECD Foreign Bribery Convention are as follows:

• States Parties are obliged to make “bribery of a foreign public official” a criminal offence in their domestic laws.  Such bribery may be direct or through an intermediary but must be done in return for the official concerned acting or refraining from acting in relation to the performance of official duties “in order to obtain or retain business or other improper advantage in the conduct of international business.”  Complicity in or authorisation of such an act is likewise to be a criminal offence (Article 1).

• A foreign public official is “any person holding a legislative, administrative or judicial office of a foreign country, whether appointed or elected; any person exercising a public function for a foreign country, including for a public agency or public enterprise; and any official or agent of a public international organisation.”

• Each State Party shall take measures to enable prosecution in its own courts for bribery of a foreign public official when committed either within its own territory or by one of its own nationals abroad (Article 4). 

• Investigation and prosecution of offences “shall not be influenced by considerations of national economic interest, the potential effect upon relations with another State or the identity of the natural or legal persons involved” (Article 5).

States Parties shall co-operate in carrying out a programme of systematic follow-up to monitor and promote the full implementation of the Convention within the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business (Article 12).

Irish Law

The bribery of foreign public officials is a serious criminal offence under Irish law.
 
The Oireachtas enacted the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2001 to make provision for the OECD Convention in Irish law, including the creation of new offences. 

The penalty on summary conviction is a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, and on conviction on indictment is an unspecified fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or both.

It is expected that new legislation will be enacted by the Oireachtas in 2008 to further strengthen our domestic law on bribery in relation to foreign public officials and to give fuller effect to certain provisions of the OECD Convention.

Relevant Irish legislation may be viewed online in the Irish Statute Book at
www.irishstatutebook.ie

OECD Reports concerning Ireland & the Convention

To view the Phase 1 OECD Report, published on 14 June 2002 concerning Ireland’s implementation of the Convention, click here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/39/2495019.pdf

To view the Phase 2 OECD Report, published on 29 March 2007, concerning Ireland’s implementation of the Convention, click here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/45/38322693.pdf

To view steps taken by Ireland to implement and enforce the Convention on Combating, click here:http://www.oecd.org/document/

Further Information

OECD Publications 

'Fighting Bribery in International Business Deals'
click here:http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/58/20610942.pdf
 
'The Fight against Bribery and Corruption'
click here:http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/6/1918235.pdf
 
'Corruption - A Glossary of International Criminal Standards'
click here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/6/4/39968498.pdf
 
'OECD Working Group on Bribery - Annual Report 2006'
click here:  http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/29/38865251.pdf

Information on the 10th Anniversary of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
click here: www.oecd.org/bribery/anniversary

 The Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform has recently set up a new website on issues of bribery and corruption - www.anticorruption.ie