Following the Ministry of Justice written ministerial announcement today announcing the new Anti-Corruption Champion Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, Transparency International UK is again calling for government commitment to deliver a new anti-corruption Bill that is fit for purpose in the fourth session of parliament.

15 October 2008 - Commenting on the statement, Executive Director of Transparency International (UK), Chandrashekhar Krishnan, said:

“Whilst we welcome increased resources allocated to investigations of foreign bribery in the SFO and City of London Police, the litmus test remains the number of prosecutions. The UKs record is abysmal.

“There has only been one prosecution in the UK to date in comparison to 105 by the USA, 43 by Germany and 19 by France since the 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention came into force. The UK must deliver more prosecutions. We need a new anti-corruption Bill in the fourth session of parliament that is fit for purpose – we await a formal statement from Rt Hon Jack Straw confirming this.”

Tomorrow the OECD Working Group on Bribery will announce the results of its special review of the UK’s enforcement of the OECD Convention. The working group is expected to be highly critical of the UK’s record.

Commenting on the UK government’s broader anti-corruption strategy, Executive Director of Transparency International (UK), Chandrashekhar Krishnan, said:

“With the Ministry of Justice now taking a lead on anti-corruption while the Secretariat back-up remains in BERR, we hope the coherence of the government’s anti-corruption strategy will not be weakened. We look forward to the next 6 monthly report on implementation.”