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A bribery act on the statute books in SI?

DEAR EDITOR, does the Solomon Islands have a specific Bribery Act on its statute books?

I rather think not, but stand to be corrected.

In the context of an earlier letter I wrote to your newspaper this week, I mentioned the provisions in the Solomon Islands Penal Code, Section 122, which creates the offence of bribery in relation to attempting to defeat the ends of justice in the courts but this appears to fall short of a statutory provision for a more general definition and penalty for a act of bribery.

In the UK, as an example, The Bribery Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to the specific act of bribery.

It was introduced to Parliament in the Queen’s Speech as late as 2009.

The penalties for committing a crime under the Act are a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, along with an unlimited fine, and the potential for the confiscation of property under the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2002.

Sections 1 to 5 of the Act cover “general bribery offences”. The crime of bribery is described in Section 1 as occurring when a person offers, gives or promises to give a “financial or other advantage” to another individual in exchange for “improperly” performing a “relevant function or activity”. Section 2 covers the offence of being bribed, which is defined as requesting, accepting or agreeing to accept such an advantage, in exchange for improperly performing such a function or activity.

If an individual is found guilty of a bribery offence, tried as a summary offence, they may be imprisoned for up to 12 months and fined up to £5,000. Someone found guilty on indictment, however, faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

Broadly, the Act defines bribery as giving or receiving a financial or other advantage in connection with the “improper performance” of a position of trust, or a function that is expected to be performed impartially or in good faith.

Bribery does not have to involve cash or an actual payment exchanging hands and can take many forms such as a gift, lavish treatment during a business trip or tickets to an event.

The types of bribery that take place in the commercial sector are numerous.

Some simple examples follow:

Bribery in order to secure or keep a contract.

Bribery to secure an order.

Bribery to gain any advantage over a competitor.

Bribery of a local, national or foreign official to secure a contract.

Bribery to turn a blind eye to a health safety issue or poor performance or substitution of materials or false labour charges.

Bribery to falsify an inspection report or obtain a certificate.

If I am correct in my assumption that the Solomon Islands does not, as yet, have a statutory Act on Bribery then it surely must be considered in the light of the DCCG’s current pledge on pursuing an effective anti-corruption policy.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT