§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent to which United Kingdom law complies with the United Kingdom's obligations under the 1997 OECD Convention on Transnational Banking and Business Transactions; what action he plans to take to ensure compliance; and if he will make a statement. [142794]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 14 December 2000]: I understand that the hon. Member is referring to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
The United Kingdom ratified the Convention in December 1998 on the basis of the Government's assessment that existing statute and case law in the United Kingdom already ensures compliance with our obligations under the Convention. In our White Paper "Raising Standards and Upholding Integrity: the Prevention of Corruption" issued in June 2000 (Cm 4759) we proposed to put or compliance beyond any doubt by making it clear in statute that the United Kingdom has jurisdiction over bribery offences involving foreign public officials which take place in the United Kingdom. The White Paper also proposed a new provision, implementing an optional provision of the Convention, to give the United Kingdom jurisdiction over bribery offences committed by United Kingdom nationals overseas.