The case of R v AIL, GH and RH, one of the first the Court of Appeal has considered in 2016, is an interesting one from the perspective of all white-collar crime practitioners. The Court of Appeal had to consider whether it was a criminal offence, prior to 14 February 2002 (the date on which the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 came into force and extended the scope of the offence), to corrupt an agent of a foreign public body. The Court of Appeal, after undertaking an interesting review of the law in the area from the late 19 century to present day, ruled that it was indeed a criminal offence. The decision was reached following the application of the pure statutory construction rule, which led to the conclusion that, as there was no indication to the contrary, the legislation did intend for the corruption of foreign agents to be caught within the legislation and held the acts to be criminal offences.

The implications of this ruling may be widespread and an appeal to the Supreme Court is not unlikely.

Originally published in Fraud Intelligence on June 10, 2016.