Bribery Bill [HL]

I think I knew that too. We all agree, I hope, that there is need for a consent provision for the new bribery offences to ensure, if nothing else, consistency in prosecution decisions. That does not appear to be an issue. What is an issue is the level at which such consent should be given. There are strong arguments on both sides. I say to our distinguished ex-law officers that in providing for consent to be given by the director of the relevant prosecution authority, we are not for one moment suggesting that previous Attorneys have done anything other than their duty in their decisions on whether to grant consent to a particular prosecution. Having said that, this is clearly a sensitive area, where perceptions matter as much as reality. As the Joint Committee which considered the draft Corruption Bill in 2003 put it: ""Without doubting the independence of the Attorney General and his predecessors, we accept that the appearance of ministerial involvement in the prosecution decision would best be avoided"." This view is shared by, among others, the OECD itself; the Council of Europe’s monitoring body; Transparency International UK in a particularly strong way; and the Corner House. Importantly, the recent Joint Committee was similarly satisfied, as the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, reminded us, that the power of consent should be transferred from the Attorney-General to the director of the relevant prosecution authority. The Law Commission was also of this view. I do not dismiss lightly the arguments around the need for parliamentary accountability for such important decisions. However, such accountability will continue to be provided through the Attorney-General’s fulfilment of her important role in superintending the main prosecuting authorities. The protocol between the Attorney and the prosecuting departments, published last July, sets out how the Attorney-General and the prosecutors will work together to ensure that the Attorney-General can discharge that responsibility. I know—and the Committee will know—that the present Attorney personally attaches considerable importance to parliamentary accountability. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, asked my noble and learned friend the Attorney about this point when she gave evidence to the Joint Committee on 25 June. She made it clear to him and the Joint Committee that, ""Accountability will remain because, for so long as the Law Officers, that is the Attorney General and the Solicitor, remain the supervisors and superintendents of the prosecutorial authority, there is a vehicle through which that accountability can take place"." Of course, a balance must be struck between prosecutorial independence and parliamentary accountability. This is not the occasion for debate on any wider reform of the powers of the Attorney, but it is right that when legislating for new offences we consider on a case-by-case basis—as we are today—whether there is a need for prior consent to a prosecution and, if so, at what level such consent should be granted or withheld. Our judgment is that for the new bribery offence, prior consent to a prosecution is desirable and that it would be appropriate for such consent to be given by the director of the relevant prosecuting authority. This strikes the right balance and this view is widely shared by external organisations, some of which I have mentioned. Some of those organisations have been pressing us to reform our bribery laws for some years. We should heed their views and I therefore invite the noble Lord to withdraw his amendments. The passion with which the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, supported the amendment is something that we very much take into consideration. His defence of the status quo is a powerful argument. We do not agree with him on this occasion. I want to put right one factual matter that the noble and learned Lord mentioned, which was also referred to in passing by the noble Earl, Lord Onslow. The decision about the Serious Fraud Office’s discontinuance of what has been described as the BAE Saudi investigation was made by the director of the Serious Fraud Office and not the Attorney-General of the day. I want to put that clearly on the record.