Non-trial Resolutions of Bribery Cases Subcommittee

The Non-trial Resolutions of Bribery Cases Subcommittee is a subcommittee of the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee.

International Guidelines for Non-trial Resolutions of Foreign Bribery Cases

Recommendation regarding Non-trial Resolutions (or Negotiated Settlements) of Cases involving Foreign Bribery

Following the presentation of the March 2017 Report of the Recommendations of the OECD Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Group, a group of academics, lawyers, corporate officers, NGOs and others discussed means by which Recommendation 6 of that Report might be implemented ('The Recommendation 6 Network').

Tina Søreide and Peter Solmssen have coordinated the effort – which started with a presentation to the OECD Working Group on Bribery on 14 June 2017. Since then that informal group has worked collaboratively to write a set of materials that might aid the OECD Working Group in their discussions regarding the complex issue of non-trial resolutions of foreign bribery cases.

The Recommendation 6 Network members (listed in the Transmittal Memorandum) have considered a widely divergent set of viewpoints and aimed at presenting a set of proposals that represent a reasonable accommodation of all of them. The documents are available here:

• Transmittal memorandum
• Recommendation draft
• Annex III Principles
• Explanatory Notes

Project Roll Out

The International Bar Association anticipates that the Working Group on Bribery of the OECD will soon publish guidelines for member countries to follow in non-trial resolutions of foreign bribery cases.

To do so, the IBA has asked its members to participate through contacts at the OECD and through contact with national members of the Working Group on Bribery with the aim of:

1. Influencing the content of the guidelines as they are being drafted
2. Participating in the national implementation of the guidelines

To ensure that these aims are met and that IBA policies are pursued consistently, the IBA has organized Project Roll Out under the leadership of the Non-trial Resolutions Subcommittee of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the LPD.

The coming paradigm shift in settling foreign bribery cases

In 2018 the IBA published a global study showing that foreign bribery cases are usually terminated before a full trial and verdict are concluded. The practice of settling rather than trying cases to a conclusion is widespread, but varied, non-transparent and unpredictable. Lawyers and corporations have tried for years to address this. Now the OECD Working Group on Bribery, a group of justice ministry officials from 44 countries, proposes to do just that. This webinar addressed the Working Group's planned guidelines for the settlement of international bribery cases.