Gareth Rees QC and Jason Mansell highlight the tensions between domestic corruption laws and international obligations
Developments over the past 20 years have led the UK to sign up to various international obligations in its effort to combat financial crime. For example, its membership of the Financial Action Task Force and the implementation of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives. These international obligations have a direct impact on both the investigation of financial crime and the legislative framework. It is widely acknowledged that the UK has handed important decision-making powers to the EU in return for wider commercial and political advantages in many areas, including criminal justice. However, the process by which the UK has ceded control of aspects of its criminal law by becoming a signatory to international Conventions is not so well understood.
The political furore caused by the decision of the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to abandon an investigation into alleged corruption involving British Aerospace (BAE) and Saudi Arabia has brought into focus the potential conflict between the UK national interest and its international criminal law commitments.
