A deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) is a means by which a prosecutor can resolve allegations of certain types of criminal behaviour by a corporation (Crime and Courts Act 2013, Sch 17). Instead of a prosecution and trial, the corporation agrees to disgorge any gains and pay additional penalties. It promises future good behaviour including, often, assisting prosecutors to investigate others. A prosecution is deferred pending fulfilment of these commitments. There have been five such DPAs so far, all proposed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and approved of by the courts. The most recent, involving Serco Geographix Ltd, was issued last month (Serious Fraud Office v Serco Geographix Ltd, Southwark Crown Court 04/07/2019, (William Davis J)).
At present, DPAs can apply to corporate bodies only, but not to individuals. The best explanation for this is pragmatism: it can be very difficult to prosecute a company for serious crime, in particular where, under the identity principle, a “directing mind and will” of the company
