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The Federal Prosecution Service DESKBOOK
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Part VI
POLICY IN CERTAIN TYPES OF LITIGATION
Chapter 33
Table of Contents
33 CORRUPTION OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS
33.1 Introduction
On December 17, 1997, Canada signed the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, an initiative arising primarily from work done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Canada ratified the Convention on December 17, 1998.
To implement the terms of the Convention, Parliament passed the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act1. The new Act came into force on February 14, 1999.
The new Act creates three offences: bribing a foreign official (s. 3), laundering the proceeds of such a bribe (s. 5), and being in possession of property obtained by the commission of either of the other offences (s. 4)2.
33.2 Purpose of the Policy
The purpose of the policy is simply to call attention to the reporting requirements of the Act imposed by s. 12, which states:
Within four months of the end of each fiscal year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for International Trade and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada shall jointly prepare a report on the implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, and on the enforcement of this Act, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the report is completed.
To enable the Minister to make such a report, it is essential that the Department of Justice compile information to which it has access through the prosecutorial responsibilities of the Attorney General of Canada. The Federal Prosecution Service may assist the process by receiving information from provincial prosecuting agencies.
33.3 Application of the Policy
On or before January 1 of each year, the Senior Regional Director in each region, and in Ottawa-Hull, the Prosecution Group Head, shall forward to the Senior General Counsel (Strategic Prosecution Policy Section) a report on activities with respect to the provisions of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act. The report shall detail:
- the nature and status of any prosecutions undertaken by the Attorney General of Canada pursuant to the provisions of the Act, or the Criminal Code;
- the nature and status of any other proceedings taken pursuant to the Act or the Criminal Code to which the Attorney General is a party, such as seizure of assets.
The Senior General Counsel (Strategic Prosecution Policy Section) shall collate the information and provide it to the Senior General Counsel (Criminal Law Policy Section) to assist that section in preparing the Department’s contribution to the final report.
33.4 Recording Reasons for non-Prosecution
Because the Convention and the Act are both intended in part to ensure that prosecutions are instituted or refused on a principled basis, prosecutors should bear in mind the provisions of the Decision to Prosecute policy3 dealing with the recording of reasons for deciding not to institute proceedings. Such reasons may be highly relevant if allegations are made that improper political concerns influenced prosecutorial decision-making.
1 S.C. 1998, c. 34.
2 The offences are described more fully in The Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act: A Guide, 1999, available on the Department’s Internet site under “publications
”. See http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/cfpoa-lcape.
3 Part V, Chapter 15
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