Joanne Conlon, Bryan Bourke
Irish legislation on the prevention of corruption has been significantly enhanced with the recent passing of a new Act which amends existing anti-corruption legislation and provides statutory protection for “whistleblowers”.
The new legislation clarifies that giving and receiving an inducement, whether or not in the nature of monetary gains, is an offence where it is corruptly given or received in return for the recipient doing, or omitting to do, something in relation to his position or his principal’s or employer’s business.
It also provides that if an Irish citizen or resident, or an Irish registered company, does something abroad which, if done in Ireland, would constitute an offence under the Irish law, that person can be prosecuted in Ireland for that offence. Previously, the Irish authorities’ extra-territorial jurisdiction only applied to the corrupt acts abroad of Irish public officials. However unlike the approach recently adopted in the UK under the Bribery Act 2010 (which is due to come into force in April 2011), the Irish Act does not extend its territorial reach to the corrupt acts of non-Irish commercial organisations which carry on part of their business in Ireland.
The legislation’s most significant provisions relate to “whistleblowers”. Protection for whistleblowers was introduced in the UK by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, but until now there has been no similar legislative protection in Ireland for whistleblowers. Under the new Act, where a person believes that a corruption offence has been committed and he reports that opinion, he will be protected against actions for damages and other relief unless he knew that, or was reckless as to whether, his opinion was false or vexatious. Whistleblowers must report their opinion to an appropriate person, the list of whom includes a member of An Garda Síochána, the whistleblower’s employer and any “confidential recipient” appointed by the Garda Commissioner to receive such communications in confidence. Where the whistleblower’s opinion is reported to a confidential recipient, his identity will (with some exceptions) be kept confidential. Employers are also prevented from penalising employees who have reported, or intend to report, corruption offences and the new legislation sets out a redress procedure for such employees.
The introduction of the new Act, and in particular its provisions on protecting whistleblowers, is a significant addition to Irish anti-corruption legislation, and may result in a greater number of prosecutions being taken for corruption offences.
