Why Can Companies Negotiate Settlements in Bribery Cases?

How, where and when can a company negotiate settlements in bribery and corruption cases?

Join us for this event organised by the ​Corruption & Criminal Law Unit at
Centre on Law & Social Transformation.

Negotiated settlements have become the most common enforcement outcome for allegations of corruption involving corporations – which means, no court considers the question of guilt or determines the size of a penalty. Prominent examples of cases include Siemens, Halliburton, Vimpelcom and BAE. There are differing approaches across the world to the issue of out of court settlements. The lack of coherence means that the results of settlements can be arbitrary. This runs contrary to the aims of securing confidence in the ability of criminal justice systems to consistently sanction corruption. A key issue facing the anti-corruption community, therefore, is whether, a coordinated response in the form of a model Instrument on Negotiated Settlements is a necessary step forward in the global fight against corruption. In this seminar we present results of a global survey of settlement regulations, and discuss practices in light of legitimacy, fairness and bribery prevention.

Panel: Dr.
Abiola Makinwa (Senior Lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Anti-Corruption Compliance),
Tina Søreide (Professor of Law and Economics (Dr. Econ) at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) at the Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law), and
Arkan El Seblani (Attorney and Regional Manager at UNDP Arab States, Anti-Corruption).

The event is free and open to all.