Corruption and Misuse of Public Office

Combating corruption and the misuse of public office appears to be a never-ending fight. The fourth edition of this authoritative work aims to equip legal practitioners and anti-corruption activists with the latest guidance and tools to keep the forces of corruption and the misuse of public office in the UK and across the globe at bay.

Fully revised and updated to cover relevant case law and fast-moving developments in both domestic and international spheres, the book’s wide-ranging coverage of topics includes: examination of sector specific initiatives; expanded coverage of the FCPA; civil and criminal mechanisms for recovering the proceeds of corruption; and new material on setting standards in the public and private sector. Apart from thorough UK coverage, this new edition also covers the laws and regulations of overseas jurisdictions including China, Canada, the UAE, and developing countries such as Kenya and Nigeria. The book considers the broadening scope of corruption and its intersection with questions of integrity in public life and examines lobbying and the move towards open government.

Written by leading practitioners with extensive experience of handling corruption cases, the book provides a clear exposition of the current law. It examines the legal and practical issues relating to the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases and includes coverage of specialist areas such as recovering the proceeds of corruption.

Corruption cases often span jurisdictions. This book enables practitioners to handle any aspect of a corruption case by providing them with detailed analysis of the international efforts to combat corruption, and the legal developments taking place in key jurisdictions and regions covered by UN, EU, OECD, the Commonwealth, and other regional anti-corruption initiatives.

Colin Nicholls, Alan Baracese, James Maton, Rachel Scott, John Hatchard

Colin Nicholls KC of 3 Raymond Buildings is a leading international criminal lawyer with experience in complex commercial crime cases, extradition, criminal mutual assistance, human rights, and war crimes. He was a member of the Law Commission’s informal advisory group on bribery in 2007 and gave evidence to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Bribery Bill in 2009, of the Law Commission’s judicial and practitioner advisory group on reforming the offence of misconduct in public office, the TI/UK’s Taskforce on a proposal to introduce Unexplained Wealth Orders, and of the Commonwealth-wide Consultation Group that advised on the text of Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Benchmarks. He has been a part time judge and is an Honorary Life President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.

Alan Bacarese is the Director of Investigations, Strategy, and Operations in the World Bank Group where he leads investigations of alleged fraud, corruption, and other sanctionable practices involving projects and activities financed by the World Bank Group. His past roles include serving as Director of Integrity in the African Development Bank, as a UK Senior Crown Prosecutor and the first Head of Legal and Case Consultancy at the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery. Alan is a UK Barrister and the author of many published articles including as a co-author of Corruption and Misuse of Public Office (OUP).

James Maton is the London Head of Disputes and Public International Law, and a partner, at law firm Cooley. He is also the Money Laundering Reporting Officer of the firm. He acts for companies and governments in a wide range of disputes, many of which have been multi-jurisdictional. His anti-corruption practice includes advising companies on internal and external investigations, and effective training and compliance programs. James has advised Governments worldwide on cases to recover the proceeds of corruption or compensation for corrupt acts, including acting in civil cases in London and strategic management of programmes of cases internationally. He was a member of TI(UK)s Taskforce on a proposal to introduce Unexplained Wealth Orders, work which led to their introduction in the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

John Hatchard is Professor Emeritus of Laws at the University of Buckingham, and Professor of Law at the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Academy in Vienna, Austria. He is a Visiting Scholar at Arizona State University. He has taught at universities in Australia, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe and has written widely on criminal law, human rights and good governance issues with particular reference to the Commonwealth and Africa.

Rachel Scott is a barrister at 3 Raymond Buildings in London with significant expertise in financial and corporate crime. She acts for individual and corporate clients under investigation for offences of fraud, corruption, money laundering and anti-competitive practices. She also prosecutes for the Serious Fraud Office, having been a member of its panel counsel list for over a decade, and A-Panel counsel since 2017. Experienced in matters of international law, sanctions, extradition and mutual legal assistance, she has acted in numerous reported cases, including in the Supreme Court, the Privy Council and the European Court of Human Rights.