Prevention of Corruption Act 1906

Punishment of corrupt transactions with agents.

1

F1[1.(1) An agent or any other person who

(a) corruptly accepts or obtains, or

(b) corruptly agrees to accept or attempts to obtain,

for himself or herself, or for any other person, any gift, consideration or advantage as an inducement to, or reward for, or otherwise on account of, the agent doing any act or making any omission in relation to his or her office or position or his or her principal's affairs or business shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who

(a) corruptly gives or agrees to give, or

(b) corruptly offers,

any gift F2[, consideration or advantage] to an agent or any other person, whether for the benefit of that agent, person or another person, as an inducement to, or reward for, or otherwise on account of, the agent doing any act or making any omission in relation to his or her office or position or his or her principal's affairs or business shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person who knowingly gives to any agent, or an agent who knowingly uses with intent to deceive his or her principal, any receipt, account or other document in respect of which the principal is interested, and which contains any statement which is false or erroneous or defective in any material particular, and which to his or her knowledge is intended to mislead the principal shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable

(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £2,362.69 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.

(5) In this Act

agent includes

(a) any person employed by or acting for another,

(b)  (i) an office holder or director (within the meaning, in each case, of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889, as amended) of, and a person occupying a position of employment in, a public body (within the meaning aforesaid) and a special adviser (within the meaning aforesaid),

(ii) a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann,

(iii) a person who is a member of the European Parliament by virtue of the European Parliament Elections Act, 1997,

(iv) an Attorney General (who is not a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann),

(v) the Comptroller and Auditor General,

(vi) the Director of Public Prosecutions,

(vii) a judge of a court in the State,

(viii) any other person employed by or acting on behalf of the public administration of the State,

and

(c)  (i) a member of the government of any other state,

(ii) a member of a parliament, regional or national, of any other state,

(iii) a member of the European Parliament (other than a person who is a member by virtue of the European Parliament Elections Act, 1997),

(iv) a member of the Court of Auditors of the European Communities,

(v) a member of the Commission of the European Communities,

(vi) a public prosecutor in any other state,

(vii) a judge of a court in any other state,

(viii) a judge of any court established under an international agreement to which the State is a party,

(ix) a member of, or any other person employed by or acting for or on behalf of, any body established under an international agreement to which the State is a party, F3[]

F4[(x) any other person employed by or acting on behalf of the public administration of any state (other than the State), including a person under the direct or indirect control of the government of any such state, and

(xi) a member of, or any other person employed by or acting for or on behalf of, any international organisation established by an international agreement between states to which the State is not a party; ]

consideration includes valuable consideration of any kind;

F5[ corruptly includes acting with an improper purpose personally or by influencing another person, whether by means of making a false or misleading statement, by means of withholding, concealing, altering or destroying a document or other information, or by any other means; ]

principal includes an employer.

F5[ state, in relation to a state other than the State, includes

(a) a territory, whether in the state or outside it, for whose external relations the state or its government is wholly or partly responsible,

(b) a subdivision of the government of the state, and

(c) a national, regional or local entity of the state. ]]

Annotations

Amendments:

F1

Substituted (26.11.2001) by Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2001 (27/2001), s. 2, S.I. No. 519 of 2001.

F2

Substituted (12.15.2010) by Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010 (33/2010), s. 2(a), commenced on enactment.

F3

Deleted (15.12.2010) by Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010 (33/2010), s. 2(b)(i)(I), commenced on enactment.

F4

Substituted (15.12.2010) by Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010 (33/2010), s. 2(a) and (b)(i)(II), commenced on enactment.

F5

Inserted (15.12.2010) by Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010 (33/2010), s. 2(b)(ii), commenced on enactment.

Editorial Notes:

E2

Offence under section included in definition of “relevant offence” for purposes of Criminal Justice Act 2011 (22/2011) (9.08.2011) by Criminal Justice Act 2011 (22/2011), s. 3 and sch. 1, S.I. No. 411 of 2011.

E3

Offence under section, in so far as the offence concerned relates to criminal proceedings, included in definition of “offence against the administration of justice” for purposes of Criminal Procedure Act 2010 (27/2010), Part 10 (1.09.2010) by Criminal Procedure Act 2010 (27/2010), s. 7, S.I. No. 414 of 2010.

E4

Previous affecting provision: section amended (1.11.1995) by Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 (22/1995), s. 38(b), commenced (with restrictions) by S.I. No. 282 of 1995 and (1.01.1996) by resolutions of both Houses of the Oireachtas; amended section substituted as per F-note above.

E5

Previous affecting provision: section adapted (12.06.1928) by Prevention of Corruption Acts, 1889 To 1916, Adaptation Order 1928 (S.R.& O. No. 37 of 1928), s. 4 and sch. part II; adapted section amended as per E-note above.