Vol. 493 No. 2
5 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans, if any, he has to introduce legislation to update the criminal law in relation to fraud, bribery, false accounting, suppression of documents, secret commissions, payola and other corrupt practices; and, if so, when this legislation will be introduced. [15577/98]
I have obtained the approval of the Government for the drafting of legislation which will radically reform the law on fraud and dishonesty. The Criminal Justice (Fraud Offences) Bill will: create a new offence of theft to replace the existing common law offence of larceny, numerous statutory offences of larceny and the statutory offences of embezzlement, fraudulent conversion and obtaining by false pretences; create new offences to deal with dishonest behaviour not properly covered by existing legislation; create new offences of forgery to replace the existing law of 1913; create new offences of counterfeiting to replace the existing law of 1861; provide a new power for the Garda Síochána to obtain search warrants for documentary evidence of offences of fraud and dishonesty; contain provisions to enable Ireland to adopt the important EU Convention on the Protection of the European Communities' Financial Interests and three protocols to that convention; and bring together in one consolidated statute the main offences of fraud and dishonesty.
As regards corruption, I have included in my legislative programme a Prevention of Corruption Bill primarily to make any legislative changes necessary to enable Ireland to ratify the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign
Public Officials in International Business Transactions which was signed by Ireland on 17 December 1997. The opportunity may also be taken in that Bill to provide for the ratification of the EU convention on corruption involving officials of the EU or member states of the EU. This latter convention is due to be ratified by member states before the end of 1999.
I am currently carrying out an examination of the existing laws on corruption — which are very widely cast — to determine what changes, if any, are required to enable Ireland to become a party to the OECD convention. This examination will also encompass the EU convention. I hope to conclude this examination shortly and any legislative proposals arising therefrom will be announced in the usual way.
I appreciate the Minister's detailed reply, especially the first part which mostly dealt with the extensive report of the Law Reform Commission on fraud and dishonesty which was published some years ago.
The laws in the area of corruption are grossly inadequate. The area is governed by three statutes dated 1889, 1906 and 1916. The law is totally out of date. As far as common law is concerned, there is a gross deficiency in the definition of bribery and that law has evolved in a most unsatisfactory manner with the result that it is almost impossible to define. The Minister needs to introduce a specific statute law dealing with bribery which will define the offence which is currently open to many definitions. There is no law on "payola" or secret commissions, about which we have heard so much in recent times. Unless this matter is made open and transparent and the law is tightened up, public confidence in many of our deliberations on these issues will not be restored.
The law on corruption is set out in three Acts — the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889 and the Prevention of Corruption Acts, 1906 and 1916. The dates of these Acts indicate there is a need for a radical overhaul of the law on dishonesty and that is what I propose in the new fraud legislation. I want to provide that it will be a serious criminal offence to dishonestly make a gain or cause a loss. That broad sweep will radically alter the current law and provide us with a solid statutory base for the criminal law on dishonesty.
The offences of corruption referred to in the three Acts are widely cast and cover corruption in the public and private sectors. The provisions of the statutes as they relate to penalties and holders of public office, such as Ministers, were significantly reformed and updated by the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995. Deputy Flanagan will be aware this is an extremely complex area but it is being tackled head on by the Government. I hope to introduce the most comprehensive law on fraud in the not too distant future.
