The Serious Fraud Office is, self-evidently, concerned with the prosecution of fraud and other instances of serious economic crime. Currently it does so within our adversarial criminal justice system, which, after a lengthy and expensive investigation and court process, may result in acquittal or conviction. In the UK, under the law at present, prosecution is the only option, but is a blunt instrument. The only other option is non-prosecution. The SFO must either prosecute with the aim of achieving a criminal conviction or proceed under the Civil Law. In March 2012, Solicitor General confirmed that legislation to enable deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) into the UK, limited at first to corporate offenders, is on the way. This article examines some of the issues which lend themselves for consideration before instituting the DPA system in the UK.
Business Law Review