Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Criminal elements
Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention · Recklessness
Criminal negligence · Ignorantia juris…
Strict, Corporate & Vicarious liability
Crimes against people
Assault · Battery · Robbery
Sexual offences · Pimping · Rape
Kidnapping · Manslaughter · Murder
Crimes against property
Property damage · Arson
Theft · Burglary · Deception
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice · Bribery
Perjury · Malfeasance in office
Inchoate offenses
Attempt
Conspiracy · Accessory
Criminal defenses
Automatism, Intoxication & Mistake
Insanity · Diminished responsibility
Duress · Necessity
Provocation · Self defence
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Tort law · Property law
Wills and trusts · Evidence
Portals: Law · Criminal justice

Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person or in breach of law. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Actus reus, sometimes called the external element or the objective element of a crime is the Latin term for the "guilty act" which when proved Causation is the "causal relationship between conduct and result In Western Jurisprudence, concurrence, (or contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence In Criminal law, mens rea the Latin term for "guilty mind" is usually one of the necessary elements of a Crime. In the Criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of Mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to In the Criminal law, recklessness (also called unchariness) is one of the four possible classes of mental state constituting Mens rea (the In the Criminal law, criminal negligence is one of the three general classes of Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" element required Ignorantia juris non excusat or Ignorantia legis neminem excusat ( Latin for " Ignorance of the Law does not excuse" In Criminal law, strict liability is liability for which Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" does not have to be proven in relation In the Criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a Corporation as a fictitious person can be liable for the acts and omissions The legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity In Criminal law, an offence against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand, Battery is a term used by the Common law jurisdictions which involves an Injury or other Contact upon the Person of another in a manner likely Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. A pimp (also called fleshmonger) finds and manages clients for Prostitutes and engages them in Prostitution (in Brothels in most cases and Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person In Criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or Asportation of a person against the person's will usually to hold the person in False imprisonment Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being in a manner considered by law as less culpable than Murder. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Property damage (or in the United Kingdom, criminal damage) is damage to or the destruction of public or private Property, caused either by a In Criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person's Property without that person's freely-given In English law, the main deception offences are defined in the Theft Act 1968 (TA68 the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment Act 1996 The crime of obstruction of justice includes crimes committed by Judges Prosecutors attorneys general, and elected officials in general Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, is the commission of an Unlawful act done in an official capacity which affects the performance of official duties Attempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself the actions must go beyond mere preparation In the Criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between Natural persons to break the law at some time in the future and in some cases with at least one overt act An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a Crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal For a more detailed discussion of individual topics see Automatism (case law In the Criminal Law, automatism is a defense to liability Intoxication is the state of being affected by one or more psychoactive drugs. A mistake of fact may sometimes offer exculpation (as in Excuse) by allowing a criminal Defendant some relief from liability for having broken the In Criminal trials the insanity defenses are possible defenses by Excuse, an Affirmative defense by which Defendants argue that In Criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by Excuse by which Defendants argue that For English law on the criminal defence see Duress in English law. In Criminal law, necessity may be either a possible justification or an exculpation for breaking the Law. Also see Provocation in English law. In Criminal law, provocation is a possible defense by excuse or exculpation The right of self-defense (also called alter ego defense, defense of others, defense of a third person) is the right for civilians acting on their A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties Property law is the area of Law that governs the various forms of Ownership in Real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of Law which governs the management of personal affairs and the Disposition of Property of The Law of evidence governs the use of Testimony (eg oral or written statements such as an Affidavit) and exhibits (e Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. Black's Law Dictionary is the most widely-used Law dictionary for the Law of the United States. Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in Contract law used to determine whether an agreement exists between two parties giFT Internet File Transfer ( giFT) is a computer software daemon that allows several File sharing protocols to be used with a simple client having a Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in Contract law used to determine whether an agreement exists between two parties In the United States, solicitation is a Crime; it is an Inchoate offense that consists of a person offering money or something else of value in order to The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity. Money is anything that is generally accepted as Payment for Goods and services and repayment of Debts. Chose (pronounced "shows" French for "thing" a term used in the Common law tradition in different senses Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual A promotion is the advancement of rank or Position in an organizational Hierarchy system A privilege &mdashetymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual&mdashis a special Entitlement or immunity granted by a government Remuneration is pay or salary typically Monetary payment for services rendered as in an Employment.

One must be careful of differing social and cultural norms when examining bribery. Expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate can differ from place to place. Tipping, for example, is considered bribery in some societies, while in others the two concepts may be interchangeable. A tip (also called a gratuity) is a payment made to certain Service sector workers in addition to the advertised price of the transaction In Spanish, bribes are referred to as "la mordida" (literally, "the bite"), in Arab countries they are Backshish or Bakshish. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Baksheesh is a term used to describe tipping charitable giving, and certain forms of Political corruption and Bribery in the Middle East and However, Bakshish is more akin to tipping and is socially permissible.

The offence may be divided into two great classes: the one, where a person invested with power is induced by payment to use it unjustly; the other, where power is obtained by purchasing the suffrages of those who can impart it. Likewise, the briber might hold a powerful role and control the transaction; or in other cases, a bribe may be effectively extracted from the person paying it, although this is better known as extortion. Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person Unlawfully obtains either money property or services

The forms that bribery take are numerous. For example, a motorist might bribe a police officer not to issue a ticket for speeding, a citizen seeking paperwork or utility line connections might bribe a functionary for faster service. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force In Eugene, Oregon, bribery is an important aspect of the local SLUG Queen pageant that sets it apart from other pageants. The SLUG Queen, slug queen, or SLUG Queen (supposedly an Acronym for the "Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod The Slug Queens set the rare example of creating and environment where bribery is both accepted and encouraged. The moment a new queen is crowned, the old queens are open to bribery.

Bribery may also take the form of a secret commission, a profit made by an agent, in the course of his employment, without the knowledge of his principal. Euphemisms abound for this (commission, sweetener, back-kick etc. ) Bribers and recipients of bribery are likewise numerous although bribers have one common denominator and that is the financial ability to bribe.

Bribery around the world is estimated at about $1 trillion (£494bn). ^[1] The burden of corruption falls disproportionately on the bottom billion people living in extreme poverty who cannot afford to pay and who thus receive sub-standard treatment from officials.

Contents 1 Government 2 Tax treatment of Bribe 3 Medicine 4 Politics 5 Business 6 Sport 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Government

A grey area may exist when payments to smooth transactions are made. United States law is particularly strict in limiting the ability of businesses to pay for the awarding of contracts by foreign governments; however, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act contains an exception for "grease payments"; very basically, this allows payments to officials in order to obtain the performance of ministerial acts which they are legally required to do, but may delay in the absence of such payment. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 USC §§ 78dd-1 et seq In some countries, this practice is the norm, often resulting from a developing nation not having the tax structure to pay civil servants an adequate salary. Nevertheless, most economists regard bribery as a bad thing because it encourages rent seeking behaviour. In Economics, rent seeking occurs when an individual organization or firm seeks to make money by manipulating the economic and/or legal environment rather than by trade and A state where bribery has become a way of life is a kleptocracy. A kleptocracy (sometimes cleptocracy, occasionally kleptarchy) ( root klepto+kratein = rule by thieves) is a term applied to a

Tax treatment of Bribe

The tax status of bribes is an issue for governments since the bribery of government officials impedes the democratic process and may interfere with good government. In some countries, such bribes are considered tax-deductible payments. However, in 1996, in an effort to discourage bribery, the OECD Council recommended to that member countries cease to allow the tax-deductibility of bribes to foreign officials. This was followed by the signing of the Anti-Bribery Convention. Since that time, the majority of the OECD countries which are signatories of the convention have revised their tax policies according to this recommendation and some have extended the measures to bribes paid to any official, sending the message that bribery will no longer be tolerated in the operations of the government. ^[2]

Medicine

Pharmaceutical corporations may seek to reward doctors for heavy prescription of their drugs through gifts. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Medication, also referred to as medicine, can be loosely defined as any substance intended for use in the diagnosis cure mitigation treatment or prevention of disease The American Medical Association has published ethical guidelines for gifts from industry which include the tenet that physicians should not accept gifts if they are given in relation to the physician’s prescribing practices. The American Medical Association (AMA founded in 1847 and incorporated 1897 is the largest association of Physicians and Medical students in the United States [1] Doubtful cases include grants for traveling to medical conventions that double as tourist trips.

Dentists often receive samples of home dental care products such as toothpaste, which are of negligible value; somewhat ironically, dentists in a television commercial will often state that they get these samples but pay to use the sponsor's product.

In countries offering state-subsidized or nationally funded healthcare where medical professionals are underpaid, patients may use bribery to solicit the standard expected level of medical care. For example, in many formerly Communist countries from what used to be the Eastern Block it may be customary to offer expensive gifts to doctors and nurses for the delivery of service at any level of medical care in the non-private health sector. ^[3]

Politics

Politicians receive campaign contributions and other payoffs from powerful corporations or individuals when making choices in the interests of those parties, or in anticipation of favorable policy. A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for election campaigns. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s However, such a relationship does not meet the legal standards for bribery without evidence of a quid pro quo. Quid pro quo ( Latin for "something for something") indicates a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services See also influence peddling and political corruption. Influence peddling is the illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or preferential treatment for another usually Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain

Business

Employees, managers, or salespeople of a business may offer money or gifts to a potential client in exchange for business. For instance, the service company Aramark was recently accused of offering gifts to an assistant warden in the New Mexico Prison System in exchange for a contract allowing Aramark to provide the food services in the state's prisons. Aramark Limited is a food and apparel service partner to organizations across a range of sectors including business and industry judicial education health care offshore and defense New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America.

More recently, in 2006 German prosecutors conducted a wide-ranging investigation of Siemens AG to determine if Siemens employees paid bribes in exchange for business.

In some cases where the system of law is not well implemented, bribes may be a way for companies to continue their businesses. In the case, for example where custom officials harass a certain firm or production plant, officially stating to check for irregularities, may halt production and stall other normal activities of a firm. The disruption may cause losses to the firm that exceed the amount of money to pay off the official. Bribing the officials is a common way to deal with this issue in countries where there exists no firm system of reporting these semi-illegal activities. The third party, known as the White Glove may be involed to act as a clean middleman.

Specialists consultancies such as Interchange Solutions Limited (UK) have been set up to help multinational companies and SMEs, with a commitment to anti-corruption, to trade more ethically and benefit from compliance with the law.

Sport

Referees, and scoring judges may be offered money, gifts, or other compensation to guarantee a specific outcome in an athletic competition. A referee is a person who has authority to make decisions about play in many Sports Officials in various sports are known by a variety of titles including referee A well-known example of this manner of bribery in sport would be the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal, where the French judge in the pairs competition voted for the Russian skaters in order to secure an advantage for the French skaters in the ice dancing competition. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City, the figure skating competition was the source of much controversy and one of the immediate causes for the This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending

Additionally, bribes may be offered by cities in order to secure athletic franchises, or even competitions, as happened with the 2002 Winter Olympics. The 2002 Olympic Winter Games bid scandal was a Scandal involving allegations of Bribery to obtain the 2002 Olympic It is common practice for cities to "bid" against each other with stadiums, tax benefits, and licensing deals to secure or keep professional sports franchises.

Athletes themselves can be paid to under-perform, generally so that a gambler or gambling syndicate can secure a winning bet. Syndicate comes from French syndicat which means Trade union ( syndic meaning administrator) from the Latin word syndicus Sports betting is the general activity of predicting Sports results by making a wager on the outcome of a sporting event A classic example of this is the 1919 World Series, better known as the Black Sox Scandal. The 1919 World Series matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. The Black Sox Scandal refers to a number of events that took place around and during the play of the 1919 World Series.

Finally, in some sports, elements of the game may be tampered with -- the classic example being from horse racing, where a groom or other person with access to the horses before the race may be bribed to over-feed an animal, or even administer a sedative to reduce a horse's chances of winning. This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics. A sedative, or more specifically a sedative-hypnotic, is a substance that depresses the Central nervous system (CNS resulting in calmness relaxation sleepiness This is another type of bribery done for financial gain through gambling -- bet against a clear favorite, and ensure that the favorite has an "off day. "

See also

• Conflict of interest
• Bribe Payers Index
• Lobbying

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust such as a Lawyer, Insurance adjuster, a Politician, executive or director Bribe Payers Index (BPI is a measure of how willing a nation appears to comply with demands for corrupt business practices Lobbying includes all attempts to influence Legislators and officials whether by other legislators constituents or organized groups The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

External links

• Report requests for bribes at www.BRIBEline.org
• TRACE
• Transparency International
• Business Principles for Countering Bribery
• OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration: Tax Treatment of Bribes
• OECD Celebrates 10th Anniversary of its Anti-Bribery Convention, Luc Leruth, IMF/FAD

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