Rolls-Royce. The name is synonymous with luxury. But in recent years, whistleblowers have revealed the prestige brand has been exporting corruption worldwide.

From 1999 to 2013 the company - which manufactures aircraft engines and defence systems, as well as their famed luxury cars - engaged in staggering levels of bribery and corruption.

In 2017, Rolls-Royce came to an agreement with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), in which the company agreed to pay £671 million in return for avoiding prosecution.

This type of agreement - referred to as a deferred prosecution agreement (or DPA) - is gaining popularity.

Beginning in the USA, then the UK, DPAs are now looking increasingly likely to be introduced to Australia.

So, what exactly are DPAs?

Do DPAs pull the teeth out of the criminal justice system, which already struggles to convict people for so-called white collar crime?

And, what did the UK authorities have to trade in exchange for Rolls-Royce’s money and cooperation?

Storyteller

Professor Liz Campbell (Twitter @lizjcampbell)

Francine V. McNiff Chair of Criminal Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, Monash University

Hosts

Dr Melissa Castan

James Pattison

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