Podcast: Rolls-Royce's worldwide network of corruption
Podcast: Rolls-Royce's worldwide network of corruption
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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Further reading
- SFO v Rolls Royce PLC, 17 January 2017
- Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2017
- Liz Campbell (2019) Trying corporations: why not prosecute?, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 31:2, 269-291, DOI: 10.1080/10345329.2019.1613950
- Rolls-Royce apologises in court after settling bribery case (The Guardian, 18 January 2017)
- Campaigners condemn closure of Rolls-Royce bribery inquiry (The Guardian, 23 February 2019)
Music
All tracks by Lee Rosevere
Photo
Law topics
Criminal law, courts, deferred prosecution agreements, corruption, white collar crime, public confidence in justice system, bribery