Bribery

Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behavior of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. Bribery is common in many areas of everyday life around the world to different extents. The areas often influenced by bribery include politics, the legal system, the entertainment industry, medicine, and sports.

Definition

It is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions as an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the receiver's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or any promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.

It is a form of political corruption and is generally considered unethical. In most jurisdictions it is illegal, or at least cause for sanctions from one's employer or professional organization.

For example, a motorist may bribe a police officer not to issue a ticket for speeding, a citizen seeking paperwork or utility line connections may bribe a functionary for faster service, a construction company may bribe a civil servant to award a contract, or a narcotics smuggler may bribe a judge to lessen criminal penalties.

In some cases, the briber holds a powerful role and controls the transaction; in other cases, a bribe may be effectively extracted from the person paying it.

Expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate can also differ: tipping, for example, is considered bribery in some societies, while in others the two concepts may be interchangeable. In Spanish, bribes are referred to as "la mordida" (literally, "the bite"), in middle eastern countries they are Backshish or Bakshish.

Types of Bribery

The level of non-monetary favours that constitute an incentive to unethical behaviour is variable and may constitute a matter of opinion in a given field:

Music

Payola is the commonplace practice where record companies buy air time from radio and television stations for songs they are promoting. "Payola" is a contraction of the words "pay" and"Victrola" (LP record player). It can take a number of forms including vacations or electronics for radio show hosts, giveaways for the stations listeners, or payments to cover station operating costs. This practice is illegal because it is a manipulation of consumer interests.

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. 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. A state where bribery has become a way of life is a kleptocracy.

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. However, such a relationship does not meet the legal standards for bribery without evidence of a quid pro quo. See also influence peddling and political corruption.

Medicine

Pharmaceutical corporations may seek to reward doctors for heavy prescription of their drugs through gifts. 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. Doubtful cases include grants for travelling 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.

Law

In legal situations, lawyers, judges, and others with power may be subject to bribery or payoff for making a decision that benefits someone willing to pay for favours. Operation Greylord revealed that bribery was rampant in the bench and bar community of Chicago in the early 1980s. In Jagdeo Singh v The State of Trinidad and Tobago (2005) UKPC 35, the Privy Council considered the conviction of a lawyer retained to represent a drug trafficker. It appeared that the client wished the lawyer to secure his release on bail by any means, including the bribery of the magistrate, the prosecutor, and any other public officer who might help. It was not suggested that the lawyer had ever made an improper approach to any public officer. However, in a complicated police operation, the lawyer was paid the large fee he had asked for. There was no doubt that the client and his agent had intended a part of that money to be used "corruptly" and would be liable. In Cooper v Slade (1858) 6 HLC 746, a case which concerned the bribery of voters under the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act 1854, Willes J. said, at p 773:

"I think the word 'corruptly' in this statute means not 'dishonestly', but in purposely doing an act which the law forbids as tending to corrupt voters, whether it be to give a pecuniary inducement to vote, or a reward for having voted in any particular manner. Both the giver and the receiver in such a case may be said to act 'corruptly'."

Further, it was not necessary to prove that any member, officer or servant of a public body was in fact aware of what was going on when the improper offer was made or the bribe was passed, provided that the apparent purpose of the transaction was to affect the conduct of such a person corruptly at some time in the future. Whether the lawyer might or might not have used the money corruptly was not relevant. That it had been accepted in circumstances where the expectation of corruption existed would normally be sufficient, but the conviction was unsafe for other reasons.

Business

Employees, managers, or salespeople of a business may offer money or gifts to a potential client 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 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.

Sport

Referees, and scoring judges may be offered money, gifts, or other compensation to guarantee a specific outcome in an athletic competition. 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.

Additionally, bribes may be offered by cities in order to secure athletic franchises, or even competitions, as happened with the 2002 Winter Olympics. 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. A classic example of this is the 1919 World Series, better known as the Black Sox Scandal.

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 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."

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Wrage,Alexandra Addison. 2007. Bribery and Extortion: Undermining Business, Governments, and Security. Praeger Security International General Interest. ISBN 978-0275996499

External links

• TRACE
• Transparency International
• Business Principles for Countering Bribery
• Interchange Solutions Limited

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