My colleague Mathieu Doublet posted on the subject of debarment from public contracts, and a comparison between the position in the UK /EU and the position in the US on 27th April 2011.
Since Mathieu’s post the British government has passed a statutory instrument relating to debarment, The Bribery Act 2010 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2011. Like the Bribery Act itself, it comes into force on 1st July 2011.
Regulation 23(1) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 is amended in order to insert references under sections 1 and 6 of the Bribery Act.
This means that there is automatic debarment from public tendering for offences under Sections 1 and 6 of the Bribery Act. This was also the position under the old (still existing) corruption laws. It doesn’t seem to allow for later rehabilitation.
There are other ways in which people can be debarred from public contracts, too numerous to mention here but generally involving offences of dishonesty.
Section 7, the corporate offence, is not mentioned in this statutory instrument. It is not clear whether this is still the subject of further consideration by the government.
We will post further reports on this topic as it develops.