Prevention of Corruption Act 1906

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The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

This Act makes it a misdemeanour subject to imprisonment up to 7 years:

for an agent to obtain a consideration as an inducement or reward for doing any act, or showing favour or disfavour to any person, in relation to his principal's affairs.
for any person to give a consideration to an agent to induce him to do an act in relation to his principal's affairs.
for any person or agent to knowingly falsify receipts, accounts or other documents with the intent to deceive the principal.

An agent is any person employed by or acting for another, and the principal is the person he is employed by or acting for. Anyone working for the government counts as an agent.

In 2002, Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 extended this law for England, Wales and Northern Ireland internationally so that it could be exercised in cases where neither the agent's nor the principal's affairs had any connection with the UK. An equivalent change was made for Scotland by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.

A prosecution in England, Wales or Northern Irelandfor an offence under this Act cannot be instituted without the consent of the Attorney-General. This provides him with the power to discontinue an investigation that is working towards a prosecution under this Act.