France

Abstract

Since the introduction of the offense of bribery of foreign public officials under French law in 2000, France has made undeniable progress in combating corruption. Numerous reforms have then been adopted (expansion of the scope of criminal prosecution, facilitation of the seizure and confiscation of assets in criminal matters, increasing of possible penalties, creation of the National Financial Prosecutor, . . .). French law criminalizes active and passive bribery, private and public bribery, domestic and foreign/international bribery as well as influence peddling. Nevertheless, the OECD was particularly critical of France over the last years. The French legislature recently took such criticism into account and strove to make further progress in preventing, detecting, and punishing corruption in order to reach the highest international standards. Law No. 2016-1691, known as “Sapin II law,” recently enhanced the French anti-bribery system by introducing a new duty for certain companies and their executives to prevent bribery and influence peddling by implementing a compliance program to prevent and detect such offenses. Sapin II law therefore testifies to France’s determination to effectively fight corruption.