The £3 billion plea deal offered by the Airbus to end the corruption probe has attracted the attention of prosecuting executives. Not holding offenders to account will definitely damage the public trust and confidence in the security system and will also give big companies more confidence to commit crimes. The UK, France, and the USA approved the deal tendered by Airbus after it admitted to using middlemen to pay bribes in order to secure aircraft contracts. This implies that Airbus is no longer convicted under the DPA, however, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office still holds the right to prosecute the executives of the company involved in the bribery.
According to Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive of Transparency International UK, individual prosecution is very important to ensure that justice is achieved. Allowing big companies o go unpunished when they commit a crime gives the impression that they operate under different laws. Big fines could be an effective way for companies to escape trials however, the CJIPs need to be assessed and improved now to ensure that offenders, regardless of their size, and status are brought under the law for appropriate legal actions. In France, CJIP is a very efficient tool that facilitates international cooperation in bribery cases.
