Proposed new laws offering the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) more options for dealing with corporate crime have been released for public consultation.
The draft Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) Scheme Code of Practice would allow the CDPP to offer corporations alleged to have committed certain serious corporate crimes the opportunity to negotiate an agreement to comply with a range of specified conditions.
Announcing the initiative, Attorney-General, Christian Porter said the conditions could include a requirement to pay a financial penalty, compensate any victims, improve a compliance program and cooperate in other investigations and prosecutions.
Mr Porter said that if the company fulfils the conditions of the DPA, it would not be prosecuted for the offences specified in the Agreement.
He said similar schemes had been used to great effect in the United Kingdom and the United States.
“This draft Code provides detailed information on the practical operation of the scheme, including the likely terms of a DPA and the circumstances in which the CDPP might consider offering a company a DPA,” Mr Porter said.
He said the Code would complement the existing legislative framework contained in the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2017, which is currently before Parliament.
“The Government is seeking views from the community to ensure that the Code provides effective guidance on the proposed scheme,” Mr Porter said.
“Feedback provided throughout this consultation process will inform the finalisation of the Code prior to publication.”
Submissions will be received until 9 July and the 25-page draft Code of Practice can be accessed at this PS News link.
