LEGISLATING CORPORATE INTEGRITY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PAKISTAN'S ANTI-CORRUPTION FRAMEWORK AND THE UK BRIBERY ACT 2010

Abstract

Corruption within the corporate sector remains one of the most persistent obstacles to economic development, foreign investment, and institutional legitimacy in Pakistan. While the country has enacted a patchwork of anti-corruption instruments over the past seven decades, none has been designed specifically to regulate corrupt conduct within business corporations, and none imposes a corporate duty to prevent bribery originating from within the organisation. This article critically examines Pakistan's existing anti-corruption legislation   including the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947, the Eradication of Corrupt Business Practices Ordinance 1998, the Companies Act 2017, and the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and evaluates their capacity to address corporate bribery. It then undertakes a comparative analysis of the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010, with particular emphasis on Section 7's offence of failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery and the accompanying “adequate procedures” defence. Drawing on the experience of the UAE, Canada, and Australia, each of which has incorporated failure-to-prevent style provisions into its own law, the article argues that Pakistan should adopt a comparable corporate offence, supported by internationally recognised compliance standards such as ISO 37001, and aligned with its obligations under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The article concludes with a set of legislative and institutional recommendations intended to close the accountability gap that currently allows corporate corruption in Pakistan to go largely unpunished