FRANCE / PORTUGAL – The 46-country OECD Working Group on Bribery is seriously concerned that Portugal has not addressed long-standing recommendations on key elements of its legal framework on foreign bribery, particularly in relation to the liability of legal persons and to sanctions, in its implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (Anti-Bribery Convention).
Regarding Portugal’s available sanctions against natural persons for foreign bribery offences, it has not amended Article 7 of Law 20/2008 to impose fines in addition to imprisonment. This is despite the Working Group raising this concern over ten years ago as part of the Phase 3 evaluation (in 2013) and Phase 4 evaluation (in 2022) of Portugal’s implementation of the Anti-Bribery Convention and related OECD instruments.
On liability of legal persons, Portugal has not repealed the defence of acting against express orders, despite concerns the Working Group highlighted as early as 2007 in Portugal’s Phase 2 evaluation, and reiterated in Phases 3 and 4, that this defence could create a loophole for companies to escape liability for foreign bribery under Portuguese law.
These issues are compounded by the weak enforcement against legal persons in foreign bribery cases, and they raise critical concerns about Portugal’s ability to effectively hold natural and legal persons liable for foreign bribery.
The Working Group urges Portugal to promptly address these long-standing legal framework issues and to boost its enforcement against legal persons in foreign bribery cases. Portugal is invited to update the Working Group on these issues in December 2024.
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