AG hands down new rules for bribery law

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz yesterday handed down new procedures for enforcing the law against bribing foreign officials that was enacted in mid-2008. The police must investigate any allegation, wheter deriving from a complaint, press report or request by a foreign country. The police must consider the identity and motivation of the complainant, whether financial or nationalist, for example.

Some businessmen argue that it's impossible to do business in certain developing nations without "sweetening" local officials. But when enacting the law last year the Knesset decided that financial and business priorities must be subordinate to ethical considerations, and bribing officials is a no-no.

International cooperation is crucial to enforcement of the law, Mazuz says. He also suggests the police to consider seizing bribe money or revenues derived from a bribe, as a deterrent. When possible, companies and executives would be prosecuted, he said.

The defense and foreign ministries have been instructed to cooperate with the police and give them any relevant information they have. Mazuz's directive has also probably been passed on to the Mossad.

The decision on whether to launch an investigation or drop a case is to be made by the police's chief of investigations and intelligence, while keeping the attorney general's office in the loop. If an investigation is launched, the attorney general's office would receive a detailed written recommendation on whether an indictment should be filed.

The law was born out of the international crusade against corruption. Israel has signed two anti-corruption treaties, one by the United Nations and the other by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry said that the attorney general had pushed for Israel to join the treaties; that doing so expresses the sentiment in these treaties and that efforts to eradicating bribery and corruption are key to creating an international climate free from these ills.