Bribing politicians to be made a crime

The bribery of MPs or peers could be made a criminal offence for the first time under proposals put to Parliament by the Home Secretary Michael Howard last night.

In a contentious document published just as the Commons broke for its Christmas recess, Mr Howard said that everyone was "entitled to a greater degree of certainty" on the law relating to the bribery of members of both Houses of Parliament..

As things stand, it is thought that corrupt members might be convicted of the common law offence of misuse of public office.

But the Scots would be excluded from that because their common law is different, and some of the evidence that might be required for a conviction in England and Wales would be withheld from the courts under the Bill of Rights - which puts parliamentary proceedings beyond the jurisdiction of the courts.

Responding to a request from the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life - following a call for legislation from the Salmon Commission on Standards of Conduct in Public Life, made 20 years ago - Mr Howard asked both houses for their view on four options.

He said they could either leave matters as they were, with both houses to determine whether parliamentary privilege had been breached by members' bribery or corruption; subject members to the full force of the existing criminal law; divide jurisdiction between Parliament and the courts; or give Parliament the power to veto criminal prosecution.

Because of the messy fudge that would result from a division between the courts and Parliament, MPs and peers are effectively being asked to choose between doing nothing and allowing criminal prosecution.

Mr Howard listed four "drawbacks" to the do-nothing approach.

While the courts could impose sentences of up to seven years' imprisonment or unlimited fines under the Prevention of Corruption Acts, Parliament's maximum penalty was expulsion.

He also said that meant there could be no penalty for an MP who had already left the Commons; that "the investigative machinery available to Parliament is not comparable to that of a police investigation"; and that if MPs could not be prosecuted, then neither could those bribing, or being bribed by, them.

The most significant problem related to the making of parliamentary corruption a criminal offence, according to the paper, was the barrier created by the Bill of Rights; giving the courts power to determine whether a member's parliamentary actions were corrupt.

"To allow the courts such power over the conduct of Parliament would give rise to significant questions of constitutional principle," he said.

However, Mr Howard said: "It may be worthwhile considering further whether a general waiver for cases of bribery may be a compromise acceptable to Parliament and the public."