1.1 Deferred prosecution agreements in the UK

Deferred prosecution agreements (“DPA(s)”) were imported into the laws of England and Wales (hereafter “UK” for ease) from a United States (“US”) model.1 Originally created as a rehabilitative method of sanctioning individuals, the tool thereafter developed in the US into a corporate penalty tool, as an alternative method of criminally penalising companies (Section 4.1). In the UK – crucially – DPAs are only available to a body corporate, a partnership, or an unincorporated association, and are not available to individuals.2 A DPA can be agreed with multiple companies, though in such circumstances each company will sign a separate DPA with the prosecutor. A DPA is an agreement between a company suspected3 to have committed a criminal act and a prosecuting agency (in the UK: the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) or Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”)). Proceedings are instituted by preferring a bill of indictment for the underlying criminal offence(s), but deferred on the basis that the terms within the agreement are observed.