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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Adopting Deferred Prosecution Agreement As A Non-Criminal Alternative in Corporate Criminal Liability for Corruption Offences in Malaysia

Nurazlina Abdul Raof, Nadia Omar, Rozita Othman

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v12-i9/14612

Open access

Civil and criminal mechanisms exist to combat corruption. Literature acknowledges the difficulty of successful corruption prosecutions due to the proof of beyond a reasonable doubt. Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are an alternative that encourage self-reporting of corruption by businesses, said to serve the interest of the public and the businesses. In Malaysia, failure to prevent corruption will expose the business organisations and the persons associated with them to an offence under Section 17A of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act). The MACC Act imposes a maximum fine of ten times the value of the bribe or RM1 million, whichever is higher or a 20 years’ maximum imprisonment, or both, subject to the adequate procedures’ defence. There is no DPAs mechanism in place. Hence, one of the pertinent issues is the viability of DPAs in Malaysia. This paper suggests the DPAs analysis as a non-criminal alternative vis-à-vis its adequacy and compatibility with the corporate liability offences in Malaysia. The investigation is significant in meeting the objectives of implementing corporate liability offences. The current legal system loopholes may be uncovered. The research outcome may assist the government, policymakers and stakeholders in understanding the applications of DPAs for corruption offences in Malaysia.

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In-Text Citation: (Raof et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Raof, N. A., Omar, N., & Othman, R. (2022). Adopting Deferred Prosecution Agreement As A Non-Criminal Alternative in Corporate Criminal Liability for Corruption Offences in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(9), 570 – 582.