The UK’s chief legal adviser pledged a “forensic and robust” review of the Serious Fraud Office’s botched handling of a bribery case as it weighs making changes at the country’s top fraud prosecutor.
The probe will focus on disclosure failings as well as contact with third-parties, Attorney General Suella Braverman said on Wednesday. A report containing the findings of the review will be completed by the end of May and will provide recommendations on changes.
Braverman announced the review last year after becoming “deeply concerned” following a ruling which found serious failings in a major bribery investigation. One of the convictions in the Unaoil case was quashed while the judges criticized the prosecutor for its interactions with a US fixer and for not disclosing key documents.
Sir David Calvert-Smith, a former director of public prosecutions and High Court judge, will lead the review. Braverman said she’s “confident he will be forensic and robust.”
“I announced this review on the day of the judgment as it was clear to me that swift action was needed,” Braverman said. “We must ensure lessons are learned so that the failings we saw in the Unaoil case can never happen again.”
A spokesperson for the SFO said it will fully cooperate with the review.
In last year’s ruling, judges described the prosecutor’s dealings with an unofficial fixer for the family which owned Unaoil as “wholly inappropriate” and said its refusal to provide key documents in the case was a “serious failure.” While “some of the documents had a clear potential to embarrass the SFO,” the judges also said they weren’t suggesting any SFO official “deliberately sought to cover anything up.”
Braverman said one of the things the review will consider is what changes are necessary to address any wider issues with the SFO’s procedures and related culture. The probe comes at a tricky time for the agency and its director Lisa Osofsky, following a string of failings including the collapse of its trial against two former Serco Group directors.