A Ltd & Orsi, R. v

Facts

A Ltd is a company incorporated in England and Wales, part of a multinational conglomerate operating in the power generation and transport sectors. In November 2000 X was appointed chairman and chief executive of A Ltd, while Y managed an Indian subsidiary within the Group. BK, a director of A Ltd, is not a defendant: a Swiss national in Switzerland, he refuses extradition as is his right under Swiss law and has declined to assist either the prosecution or the defence. The Serious Fraud Office alleges that between June 2000 and November 2006 A Ltd, through its directing minds X and BK, paid bribes from an English bank account to officials or agents of three foreign organisations in India, Poland and Tunisia to secure transport contracts, disguising the payments as fees under 'consultancy agreements' under which no genuine services were rendered. The respondents face a severed indictment of two conspiracy offences, a third awaiting resolution. Before His Honour Judge Pegden QC at Southwark Crown Court, the defence applied under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to exclude the evidence of BK and another director, JL. By a ruling of 11 May 2016 the judge appeared to reject that application, subject to a 'three-pronged test'; by a further ruling of 8 June 2016, made after a jury had been sworn, he excluded BK's notebook entries and admitted A Ltd's emails as business records. The prosecution sought leave to appeal that ruling as a terminating ruling.