WORKING TO END CORRUPT PRACTICES

Building on more than a decade of CBA work in the areas of anti-bribery and proceeds of crime, we advocate on behalf of the legal profession to end corrupt legal practices. Our focus? The implementation and enforcement of corruption legislation, including the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, the U.K.’s Bribery Act, and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as how lawyers interact with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. 

PROCEEDS OF CRIME

In the much-anticipated decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada held that those sections of Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and related regulations that would have required lawyers to gather and retain extensive information on their clients and that authorized warrantless searches of law offices were unconstitutional, providing insufficient protection to solicitor-client privilege. The CBA intervened at every stage of the proceedings, maintaining that those sections of the Act which applied to lawyers and law firms threatened solicitor-client privilege and the independence of the bar. 

WHAT WE DO

The CBA-ACT:

• monitors and responds to matters involving corrupt practices
• provides an educational resource centre for Canadian lawyers to learn about anti-corruption law. 
• provides advice and recommends positions and policy to support the effective development of anti-corruption law in Canada
• fosters partnerships that will enhance the CBA-ACT’s work for the benefit of Canadian lawyers