Welcoming the proposals outlined in the Report, Mark Pyman, leader of TI (UK)’s defence sector programme, stated: “The proposals, if rigorously and consistently implemented and monitored, should go a long way towards reducing the company’s vulnerability to corruption.”

However, TI (UK) criticised elements of the report, including the Committee’s failure to require enhanced safeguards in the new Salaam contract with Saudi Arabia, and its relatively soft stance on "hospitality and gifts."

Laurence Cockcroft, Chairman of TI (UK) said “this is an important first step for BAE Systems in rebuilding its damaged reputation. The litmus test for the company is rigorous and uniform application of these important recommendations. I hope the Committee will agree to meet in one year’s time to assess the company’s progress in turning these recommendations into practice.”

Prior to the release of the Woolf report, the UK Administrative Court ruled on 10 April that the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted unlawfully by discontinuing the criminal investigation of BAE in relation to the Al Yamamah contract in Saudi Arabia.

In a press release on 10 April, TI (UK) called for the Director of the SFO to reopen the case against BAE. The chapter also urged the British government to abandon attempts to give the Attorney General the power to interfere with SFO cases in the interests of self-defined “national security” as part of its draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, as the 10 April judgement made it doubtful that such a provision would be constitutional.

On the international front, the chapter recommended that the Ministry of Justice respond to a 10-month old request from the US Department of Justice for legal assistance with their investigation of the Al Yamamah contract, and work constructively to fulfil its international anti-corruption obligations, including those in the Anti-Bribery Convention.

TI (UK) also praised the role of the Courts in the case. Cockcroft said “the Courts in the UK have also demonstrated, internationally, what an independent judiciary can and will do where legally required to strengthen poor governance.”

On 22 April, TI (UK) joined with ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Global Witness and Oxfam in urging the British government not to seek an appeal of the judgment. In a press release, the organisations stated: “On the world stage, the UK stands accused of hypocrisy for prescribing governance reforms in developing countries in receipt of its development assistance, whilst failing to enforce anti-corruption laws at home. We believe that any move by the Government to seek an appeal, or to pressurise the SFO to do so, would compound the reputational damage to the UK. It would also undermine implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, where tensions between developed and developing countries have already slowed progress.”

To read TI UK's detailed analysis of the Woolf Committee recommendations, please click here.

To read the Woolf Committe's report, please click here.