Acta Universitatis Danubius. Juridica, Vol 10, No 2 (2014)

Abstract

Academic reviews havehighlighted the problem of lack of clarity with Nigerian anti-bribery laws. Itis important for the criminal law to clearly state the mental element ofbribery. This would communicate to citizens, lawyers and judges what is wrongwith bribery. It would also provide a yardstick to distinguish between thesocio-cultural practice of gift-giving and bribery. This article analyses themental element of bribery in Nigeria and federal anti-bribery laws in UnitedStates of America. The analysis is undertaken with a view to drawing usefulinsight to propose reform of Nigerian anti-bribery laws.  The article finds that American laws betterclarifies the wrongful mental conduct that transforms gift-giving into bribery.Unlike Nigerian statutes that uses the undefined word “corruptly” to capturethe mental element of bribery,  Americanstatutes while using the word “corruptly” further captures the mental elementof bribery in terms of intention to use a bribe to influence officialaction.  The American approach if adoptedby the legislature to reform Nigerian anti-bribery laws would provide betterguidance to the courts, lawyers and laymen in understanding why the lawcriminalises bribery. It would also provide a platform to distinguish betweengift-giving and bribery.