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Second witness statement of Robert Wardle, Director of Serious Fraud Office

A second witness statement from the Director of the Serious Fraud (SFO), Robert Wardle, was released in the High Court on Thursday 14 February 2008 during the judicial review hearing brought by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and The Corner House into his decision to terminate the SFO's BAE-Saudi investigation.

New documents reveal BAE pressured government to halt corruption investigation

This press release highlights the documents released in the High Court on 14 February 2008 revealing that Britain's biggest arms company, BAE Systems, wrote to the Attorney General on a "strictly private and confidential" basis urging him to halt the Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations that BAE had bribed Saudi officials to secure the Al Yamamah arms deal.

Note on draft Constitutional Renewal Bill for OECD

The UK Government's draft Constitutional Renewal Bill proposes to create a new power for a political appointee and member of the Government, the Attorney General, to stop a criminal investigation or prosecution on the grounds of 'national security' without explanation or accountability to Parliament, the Courts or international bodies.

Government proposes legislation to make BAE-Saudi corruption judicial review impossible in future

Even before the judgement has been given on the landmark judicial review of the decision by the UK's Serious Fraud Office to halt its BAE-Saudi Arabia corruption investigation, the UK Government has introduced draft legislation whose effect would be to prevent in future such a judicial review -- and even such an investigation. The Corner House and CAAT are calling upon the public and parliamentarians to voice their concerns about the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill.

How Carbon Trading Undermines Positive Approaches to the Climate Crisis

Carbon trading proponents often assert that trading is merely a way of finding the most cost-effective means of reaching an emissions goal and a source of funding that leaves everything else exactly as it is. In fact, carbon trading undermines a number of existing and proposed positive measures for tackling climate change.

Toward a Different Debate in Environmental Accounting

Al Gore and many other mainstream environmentalists suggest that calculating and internalizing 'externalities' is the solution to environmental problems. Some critics counter that the spread of market-like calculations into 'nonmarket' spheres is itself a cause of environmental problems. In the course of a study of two real-world examples, carbon accounting and cost-benefit analysis, this article (published in the journal Accounting, Organizations and Society) proposes a possible way of getting beyond this stalled debate.

Hacia un debate diferente en la contabilidad ambiental: Los casos de la contabilidad de carbono y el análisis costo-beneficio

Al Gore y muchos otros ambientalistas de la corriente dominante afirman que la solución a los problemas ambientales es calcular e interiorizar las “externalidades”. Algunos críticos no están de acuerdo y dicen que la causa de los problemas ambientales es precisamente la expansión de la contabilidad mercantil hacia las esferas “ajenas al mercado”. Este articulo (de la revista Accounting, Organizations and Society) propone, a través de dos estudios de caso – los mercados de carbono y el análisis de costo-beneficio –, una salida de este debate improductivo.

Summary of and guide to

On 10 April 2008, Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan ruled that the decision of the Director of the Serious Fraud Office to drop an investigation into alleged bribes by BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia was unlawful. This is a summary and analysis of that judgment prepared by The Corner House.

Directions Hearing Judgment

On 17 January 2008, Lord Justice Moses finalised the grounds on which The Corner House and Campaign Against Arms Trade could bring its judicial review, the disclosure of documents from the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, and the costs to be paid by both parties.

Statement from CAAT and The Corner House

The Corner House and Campaign Against Arms Trade held a press conference at the offices of the groups' solicitors, Leigh Day & Co, following the High Court ruling in response to the judicial review brought by both groups. This statement was read out at the press conference.

Final judgment

On 10 April 2008, Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan ruled that the decision of the Director of the Serious Fraud Office to drop an investigation into alleged bribes by BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia was unlawful. This is their 42-page judgment.