The King v Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal concerning the sentencing of Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd for offences under the *Criminal Code* (Cth), specifically conspiracy to offer bribes to foreign public officials. The dispute centred on the calculation of the maximum monetary penalty prescribed by s 70.2(5)(b) of the *Criminal Code*, which allows for a penalty up to three times the value of the benefit obtained by the body corporate that is reasonably attributable to the offending conduct. The parties agreed that the "benefit" included securing construction contracts and the money received for performing those contracts.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether s 70.2(5)(b) required the value of the benefit obtained by the respondent to be calculated as the gross amount received under the secured contracts, or if deductions for costs incurred in performing those contracts were permissible. This question involved the interpretation of the phrase "value of the benefit" and what was "reasonably attributable" to the conduct constituting the offence.

The High Court, in a joint judgment, found no basis in the text, context, or purpose of s 70.2(5)(b) to confine the ordinary meaning of "benefit" by allowing for deductions of costs. The Court reasoned that the value of the money received under the contracts, at the time of receipt, was the full amount, and any further value accruing from the use of that money was also reasonably attributable to the offence. Consequently, the maximum penalty should have been calculated as three times the gross amount of money received under the contracts, which was $10,130,354, leading to a maximum penalty of $30,391,062.

The High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the order of the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales that dismissed the appeal against sentence for sequence three, and remitted the matter to that Court for redetermination of that part of the appeal.