Abstract
Assessing court sentencing approaches to persons convicted of white-collar crime is a complex task. For the purposes of this article, this research task involved assessing the appropriateness of sentences imposed within the proportionality principle during the period 2016 to 2021 in South Africa. This further involved the empirical use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, in order to determine how commercial courts – in this case, the Bellville Commercial (Regional) Court – impose a sentence on white-collar criminals. The article establishes that, in South Africa, categories of white-collar crime such as corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering are increasingly reported by the media, independent institutions and government. There is a public perception that courts are generally lenient in sentencing white-collar offenders. This article aims to determine the appropriateness of a sentence, within the principle of proportionality, for white-collar criminals, in order to deter this type of crime.
Highlights
White-collar crime as a concept was first coined by Edwin H
This article aims to determine the appropriateness of a sentence, within the principle of proportionality, for white-collar criminals, in order to deter this type of crime
In the South African context, this conceptualisation is useful, as it points to various categories of white-collar crime, including fraud, forgery, corruption, money laundering, racketeering and tax evasion, perpetrated by businesses, the political elite, or people of high status
Summary
White-collar crime as a concept was first coined by Edwin H. Sutherland in 1939 during his presidential address to the American Sociological Society.[1] According to Sutherland, a white-collar crime is a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation.[2] Criticism has been levelled against this conceptualisation. The debate that surrounds this subject is not the focus of this article. In the South African context, this conceptualisation is useful, as it points to various categories of white-collar crime, including fraud, forgery, corruption, money laundering, racketeering and tax evasion, perpetrated by businesses, the political elite, or people of high status
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