Core Crimes and Transnational Business Corporations

Abstract

International criminal law for long has been concerned with the conduct of individual natural persons, leaving aside the question of whether legal persons such as transnational business corporations also have obligations in respect of core crimes. While currently there is no international court or tribunal that can exercise criminal jurisdiction over private legal persons for core crimes, this does not mean that the prohibitions underlying these crimes are not binding on transnational business corporations. Post-World War II case law indicates that the obligations of such entities are not limited to crimes that have an economical dimension; depending on the circumstances of the case, business corporations may be involved in any core crime. However, the contextual elements of crimes against humanity and war crimes and the special intent required for the crime of genocide limit the scope of core crimes to extraordinary situations and generally will require the involvement of state or state-like actors. The possibility of liability for the crime of aggression is even more restricted; obligations arise only if transnational business corporations assume a leadership role.