Corporate Criminal Liability in Indonesia Anti-Corruption Law: Does It Work Properly?

Abstract

Abstract Since the way of doing corruption has evolved over time, there are likely possibilities for corporate entities to be involved in corruption activities and infringe the anti-corruption law. This paper endeavors to find justifications to criminalizing corporate entiti(es) from a law and economics perspective. This paper argues that it is ultimately efficient for a party not to be held criminally liable for another party’s culpable act, and thus it concludes that individual vicarious criminal liability is inefficient. Unlike individual vicarious liability, corporate vicarious criminal liability might be efficient. This paper will also explain how and why the implementation of the corporate criminal liability should be classified differently with the liability of corporate officers, particularly under the regime anti-corruption law, so that the distinction between the personal acts of a high ranking corporate officers and the act of corruption involving the corporation itself can be unequivocally distinguished. This paper also critically evaluates Indonesia’s regulation and formulation of corporate entity criminal liability which pursuant to the anti-corruption law and to further examine whether Indonesia’s anti-corruption law has achieved its purpose.