Criminal Liability of Corporations: A Comparative Approach to Corporate Criminal Liability in Common Law and Civil Law Countries

Abstract

Criminal liability of corporations became one of the most debated topics especially following the 1990s, when both the US and Europe faced an alarming number of environmental, antitrust, fraud, worker death, bribery, obstruction of justice, and financial crimes involving corporations. The reaction to this criminal phenomenon was the creation of judicial regimes that could deter and punish corporate wrongdoing. Corporate misconduct has been addressed by civil, administrative and criminal laws. Presently, most countries agree that corporations can be sanctioned under civil and administrative laws. However, the criminal liability of corporations has been more controversial. While several jurisdictions have accepted and applied the concept of CCL under various models, other law systems have not been able or willing to incorporate it. Some critics give arguments against its efficiency and consistency with the principles of criminal law; there are others, at the same time, who vigorously defend CCL. Different countries have adopted various models of CCL or refused to adopt any due to their particular historical, social, economic and political developments. Based on these developments, each country finds it appropriate to respond to the criminal behavior of companies in different ways. In this paper I distinguish the models of CCL developed in countries of common law systems, like US and UK, and the models in civil law system countries. These models have their advantages and disadvantages, however, some elements of both models should be considered for the purpose of creating a better model. This paper is organized in four chapters. The first chapter describes the concepts of corporate legal personality. It gives the theoretical basis for corporate criminal liability, as well as some types of corporate crimes. The second chapter develops the importance of CCL. Although CCL is a concept belonging more to criminal law than corporate law, in this research is emphasised its importance towards corporate law. Whereas, the third chapter provides a brief overview of the different traditions in the common law and civil law jurisdictions in relation to the principle and the form of CCL. In the last chapter it is discussed a comparative approach regarding to CCL in common law and civil law countries. The conclusion provides a summative evaluation for CCL emphasising the fact that powerful legal entities, such as corporations or companies must accept and abide by rules like natural persons.