Perspectives on Corporate Criminal Liability

Abstract

The principle that corporations can be held criminally responsible for crimes committed on their behalf has been well established in Anglo-American law for more than a century. After exploring the historical and theoretical underpinnings of this phenomenon together with the deterrent and retributive rationales for imposing criminal liability on corporations, this article examines Justice Department policies regarding the prosecution and punishment of corporate crime and how those policies are implemented in practice.

Keywords: agency theory, corporate compliance programs, corporate crime, corporate persons, corporate prosecution rates, corporate punishment, deferred prosecution agreements, deterrence, due diligence defense, federal prosecution guidelines, fines, intent to benefit, organizational liability, probation,