Prosecuting Corporations for International Crimes: The Role for Domestic Criminal Law

Abstract

This chapter aims to undertake an introductory exploration of some of the issues that arise from the introduction of domestic international crimes laws as a result of domestic implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and their potential in relation to corporate crime. Section I considers the growing trend toward extrajudicial jurisdiction over legal persons and, in particular, the impact of the domestic implementation of the Rome Statute on avenues for corporate criminal accountability. As the author is most familiar with the Australian jurisdiction, the Australian example is given throughout the chapter as an example of the trend. Section II then considers some resistances to the potential application of the new domestic international crimes laws in relation to corporate activity. This section considers the individualist tradition in criminal law, the demands regarding territoriality and predictability under doctrinal international law, and the possible arguments against extraterritorial criminal prosecutions from the perspective of foreign relations. The chapter concludes with a comment on a way forward in light of these resistances.

Keywords: corporations, international crimes, domestic criminal law, extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction, foreign relations

JEL Classification: K00, K14, K20, K33