NCJ Number
161918
Journal
Criminal Law Forum Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (1995) Pages: 219-256
Date Published
1995
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the substantive criminal law principles used for punishing corporations in Canada, the United States, and other jurisdictions concludes that a new approach is needed along the corporate-culture lines enacted in Australia's 1995 Criminal Code Act, although the system should be simpler and more aware of the need for restraint.
Abstract
The use of criminal sanctions against corporations is increasing in North America. Forty-two percent of the 200 corporate counsel recently surveyed revealed that their corporation had been the target of a criminal investigation. Corporations are now routinely held accountable for the misdeeds of their directors, managers, supervisors, independent contractors, and lowest-level employees. Like other countries, Canada has experienced pressure to enact tougher penal laws, although the country seems unique in that its Supreme Court asserts proof of act and fault as a constitutional standard. For some 50 years, Canadian courts have based corporate responsibility on the identification doctrine first developed by English courts. Among the possible options for reform, the most appropriate would be a modification of the model recently adopted for Federal crimes in Australia. Among the central principles would be the equal application to corporations and individuals of the standard proof beyond a reasonable doubt of an act and fault and the abandonment of automatic rules such as vicarious and absolute liability. Footnotes