Corporate Criminal Liability as a Third Track

Abstract

For this book project, a topic was chosen which causes quite a stir internationally—from Japan to Argentina and Mexico, from Finland to Turkey. This topic indeed has lead and is leading to numerous debates and reforms all over the world. In Germany, however, the topic is categorically rejected both by the lex lata and by the majority of—mostly older—scholars. The European Union has long been calling for dissuasive and effective sanctions against corporations. Apart from Germany, only Greece, Italy and a few Eastern-European member states of the European Union still think that these supranational demands may be met by administrative sanctions.

As to my thoughts on the liability of legal persons and corporations: After a brief historical introduction, my contribution will start with a question of both European law and of European criminal policy—a question which is too rarely asked: Do administrative sanctions actually deter economic actors, and which conditions influence the effectiveness of such sanctions? Then, I will address in more detail the main question; specifically, I will explain the opportunities given by a comparative analysis by criminal law scholars in order to properly solve the issue at stake. Finally, I will conclude with a brief summary, which takes the form of a legislative model.

Based on the keynote speech delivered at the 3rd AIDP Symposium for Young Penalists, hosted by the LMU Munich, 12–14 June 2013.