Core elements of corporate policies as the foundation of the organizational deficit in corporate criminal liability

Abstract

The various contributions in the current discussion on the criminal liability of companies have focused on the development of the element of the organizational deficit as a foundation of corporate criminal liability, particularly in the continental legal tradition. The legal doctrine has generally identified the organizational defect with issues of deficits in corporate structures or cultures. However, the focus of this research places emphasis on the study of illegal corporate policies and how these policies can encourage or favor the commission of crimes by members of the corporation. In this article, I maintain that the legal professionals should consider the policies as a third way of substantiating the organizational deficit within the framework of the company's criminal liability, and that policies do not always have timely consideration through organizational deficits of a structural or cultural nature.