Corporate Criminal Liability, 4th Edition

Part I: Principles of Liability

• Historical background
• Early development
• The doctrine of identification
• The principle of delegation

Part II: Directors’ Liability

• Civil Law
• ‘Lifting the corporate veil’
• Personal liability of director, manager or officer of the Company – Common Law
• Conspiracy
• Personal Liability of director, manager or officer of the Company – Statutory offences
• Consent, Connivance and neglect
• The company as victim

Part III: Corporations and Criminal Procedure

Jurisdictions over corporations

• Territorial Jurisdiction – General Rule
• (a) the ‘last act’ or terminatory rule
• Comity rule
• Extensions of Jurisdiction – dishonesty, forgery and blackmail.
• Conspiracy
• Attempts 
• Incitement
• Extension of jurisdiction for specific offences
• Aviation offences
• Offences at Sea
• Channel tunnel
• Computer misuse
• Customs and excise offences
• European Union Tax offences
• Manslaughter

Proceedings in criminal courts

• Commencement of proceedings
• Limitation of proceedings
• Institution of proceedings requiring particular consents
• Issue of summons
• Service of the summons
• Summonising the wrong defendant
• Representation at court
• Categorisation of offences by trial venue 
• Summary only offences
• Offences triable either way
• Committal proceedings
• Voluntary Bill of Indictment
• Indictable-only offences
• Preliminary hearing 
• Transfer of serious fraud cases 
• Preparatory hearings 
• Preparatory hearings in long or complex cases
• Interlocutory appeals

Restraint, confiscation orders and asset recovery

• The criminal confiscation regime
• Restraint orders under Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
• Restraint orders and corporations
• Piercing the corporate veil
• Tipping-off and other offences
• Civil Recovery
• The statutory scheme under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
• Receivers
• Third party rights
• Recovery orders

Sentencing Corporate Defendants

• Factual basis of sentence 
• Taking offences into consideration
• Sentencing venue
• Types of disposal
• Fines –general principles
• Means of the offender
• Levels of fine
• Relevant sentencing features 
• • Compensation orders
  • Restitution orders
  • Absolute and conditional discharge
  • Deferred sentence
  • Remedial orders
  • Forfeiture orders
  • Disqualification of company directors
• Sentencing corporate defendants in other jurisdictions

Costs

• Defendants’ costs – from central funds
• Appealing against costs orders
• The exercise of the discretion
• Defendants’ costs from the prosecution 
• Prosecution costs – from central funds
• Against a defendant
• Costs awarded against legal representatives
• Corporation funding legal costs of individuals

Part IV: Corporations and Human Rights

• General principles of application
• • Margin of appreciation
  • Compatibility 
  • Proportionality
• The definition of a criminal charge
• The presumption of innocence and reverse burdens
• Strict liability
• Legal and evidential burdens on the defendant
• The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998
• Reverse burdens in regulatory offences
• Privilege against self-incrimination 
• Brown v Stott
• Derivative use
• Corporate defendants and ‘due process’ rights
• Application of other Convention Rights to corporations
• No retroactivity 
• Certainty 
• Fist Protocol : Article 1

Part V: Specific Offences

Corporate manslaughter

• Historical position 
• Attorney General’s reference No.2 of 1999
• Law Commission’s report no.237: Legislating the criminal code: Involuntary Manslaughter
• The ambit of the commission
• The options for extending liability
• The Commission’s recommendations – corporate manslaughter
• The individual offences of Unintentional Killing  - Reckless killing
• Killing by gross carelessness
• The Government’s proposals: response to the Law Commission
• Potential defendants
• Liability of individuals
• Insolvency or dissolution of companies
• Liability within groups of companies
• Who should prosecute
• Territorial jurisdiction
• On conviction: individual disqualification
• Remedial action
• Conclusion

Companies Act offences

• General provisions
• Consent, connivance or neglect
• ‘Company’
• ‘Body corporate’ and ‘corporation’
• ‘Subsidiary’, ‘holding company’ and ‘wholly-owned subsidiary’
• Destroying, mutilating or falsifying documents – s.450
• Failing to produce required documents or explanations – s.447
• Furnishing false information – s.451
• Using company’s money to acquire shares directly or indirectly 
• Directors’ loans
• Accounting and audit offences

Insolvency

• Summary proceedings: where and when
• Criminal Liability of individuals
• Consent, connivance and neglect
• Fraud etc. In anticipation of winding up – s.206
• Transactions in fraud of creditors – s.207
• Misconduct in course of winding up - .s208
• Falsification of company’s books  - .s.209
• Material omissions from statement relating to company’s affairs – s.210
• False representation to creditors – s.211
• Restriction on re-use of company names – s.216
• Due to co-operate with office holder in a winding up 
• Moratorium offences

Financial Services & Markets Act 2000

• Regulation
• Financial provision
• False claims to be exempt from the general prohibition
• Listing particulars
• Publication of prospectus 
• Failure to comply with requirements 
• Failure to notify changes of control
• Consumer Credit act business
• Providing misleading information
• Consent, connivance and neglect
• Market rigging, misleading statements and practice
• Defences
• Disclosure of information
• Insider dealing 
• Market abuse

Fraudulent trading

• S.458 Companies Act 1985 – fraudulent trading
• Carrying on of business
• Fraudulent intent
• Fraud on creditors
• Any fraudulent purpose
• Party to carrying on business
• Sentence

False accounting

• Theft Act 1968 s.17
• Dishonesty
• With a view to gain for himself or another
• With intent to cause loss
• Any account of  record or document made or required for any accounting purpose
• False statements by company directors and officers – s.19 Theft Act 1968
• Participation by undischarged bankrupt in corporate affairs

Corruption

• Introduction
• Bribery and corruption at common law
• The public bodies corrupt practices act 1889
• Public Body
• Inducements and rewards
• Corruptly
• Corruption of Agents: the prevention of corruption act 1906
• Agent