ABSTRACT

Using the criminal law to prevent and punish corporate wrongdoing has traditionally been fraught with difficulty. Indeed, the criminal law frequently plays at best a minor role in controlling and responding to corporate illegality.1 This comes as no surprise to academic observers:

Even when a formal criminal prosecution is undertaken, corporate defendants are well-positioned to defend themselves. Large companies are able to hire the best lawyers, secure ‘professional’ expert witnesses, and engage in delaying tactics that will outlast the political pressure that prompted the government to initiate a prosecution in the first place … The lesson seems to be that the criminal justice system, as presently constituted, is simply not a viable forum for tackling corporate wrongdoing.2