ABSTRACT
As the so-called authority for the fictionist theory of corporations, the common law decision in Lennard’s [1915] was odd in that it emerged in stark contrast to the realist theories that were popular at the time. Said to be expressed by Viscount Haldane in his “identification principle” of corporate liability, it would have been contrary to his own philosophical beliefs and, given the weight of authority regarding both the agency of corporations and the imposition of corporate criminal liability, it would have marked a significant departure in the law.
