ABSTRACT
Criminal liability of legal persons was introduced in Portugal in 1984, as a means of combating financial crimes. The scope of liability is limited to specified economic offences such as bribery, tax fraud, false accounting and money-laundering. Article 3 of Decree-Law no. 28/84, which established the criminal responsibility of legal persons, provides:
1. Legal persons, companies and de facto associations are liable for the offences laid down in this Decree-Law when they are committed by their governing bodies or representatives on their behalf and in the collective interest.
