ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the manner in which the law has developed rules to provide for corporate criminal liability under the general law and reviews the statutory rules which have been developed in order to apply principles of criminal liability to corporations. In addition to the mechanisms available under the general law, statutory regimes may also provide particular rules for determining corporate criminal liability. The specific provisions of the Corporations Act which relate to corporate criminal liability for insider trading are addressed in order to provide a clear context for the later topics, as is the civil penalty regime as it applies to insider trading. Determining the manner in which criminal liability should be imposed on corporations has long proved to be a complex and vexed legal issue. The common law has attempted to address the issue of corporate liability for crimes in two primary ways: through principles of vicarious liability and through direct liability, incorporating the identification doctrine.
