If your business is under investigation for corporate crime, it is crucial to seek legal counsel without delay.
In recent years, several legislative measures have been introduced to enhance the framework for establishing corporate criminal liability. Three significant laws have aimed to address the historical challenges in proving corporate criminal liability by creating specific corporate offenses:
Before the Bribery Act 2010, various bribery offenses existed within English law. The 2010 Act introduced a new corporate criminal offense for the "failure to prevent" bribery by associated parties. The term "associated parties" is broadly defined and can include third-party intermediaries and agents. This complexity requires companies to remain vigilant regarding the actions of third parties who provide goods and services.
Businesses must adopt a risk-based approach when appointing and monitoring intermediaries. Regular audits and monitoring systems should be implemented to ensure that interactions between the company and any intermediaries comply with the Act.
Under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, businesses can be held criminally liable if their intermediaries, agents, or associated persons facilitate tax evasion by a taxpayer, whether in the UK or abroad. These offenses are largely derived from a similar corporate offense established in the Bribery Act 2010.
Companies are required to implement appropriate measures to prevent tax evasion, which should be proportionate to the risks faced by the business. These measures are known as Reasonable Prevention Procedures (RPP). A defense can be mounted if a company can demonstrate that it had sufficient RPP in place to deter tax evasion. Many businesses are unaware of this obligation and may inadvertently violate it.
An organization can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter if its operations or management practices lead to the death of one or more individuals. It must also be demonstrated that there was a gross breach of the duty of care owed by the organization to the deceased.
Prosecutions for corporate manslaughter are infrequent due to the high burden of proof required. The defendant must be a qualifying organization that owed a relevant duty of care to the deceased. It must be shown that there was a gross breach of duty by the organization, and that the management's actions significantly contributed to this breach, which either caused or contributed to the death.
Corporate crime encompasses a wide range of potential prosecutions beyond those mentioned above. Companies may also face criminal charges for various activities, including violations of environmental regulations, modern slavery laws, fraud, and money laundering.
