The corporate criminal liability for officers of the companies in Maltese legislation : a comparative study with Italy and the United Kingdom

Abstract

This dissertation sets out to research the Corporate Criminal Liability for Officers of Companies in Maltese Legislation - A Comparative Study with Italy and the United Kingdom. It aims at establishing a possible trigger model of when such officers become criminally liable in Malta as compared to Italy and the United Kingdom. To do this, the dissertation, relied on qualitative research to gain a stronger understanding of the underlying principles of this subject. This method helped develop an understanding of the opinions and philosophies of legal scholars, and to arrive to possible conclusions that are based on strong theoretical knowledge. In the Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta, Corporate Criminal Liability is determined according to offences, which at the time of performance, the subject persons of the company, or any other person with power of representation made decisions on behalf of the ‘corporation’, a term that refers to companies and any other legal entity. It is sometimes regarded as an aspect of criminal vicarious liability. The focus on Italy is because, the Maltese Criminal Code initially derived from the Italian Penal Code of 1889. Similarly, the United Kingdom was chosen due its introduction of legal institutions and principles during the British Colonial Rule locally, from which financial and company legislation derived. In Italy, corporate criminal liability is regulated by Legislative Decree No.231 of 8th June 2001.While,in the United Kingdom, two important legislations have been created to overcome the historical difficulty in establishing corporate criminal liability by creating specific corporate offences: The Corporate Manslaughter (Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, 2007) and the Bribery (Bribery Act 2010). This research will allow us to understand the similarities and differences within the Maltese, Italian and British jurisdictions, and identifies the possible triggers of CCL and when officers become liable for their offences.