Potential reform of corporate criminal liability for economic crime

On 13 January 2017 the Ministry of Justice ("MoJ") published a call for evidence ("CfE") regarding potential reform of the law concerning corporate criminal liability in respect of economic crime. This publication is the latest development concerning a potential new offence of failure to prevent economic crime, which was first announced by David Cameron in May 2016.

The purpose of the CfE is to enable the MoJ to obtain evidence as to whether reform of the law of corporate criminal liability is required, and if so, what form this should take.  If the government determines that reform is required following the CfE then the next stage will be a full consultation on a detailed proposal and draft legislation – likely to take place sometime in the summer of 2017.  The changes that may result from this process have the potential to be very significant for corporates, and the fact that there will be full consultation and scrutiny of the proposals is welcome, including the opportunity to engage at this early stage by responding to the CfE.

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