Anglo-american Corporate Criminal Liability Theory

Corporate criminal liability not only is one of the most profound and complicated issues in the study of criminal law, but also has great significance in the legal practice. In China, there are still lots of disputes on corporate criminal issue, such as subject qualification, specific rules and regulations, theoretical basis, etc. This dissertation takes Anglo-American law system, which has a longer and more profound research on this issue, as a example, expatiates on the history, the status quo and the latest developments of corporate criminal liability in England and the United States, hoping that it can provide a new angle of view or reference for the study of similar issue in China.The dissertation is divided into three sections.The first section is "The History of Corporate Criminal Liability in England and the United States". We regard the investigating of corporate liability in "Public Hazard Cases Due to Nonfeasance", "Unlawful Act Cases" and "Intentional Crimes" in England and the USA as a clue, and give a historical review of corporate criminal liability in England and the United States.The second section is "The Status quo of corporate criminal liability in England and the United States". It analyses The Doctrine of Respondent Superior, The Doctrine of Criminal Liability in The Modal Penal Code and Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual in America, and also introduces Theory of the Organs of the Corporation in England.The third section is "The latest developments of corporate criminal liability in England and the United States". This section gives an analysis of new theoretical trends through animadverting on temporary corporate criminal liability basis, and introduces "Reactive corporate crime", "Corporation Personality Theory" as well as the viewpoint of giving a denial to the investigation of corporate criminal liability on the basis of the economical research findings.At last, we give a brief introduction and appraisal of the issue of corporate criminal liability in China.