"UK corporate liability regime ‘not fit for purpose in the 21st century’", 8 March 2017

Criminal law reform is needed if Theresa May is to deliver on her ambition of getting tough on irresponsible behaviour in big business...Organisations including Amnesty International, Corruption Watch, CORE Coalition and Traidcraft are calling for criminal law reform to enable prosecutors to go after large firms accused of involvement in global corruption and human rights abuses.  Under current laws, proposed prosecutions must pass the so-called ‘directing mind’ test, with proof needed that senior board level executives intended misconduct to occur.  The Law Commission has said this makes it ‘impossibly difficult’ to prosecute large firms...Fines imposed in the US for both these scandals were 84% higher than those imposed in the UK mainly because the US was able to impose criminal as well as regulatory sanctions.  The call for reform comes ahead of a House of Lords debate on the Criminal Finances Bill...MPs...tabled amendments to the bill in the Commons to have this extended to ‘failure to prevent economic crime’...Human rights groups are hopeful that legal reform will also lead to British companies being prosecuted for serious human rights abuses in their global operations...