Corporate liability and white-collar crime: Comparative review

Abstract

The aim of the research was to analyze academic approaches to understanding the legal nature of white-collar crime and what crimes it includes; based on this understanding, the model of corporate criminal liability was investigated to place it in various law enforcement contexts. Throughout the article, appropriate research methods have been used, such as: comparative law method, systemic-structural method, formal-legal method. Based on the results of the detailed comparative analysis, it has been established that there are no unified standards or models for both white-collar crime and corporate criminal liability. Furthermore, it has been argued that the concept of fraud (deception) constitutes the key element of white-collar crime and is also the foundation of most corporate crimes. In the conclusions, it is argued that corporate criminal liability in the United States, and to a lesser extent in some European countries (including Ukraine), is a powerful law enforcement tool capable of protecting society from massive crimes as well as deterring corporations from unlawful deviations.