Source · Select Committees · Treasury Committee
Recommendation 49
49
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 211
We are disappointed that the Government has not yet implemented reform of corporate criminal liability.
Recommendation
We are disappointed that the Government has not yet implemented reform of corporate criminal liability. The previous Committee presented convincing evidence of the need for this in 2019, already two years after the Ministry of Justice had run its consultation in 2017. The decision taken in 2020 to ask the Law Commission to review the law on corporate criminal liability is a sensible step, given the complexity of the law in this area, but it is likely to be years before any change in the law results. We urge the Law Commission to proceed with its review speedily, and we urge the Government to act quickly in bringing forward any legislation flowing from the Law Commission’s review. In the meantime, corporate criminals will continue to be able to escape prosecution for economic crimes.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government mentions a sustainable funding model, around £400 million over the Spending Review period, and refers to the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme but does not specifically address corporate criminal liability reform.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
211
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The government intends to engage promptly with the Law Commission on the findings of the review once it has concluded. It is important that any reforms are proportionate, and evidence based. This is an extremely complex area of the law, and a full assessment will need to be made of the impact of any proposed new offence as well as how it would interact with the existing criminal offences and regulatory regimes for money laundering and other forms of economic crime. In particular, the introduction of any new failure to prevent or facilitation offence for would need to avoid cutting across existing reforms, including the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗