header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Identification principle on target?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
12 April 2024 / Maia Cohen-Lask
Issue: 8066 / Categories: Opinion , Company , Criminal
printer mail-detail
167836
The new identification principle should make it easier to successfully prosecute companies. But what if the difficulties are based on a misdiagnosis, asks Maia Cohen-Lask

After much fanfare, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA 2023) became law on 26 October 2023. One of the key new provisions is a change to the way that criminal liability is attributed to corporate bodies (‘the identification principle’). This change has been widely hailed as widening the pool of people through which companies can be held criminally liable, thus (the logic goes) making it easier to successfully prosecute companies. However, the change would not, in fact, have affected the outcome of the one case that has been frequently cited as the leading driver for legislative change in this area: Serious Fraud Office v Barclays plc and another [2018] EWHC 3055 (QB), [2018] All ER (D) 186 (Nov).

Directing mind & will

The legal position until ECCTA 2023 came into force was that the acts and states of mind of the natural persons who

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Read All
Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll