header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Identification principle on target?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. 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
DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
NLJ this week: AI boom collides with courtroom reality
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll