AN APPRAISAL OF CORPORATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

In criminal jurisprudence, corporate criminal liability deals with the extent to which a corporate entity can be held liable for its acts and omissions that breach criminal laws. The imposition of criminal liability on corporations is one of the ways of re gulating their conducts and making sure they comply with compliance mechanisms that minimize commission of crimes. Obviously, a company cannot be sent to jail nor can a death sentence be executed on a corporation; its punishment is limited to fines. This l imitation can lead to grave anomalies for society and individuals resulting from a limited punishment to be imposed on a corporate entity. It is recommended that punishment for corporate crime should move beyond payment of fines to dissolution of the corpo rate entity, payment of compensation to victims of crime, publication of court orders against the corporate entity.