Corporate Criminal Liability under International Law – new article in the Journal of International Criminal Justice
My article on corporate criminal liability was just published in the latest issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice. It is based on the New TV S.A.L. and Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. contempt cases at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. I have discussed the cases on this blog here, here and here.
Here is the abstract:
Relying on the Tribunal’s inherent powers, the Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon decided in two cases, New TV S.A.L. and Akhbar Beirut S.A.L., that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over corporations for the offence of contempt. They decided so despite the absence of a clear provision explicitly granting such jurisdiction. This is the first time an international criminal tribunal asserts jurisdiction over legal persons. The article critically presents the Appeals Panel’s findings and places them in their historical and international context. Although limited in scope, the decisions are of great significance as business and human rights developments at the international level have emphasized the need for enhanced corporate accountability.
My name is Nadia Bernaz and I am Associate Professor of Law and Governance at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
My main area of research is business and human rights. I look at how corporations and businesspeople can be held accountable for their human rights impact through international, domestic and transnational processes.