1 Selected Issues of the Criminal Liability of Legal Entities in the Czech Republic Summary This thesis focuses on the selected issues of the criminal liability of legal entities in the Czech Republic, concretely the Act No. 418/2011 Coll. on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and Proceedings against them. The main purpose of the thesis is to pick the most unclear provisions as well as the ones that cause that the criminal proceedings are not really effective. The first chapter analyzes the circumstances of ratification of the Act into the Czech legal system and the discussions connected to the ratification. The second chapter describes the chosen conception of the criminal liability of legal entities. Following chapters deal with the chosen pitfalls related to the application of the Act. The third chapter covers the § 7 of the Act and the extent of the crimes which are listed in this provision. The main problem regarding this provision is the fact, that on one hand we can find some crimes that can be hardly committed by legal entities and on the other hand we cannot find several offenses that could be expected to be committed mainly by the legal entities, e.g. infringement of the competition rules under the § 248/2 of the Criminal Act No. 40/2009 Coll. The fourth chapter focuses on § 8, firstly how the...

Environmental offences committed by legal entities Abstract This thesis deals with the Czech criminal law protection of the environment and its development in relation to legal entities. The main importance for this thesis is found in Act No. 418/2011 Coll., on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and their Prosecution effective since the January 1, 2012, which brought new institute of criminal liability of legal entities into the legal system of the Czech Republic. Although, there had been several changes, imperfections still occur in connection with this institute. Furthermore, this thesis concerns on Act No. 40/2009 Coll., Criminal Code and international and EU regulations related to the environment. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate whether the criminal liability is a suitable and effective tool to protect the environment. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides explanation of concepts essential for the thesis, especially the concept of legal entity in the applicable law and the concept of environment, it also deals with environmental protection and it sources in national, EU and international regulation. The second chapter focuses on adoption of Act No. 418/2011 Coll., on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and their Prosecution and the circumstances before the...

This thesis analyses criminological factors related to crime of legal entities. Criminal liability of legal entities has not been a subject of such extensive research as criminal liability of natural persons, let alone criminology of crime of legal entities - the origins of this field first appeared in the first half of 20th century, when the criminologist E. H. Sutherland introduced and described a white-collar crime phenomenon. Crime of legal entities is an up-to-date issue, being a phenomenon of a considerable danger and it is desirable to make it a subject of a comprehensive research in order to find the most suitable prevention or an adequate reaction to that crime. Understanding criminological factors related to crime of legal entities can help to prepare matching provisions which can serve as an efficient tool for prevention of and response to this type of crime. This thesis is divided into four chapters. The first one addresses the crime of legal entities in general - it describes the historical evolution of crime of legal entities in the Anglo-American judicial system and its variations in the continental judicial system. After that is presented the history of legal regulation in Czech Republic and its current state. The second chapter discusses the criminological factors related to crime...

1 Criminological aspects of crimes committed by legal entities Abstract The subject of this work is problematic of criminological aspects of crimes committed by legal entities, and the individual definition of a legal entity as a criminal offender. The institute of criminal liability of legal entities is relatively young, provided that the research in this field began in the second half of the 20th century. In the nowadays the research of criminal liability of legal entities is still actual topic, namely because it is massive, often concealed, sophisticated and dangerous phenomenon. The importance of research of this criminal activity grows in line with globalization of world economy and the growing importance held by the legal entities in society. The outputs of the researched issue can thus enable an adequate response to the crimes of legal entities and help create effective prevention programs. This work is divided into four parts. The introductory first part explains the terms "criminology" and "crime" in general, introduces the terminological and methodological apparatus of crime investigation, explains the concept of legal entity - the perpetrator of the crime. The second part deals with the history of criminal liability of legal entities in the world and the change in the understanding of crime. It...

This diploma thesis concerns the theme of criminal liability of entrepreneurs relation to their business activity. It is focused on the criminal liability only in the Czech Republic. The first chapters descripe the criminal liability of natural persons, the criminal liability of legal entities, the comparison of the criminal liabilities of the two types of subjects and the analysis of selected criminal offences. The second part of this diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of selected case-law. Propositions de lege ferenda are included in this diploma thesis.

The Act on criminal liability of legal entities and proceedings against them became effective on 1 January 2012. Although it is a highly controversial law disrupting the established criminal law principles, the Czech Republic was one of the few European Union member states whose laws did not embed criminal liability of legal entities in its laws. An effort concerning solving this problem appeared as far back as 2004, the Chamber of Deputies, however, rejected the original bill. Perhaps due to the international pressure or due to the increase in crimes committed by legal entities, in 2011, the second bill was already approved. This thesis deals with the arguments and process of discourse, from which emerged the valid enactment, as well as an explanation of some of the principal provisions of the Act and also the international scheme of criminal liability of legal entities. It is difficult to anticipate the specific impact of the Act due to its short effect and therefore the thesis on criminal liability of legal entities is more of a theoretical than practical.

Compliance management system as a tool for exclusion of legal entities from criminal liability Abstract Although the area of compliance in the Czech legal environment is evolving relatively quickly, several ambiguities still arise here, especially in connection with criminal proceedings. Therefore, this work primarily deals with problematic issues related to the exclusion of a legal entity from criminal liability according to § 8 (5) of Act No. 418/2011 Coll., On criminal liability of legal entities and proceedings against them, as amended (hereinafter "TOPO "). The first part of the thesis is comprehensively devoted to defining the cumulative conditions of the attribution of a crime from the point of view of the material concept because without them it is not possible to consider the attribution of criminal liability to a legal person. In the second part, it is seamlessly linked to the construction of § 8 (5) TOPO, where based on the conclusions made by constant case law and the professional public, a tool to develop a legal entity from criminal liability is considered a functional compliance management system (CMS). It must contain three basic pillars of measures, namely (i) preventive, (ii) detection, and (iii) reaction. The final part of the work is devoted to these pillars, where the essential...

CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF LEGAL ENTITIES Abstract Although it has been more than seven years since the adoption of Act No. 418/2011 Coll., on the criminal liability of legal entities and proceedings against them, by criminal liability of legal entities which the Czech legislators introduced, it remains a controversial issue. Thus the aim of this thesis is not only to analyse this legislation and provide a comprehensive and clear interpretation, including a critical evaluation of selected institutes, but also to introduce the process leading to its adoption, including a comparison of the arguments in favour of adopting such a decision with the arguments presented by the opponents of the criminal liability of legal entities. An equally important aim of the thesis is an analytical evaluation of application knowledge and the presentation of potential de lege ferenda proposals. However, such considerations require a sufficient command of terminology, as well as of the basic principles of criminal law, which is the content of Chapter One of the thesis. Chapter Two is dedicated to the fundamental change in the concept of legal entities brought about by the new Civil Code, which leans towards the theory of fiction, thereby causing considerable tension. On a global scale, the institute of the liability of legal entities...

This diploma thesis is concerned with the instruments of criminal law used in a fight against organized crime. The objective of this thesis is to outline the current state of both international and domestic organized crime and to discuss some of the instruments used to fight against it which are provided to us by the criminal law. The first part of this thesis provides an overview of the development of organized crime as well as the defining characteristics of this phenomenon. However, the primary focus of the first part of presented thesis is on the conception of organized criminal group and the differentiation between organized criminal group, organized group, terrorism and terrorist group as provided in the Czech criminal code. The second part of this thesis discusses some of the individual instruments of both substantive and procedural criminal law in depth. Specifically, the criminal offense of participation in an organized criminal group, sentencing enhancements for individuals committing crimes that benefit an organized criminal group, criminal liability of legal entities, spatial wiretapping, use of an agent and cooperating witness. In this part especially, the author's aim is to evaluate the contemporary legislation, to present different opinions on mentioned topics and eventually, to...

A sociedade de risco mundial caracteriza-se por sua dimensão negativa de igualdade, uma vez que os cidadãos não são mais iguais em razão dos direitos ou benefícios que compartilham, mas, sim, pelos riscos comuns que a se encontram expostos. O desenvolvimento tecnológico, bem como o conhecimento científico, remeteu o homem a um contexto de modernidade, prometendo cumprir na integralidade com inúmeros e incontáveis benefícios ao bem viver. Porém, junto aos ganhos qualitativos de vida, o que se viu foram acidentes nucleares, guerras atômicas, danos ambientais e outros efeitos decorrentes da radicalização do modelo produtivo empregado. Esses fatos imergiram a sociedade num mar de dúvidas e incertezas, resultando em uma redemocratização forçada, que colocou todos os indivíduos do globo terrestre em uma mesma condição: vítimas de uma possível aniquilação. Nesse viés, a ambivalência decorrente dos riscos permeia os mais diversos segmentos da realidade social, sendo que nenhum saber apresenta mais o mesmo significado que detinha há pouco tempo atrás. Os próprios conceitos, paradigmas e instituições da contemporaneidade precisam, agora, ser repensados. A magnitude dos riscos obriga, assim, a uma nova forma de engajamento político e social em âmbito mundial: participação ativa e cidadã dos indivíduos, adoção de políticas globais calcadas em bases educacionais preventivas aos danos ambientais, inserção de empresas como agentes morais, melhoria na produção, alternativas ao consumo, debate crítico às descobertas da ciência, inclusão e valorização do outro, entre outras. Esta dura realidade que nos atemoriza é, ao mesmo tempo, o combustível que nos motiva em busca de melhores soluções e alternativas para a reconstrução dos modelos até então empregados de produção, consumo e convivência. A crise ambiental pode se tornar uma oportunidade. Nesse sentido, o saber científico e o conhecimento tecnológico, por mais contraditórios que possam parecer, detêm caráter central para a continuidade da vida humana no planeta, pois servem como meios para o reconhecimento dos novos riscos, criticando e aprimorando tanto em campo ambiental quanto em campo empresarial o desenvolver das novas políticas de produção. No mesmo contexto, as pessoas jurídicas sejam pequenas empresas ou grandes corporações abandonam o antigo estigma de culpadas pela degradação das condições da vida no planeta e passam a ocupar a posição de protagonistas nas questões socioambientais. Trata-se da adoção de uma política de duplo ganho (win X win). As empresas ganham em imagem corporativa positiva, expandem sua clientela, abordam novos nichos de mercado, melhoram e reduzem custos de produção e, ainda, incrementam seu lucro. Por sua vez, a sociedade ganha com a melhoria da produção, uso racional dos recursos naturais, alternativas às formas de consumo, bem como uma importante aliada aos projetos humanitários, sociais e ambientais. Agir ético, participação ativa e cidadã dos indivíduos, inclusão do outro e conduta fraterna são apenas alguns dos fatores que comprovam que a vida humana em sociedade pode ainda ter futuro. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-30T17:26:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Diogo Petry.pdf: 1242603 bytes, checksum: f70e91c632cedd21604d79cf37825dfd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-30T17:26:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Diogo Petry.pdf: 1242603 bytes, checksum: f70e91c632cedd21604d79cf37825dfd (MD5) / The world risk society is characterized for its negative dimension of equality, since citizens are not equal anymore for their rights or benefits that they share, but in detriment, for the common risks which they are exposed. The technological development as well as the scientific knowledge addressed the man to a modernity context promising to integrally accomplish the many and uncountable benefits to the well living. However, and with the qualitative life winnings, what we have seen are nuclear accidents, atomic wars, environmental damages and other effects caused by the radicalization of the inserted pattern. This fact filled the society with doubts and uncertainness, resulting on a forced redemocratization, which put all the terrestrial globe individuals in the same condition: victims of a possible annihilation. In this idea, the ambivalence that comes from the risks infiltrates the various segments of the social reality, not any knowledge has the same meaning as it had a few years ago. Concepts, paradigms and contemporaneity institutions need to be now rethought. Thus, the magnitude of the risks requires a new way of social and political engagement in a worldwide ambit: active participation of the individuals as citizens, adoption of global policies modeled in educational bases preventing environmental damages, insertion of companies as moral agents, production improvement, alternatives instead of consumption, critical debate about the science discoveries, inclusion and valorization of the other individuals, among others. This hard reality that terrorizes us is, at the same time, the fuel that gives us motivation in search of better solutions and alternatives for the reconstruction of the production, consume and living patters applied so far. The environmental crises may become an opportunity. In this idea, the scientific knowhow and the technological knowledge, although sometimes seem to be contradictory, detain central character for the human life continuity in the planet because they are used as means for the recognition of the new risks, criticizing and improving either in the environmental field or in the entrepreneurial field , in the development of new production policies. In the same context small companies or big corporations abandon the old label as responsible for the planet life condition degradation and thus, taking the position of protagonist in the socio-environmental issues. It´s about the adoption of a double winning policy (win x win). Companies win positive corporative image, expand customers, approach new market niche, improve and reduce production costs and also increase profits. The society, wins with the production improvement, rational natural resources use, alternative instead of consumption ways as well as wins an important support to humanitarian social and environmental projects. Ethical action, active individual´s participation as citizens, inclusion of the others and fraternal conduct, are just some of the factors that prove human life in society may still be have a future.