LAW 534 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Regulatory Offence, Acquiesce, Mens Rea
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 8: Chapter 8
Introduction
• In earlier chapters 5 and 6, the focus was often on organizational liability
• This chapter focuses on the 5 different ways that an individual (presumably working
within an organization) may be exposed to legal liability
• Recent corporate scandals have increased the call for heightened individual liability for
those involved in breaking the law
• Overview of five types of liability discussed in detail:
o Principal
o Party to an offence
o Acquiescence to an offence by director or officer
o Specific duty on director or officer to exercise reasonable care
o Specific statutory definitions of persons in control which can extend liability
• Obvious relevance to any person who has a position of significant responsibility or
control in an organization
Principal liability
• Principal liability means that the individual in question actually took part in the
commission of the offence
• Fairly straightforward however there are some important points made in section on
Due Diligee ad Reliae o Epets
o Job title is not determinative and it is level of personal involvement in the
offence that is critical
o The od pesos eas idiiduals too ad liailit a e sigifiat
o Harper case is double-edged sword against the defendant
Party liability
• Party liability
o relates to assisting in the commission of the offence
o The Crown needs to show that the defendant had sufficient knowledge and
participation in the offence
• A iteestig situatio a aise fo the Co’s pespetie:
o Showing that someone was a party to an offence (even if the offence is not a
crime) is as difficult as prosecuting a true criminal offence because the Crown
has to show that the party to the offence had the necessary mens rea
o The advantage of the regulatory offence from the Cro’s ie as that it as
not necessary to prove mens rea → regulatory statutes have addressed this by
creating other ways in which a party to an offence may be charged
Authorize, Permit or Acquiesce
• Many regulatory statutes have created a particular type of offence regarding whether a
director or officer authorizes, permits or acquiesces in the offence
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
