LAW 534 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5, 6, and 7: Regulatory Offence, Willful Blindness, Fall Guy

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Law and Business
• Course: LAW 534
• Professor: Gil Lan

Document Summary

Law 534 chapter 5, 6 and 7. The most obvious way for an organization to be criminally responsible is if the senior officer actually committed the crime for the direct benefit of the organization. Basic principles of statutory interpretation establish that specific words in a statute, such as (cid:858)s(cid:272)ope of authority(cid:859) are (cid:374)ot superfluous a(cid:374)d ha(cid:448)e (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g, (cid:449)hi(cid:272)h (cid:449)ould support the interpretation that there is a second test. Courts should avoid adopting interpretations that render any portions of a statute meaningless or redundant. The wording scope of authority should be narrowly constructed in accordance with the concept of willful blindness. It will never be within the proper scope of authority for a senior manager to commit offences such as paying bribes. The entire organization must be evaluated in interpreting the scope of authority requirement and the potential for willful blindness by one division in relation to another must be carefully considered.