Rui Patrício and Nuno Igreja Matos author the article “Crime within the company is not the company’s crime”

Rui Patrício and Nuno Igreja Matos co-authored the opinion piece “Crime within the company is not the company’s crime”, in which they analyse the contours of corporate criminal liability in Portugal. Although the 2007 legislative reform established the liability of legal persons, the lawyers point out that the practical application of the law continues to reveal inconsistencies and a lack of predictability, resulting in divergent judicial decisions in similar cases.

In the article, they emphasise the importance of compliance as an essential instrument of defence and crime prevention. They argue that robust internal programmes should carry real weight in the assessment of a company’s liability, going beyond the mere mitigation of penalties. According to the authors, failing to recognise this function undermines the effectiveness of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and risks turning companies into automatic targets of incrimination, even when they have adopted control and monitoring mechanisms.

They further note that individual liability remains safeguarded, since unlawful acts committed by managers or employees continue to be attributed personally. At the corporate level, however, they consider it essential that organisations benefit from the investment made in preventive practices, otherwise self-regulation and cooperation with the authorities risk being discouraged.

The article concludes that the debate on the boundary between a crime committed within a company and a crime attributable to the company itself remains open, but that a serious recognition of the structural role of compliance is decisive in ensuring a more balanced and effective criminal justice system in combating economic and financial crime.

Read the full article in the attachment below.