AN EVALUATION OF THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF CORPORATE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CORPORATE KILLINGS IN NIGERI

Abstract

The laws in Nigeria recognise corporations as artificial persons, but fail to properly define the basis for holding corporations
criminally responsible where its activities lead to the death of persons. The courts and in recent years, the legislation of countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and United States of America have formulated corporate criminal responsibility theories in determining the mens rea of corporations. The theories discussed in this paper are the strict liability theory, vicarious liability theory, identification theory, aggregate theory and the corporate fault theory. The limitations of the different theories are highlighted and the paper further proffers a hybrid theory comprising of the corporate fault theory and the identification theory as the basis for which corporations in Nigeria can be held criminally responsible for offences requiring the proof of mens rea such as corporate killings. The paper adopts the doctrinal research approach making use of both primary and secondary data from statutes, relevant case laws, policy documents, books, journals and articles.