Criminal liability of legal entities – the price of a lawyer’s assistance in criminal proceedings opened against a legal entity (business)

In 2014, changes were made to the criminal legislation, which provided for the introduction of a new type of criminal liability, namely the criminal liability of legal entities. We are talking about the application of criminal law measures. In this article, specialists of our law firm Prykhodko and Partners will talk about the peculiarities of criminal liability of legal entities in the realities of modern Ukrainian legislation.

Grounds for applying criminal liability to legal entities

The grounds for criminal liability of legal entities are specified in the third part of Article 96 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Among them, for example, corruption crimes related to obtaining an illegal benefit, illegal actions against employees of judicial and law enforcement agencies.

Let's consider the category of corruption offenses in more detail. Under the influence of the corrupt actions of the authorized person, the company received an illegal benefit. Conditions may also be created for the business to obtain certain, more favorable conditions.

Article 93 of the Civil Code clearly states that an authorized person is a person who has the authority established by law to act on behalf of the company (this can be a power of attorney, statute, employment contract). It is worth noting that some provisions of the article may be interpreted by representatives of law enforcement agencies at their own discretion.

Criminal liability of legal entities: punishment

Criminal legislation provides for the following types of measures that can be applied to legal entities within the framework of criminal proceedings:

• Fines.
• Confiscation of property.
• Liquidation.

Important: confiscation and liquidation of property are applied in cases where there is already a sentence under the relevant article. There are not many sufficient examples of confiscation and liquidation in practice. As for fines, their size is twice the size of the unlawful benefit.

Important: a legal entity can be released from liability in the event that the statute of limitations for the committed crime has expired (depending on the severity of the crime — from 3 to 15 years). At the same time, the statute of limitations is suspended when the guilty person hid from law enforcement officials in order to avoid criminal liability. The deadline is renewed from the moment when the location of the person is established.

Protection of the interests of legal entities in criminal proceedings

It is better to entrust the representation of the interests of a legal entity in criminal proceedings to professional lawyers. Specialists of our legal office Prykhodko and Partners will do everything necessary to protect the interests of your firm/company.

We provide the following services:

• Filing motions in criminal proceedings.
• Participation in investigative actions at the pre-trial stage.
• Challenging the actions of the investigator, investigating judge and prosecutor.

We act within the current legal framework. The key to our success is an individual approach to each specific case. We will help you achieve the desired result.
Do you still have questions? We are waiting for a preliminary consultation! To calculate the cost of a lawyer's services for the protection of a legal entity in criminal proceedings, fill out the form below.