By Evelyne Asaala
Abstract
Corporate criminal liability has a long history in national legal systems. Although mooted in numerous forums in the course of the development of international criminal law, international criminal tribunals have been hesitant to incorporate corporate criminal liability. Attempts to hold legal persons criminally liable for international crimes have been sought through the modes of ‘complicit crimes’. Nonetheless, this has not been sufficient to hold corporates criminally liable as the jurisdiction of all these tribunals have been limited to natural persons. The Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (Malabo Protocol) becomes the first international treaty to expressly incorporate the doctrine of corporate criminal liability over international and transnational crimes. This is a significant step in the history of international criminal law. It provides an avenue to effectively plug the impunity gap currently existing on the continent with respect to corporate criminal liability. This chapter evaluates the scope and potential contribution of corporate criminal liability under the Malabo Protocol and questions whether it will enhance the administration of criminal justice in Africa. The chapter briefly highlights aspects of historical developments that are relevant in the subsequent evaluation of the doctrine under the Malabo Protocol. Ultimately, the chapter argues that, if implemented, the Malabo Protocol will make a significant contribution to international criminal law through its introduction of the doctrine of corporate criminal liability in international criminal law.
