Liability of Entities in Italy: Was it Not Societas Delinquere Non Potest ?

Abstract

The scope of this article is to provide a general overview of the Italian legislation related to administrative liability of legal entities for infringements falling into the list of crimes included in Legislative Decree no. 231 of 8 June 2001. The article introduces the fundamental principles of the newly identified “administrative responsibility” of the entity for crimes committed in its interest by top managers of such entities, and analyses the most relevant case law related to the first applications of the Decree. In addition, the article provides a general analysis of the Organizational Model and the Supervisory Board envisaged by the Decree, and deemed as necessary to avoid the triggering of an automatic administrative responsibility of the entity involved, moving into the major interpretations on how and to what extent responsibility may objectively be avoided. Ultimately, the article defines the current state of interpretations, and the administrative sanctions that may be applied to entities for crimes committed by managers in violation of the provisions set out by the Legislative Decree no. 231 of 8 June 2001.