Corporate Criminal Liability, Directors & the Limits of Punishment

Guest: Andreas Pollak, the only Austrian lawyer who has gained experience as public prosecutor at the Central Public Prosecutor's Office for Combatting Economic Crime and Corruption (comparable to the British Serious Fraud Office)

Recorded at the European Law Institute Annual Conference, University of Vienna

How should companies — and directors — be held criminally accountable across Europe, and are fines, reputation damage and regulation actually changing corporate behaviour?

Corporate crime is rarely about numbers.

It’s about culture, accountability — and who ultimately carries responsibility.

In this ELI Edition of The Fifth Court, we speak with Andreas Pollak, Austrian lawyer and board member of the European Criminal Bar Association, about:

– why corporate crime cases are complex but relatively rare

– whether fines actually change corporate behaviour

– when directors should face personal liability

– the limits of reputation damage as a deterrent

– and why Europe still struggles with a harmonised approach to corporate criminal enforcement

A thoughtful discussion recorded at the European Law Institute Annual Conference in Vienna.

Episode takeaways

• Corporate crime is relatively rare in volume but disproportionately complex and resource-intensive
• Fines can work — but reputation damage often matters more to management
• Prosecuting a company usually means prosecuting individuals alongside it
• Directors may be liable where management failed to prevent wrongdoing
• Europe lacks a harmonised standard for corporate criminal enforcement
• Cross-border investigations remain slow, fragmented and under-resourced
• Environmental crime enforcement is likely to grow, but remains limited in practice

A series of podcasts recorded at the ELI Annual Conference at the University of Vienna

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.