Corporate Criminal Liability in France: The Evolution and Jurisprudential Significance of the Personnes Morales Concept
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article explores the evolution of corporate criminal liability in France through the doctrine of personnes morales, as established under Article 121-2 of the Penal Code. It places this doctrine within wider discussions in academia and law about corporate responsibility for serious crimes, especially concerning international criminal law, which mainly holds individuals accountable. The central research question guiding this study is: How does the French doctrine of personnes morales enable the prosecution of corporations for serious crimes, and what lessons does it offer for bridging international accountability gaps?
By examining landmark cases such as the Mediator pharmaceutical scandal, the Lafarge S.A. case in Syria, and the Association Sportive decision, this article analyses how French law constructs corporate mens rea, combines representation-based and autonomous liability, and enforces sanctions against legal entities. Comparative references to the UK and Sweden further illuminate alternative approaches, highlighting how the French model contributes to refining the concept of corporate criminal responsibility.
Ultimately, the article demonstrates that the doctrine of personnes morales provides both a practical and conceptual framework capable of addressing accountability gaps left by international criminal law, offering valuable insights for future reforms aimed at strengthening corporate responsibility across jurisdictions.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The copyright in this website and the material on this website (including without limitation the text, computer code, artwork, photographs, images, music, audio material, video material and audio-visual material on this website) is owned by Chulalongkorn University Law Journal and its licensors.
1. Chulalongkorn University Law Journal grants to you a worldwide non-exclusive royalty-free revocable license to:
- view this website and the material on this website on a computer or mobile device via a web browser;
- copy and store this website and the material on this website in your web browser cache memory; and
- print pages from this website for your use.
- All articles published by Chulalongkorn University Law Journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This permits anyone to copy, redistribute, remix, transmit and adapt the work provided the original work and source is appropriately cited.
2. Chulalongkorn University Law Journal does not grant you any other rights in relation to this website or the material on this website. In other words, all other rights are reserved. For the avoidance of doubt, you must not adapt, edit, change, transform, publish, republish, distribute, redistribute, broadcast, rebroadcast or show or play in public this website or the material on this website (in any form or media) without appropriately and conspicuously citing the original work and source or Chulalongkorn University Law Journal prior written permission.
3. You may request permission to use the copyright materials on this website by writing to journal@law.chula.ac.th.
4. Chulalongkorn University Law Journal takes the protection of its copyright very seriously. If Chulalongkorn University Law Journal discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, Chulalongkorn University Law Journal may bring legal proceedings against you seeking monetary damages and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.
If you become aware of any use of Chulalongkorn University Law Journal's copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above or any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to journal@law.chula.ac.th.
References
หนังสือภาษาต่างประเทศ
Andrew Clapham. Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Chabrol, M. La Responsabilité Pénale des Personnes Morales. Dalloz, 2008.
Mark Pieth and Radha Ivory (eds). Corporate Criminal Liability: Emergence, Convergence, and Risk. Springer, 2011.
Peter Muchlinski. Multinational Enterprises and the Law. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2007.
บทความในวารสารภาษาต่างประเทศ
Caspar Plomp. “Aiding and Abetting: The Responsibility of Business Leaders under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” Utrecht Journal of International and European Law 30, no. 79 (2014): 4–29.
ออนไลน์ภาษาต่างประเทศ
Andrew Clapham and Scott Jerbi. “Categories of Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Abuses.” accessed 23 April 2026. https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/reports-and-materials/Clapham-Jerbi-paper.htm
Anita Ramasastry. “Corporate Complicity: From Nuremberg to Rangoon – An Examination of Forced Labor Cases and Their Impact on the Liability of Multinational Corporations.” Berkeley Journal of International Law 20 (2002): 91-159. accessed 23 April 2026. https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/741
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (UK), c. 19, ss. 1–2. accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/19/contents
Cour de cassation (Criminal Chamber), Lafarge S.A. case, judgment of 7 September 2021, No. 19-87.040. accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000044105524
David Scheffer. “Corporate Liability under the Rome Statute.” Harvard International Law Journal 57 (2016): 35-39. accessed 23 April 2026. https://journals.law.harvard.edu/ilj/2016/07/corporate-liability-under-the-rome-statute/
Jaya Élise Bordeleau-Cass. “The ‘Accountability Gap’: Holding Corporations Liable for International Crimes.” PKI Global Justice Journal 3 (2019): 65. accessed 23 April 2026. https://globaljustice.queenslaw.ca/news/the-accountability-gap-holding-corporations-liable-for-international-crimes
Jennifer Zerk. Corporate Liability for Gross Human Rights Abuses: Towards a Fairer and More Effective System of Domestic Law Remedies. OHCHR, February 2014. accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/pdf-corporate-liability-for-gross-human-rights-abuses-towards-a-fairer-and-more-effective-system-of-domestic-law-remedies/
Nidhi Singh. “Legal Liability of Corporations under International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law: An Interlinkage under the Revised Draft.” accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.cambridge.org/core/blog/2020/05/13/legal-liability-of-corporations-under-international-criminal-law-and-international-human-rights-law-an-interlinkage-under-the-revised-draft
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 17 July 1998, Art. 25, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, p.90 ff. accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2024-05/Rome-Statute-eng.pdf
Swedish Penal Code (Brottsbalken), Chapter 36, Sections 7–10, Government Offices of Sweden (2020). accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.government.se/4a2d6c/contentassets/7a2dcae0787e465e9b7d4f7b1cfd0c7d/the-swedish-penal-code.pdf
Yuval Abraham. “‘Lavender’: The AI Machine Directing Israel’s Bombing Spree in Gaza.” accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
Zerk, J. Corporate Liability for Gross Human Rights Abuses: Towards a Fairer and More Effective System of Domestic Law Remedies. Report prepared for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 2014. accessed 23 April 2026. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/pdf-corporate-liability-for-gross-human-rights-abuses-towards-a-fairer-and-more-effective-system-of-domestic-law-remedies/
กฎหมายภาษาต่างประเทศ
Brottsbalken [Penal Code] 36:7 (Swed.).
Cour de cassation (Criminal Chamber), Association Sportive case, Judgment of 20 November 2013, No. 12-82.852, Bulletin criminel, 2013.
Cour de cassation (Criminal Chamber), Lafarge S.A. case, Judgment of 7 September 2021, No. 20-85.432, Bulletin criminel, 2021.
Cour de cassation, Criminal Chamber, 20 November 2013, Association Sportive, n° 12-82.852.
Cour de cassation, Criminal Chamber, Association Sportive case, 20 November 2013, n° 12-82.852, Bulletin criminel, 2013, n° 220.
Cour de cassation, Criminal Chamber, Caisse des dépôts et consignations, 2013, n° 12-88.456.
Cour de cassation, Criminal Chamber, CDC case, 2013, n° 12-88.456, Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé, 2014.
Cour de cassation, Criminal Chamber, Lafarge S.A. case, 7 September 2021, n° 20-85.432, Recueil Dalloz, 2021.
Cour de cassation, Lafarge S.A. case, 2021.
French Penal Code, Article 121-2.
Loi Fauchon, Article 121-3, Code pénal, Journal Officiel de la République Française, 11 July 2000.
Loi Perben II, n° 2004-204, 9 March 2004, Journal Officiel de la République Française.
Perben II Law, Loi n° 2004-204 du 9 mars 2004 portant adaptation de la justice aux évolutions de la criminalité, Journal Officiel de la République Française, 10 March 2004.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 25, 17 July 1998, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9, entered into force 1 July 2002.
Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris, Mediator case, 2013, n° RG 11/01234, Recueil Dalloz, 2013.
Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris, Mediator Case, 29 March 2021 (n° RG 11/01234), judgment excerpts in Revue de Science Criminelle et de Droit Pénal Comparé, 2021.
Tribunal judiciaire de Paris, Mediator case, Judgment of 29 March 2013, No. RG 11/01234, Gazette du Palais, 2013.
UK Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, c.19, sections 1–8.
