The EPPO and the Corporate Suspect: jurisdictional agnosticism and legal uncertainties
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Robin Lööf [1]
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[1] International Counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton, London/Paris.
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- Localización: Eucrim: the European Criminal Law Associations' fórum, ISSN 1862-6947, Nº. 4, 2020 (Ejemplar dedicado a: The Reception of European Legislation and Case Law in the Member States), págs. 310-314
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
The advent of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (“EPPO”) has been broadly welcomed throughout the European legal community, including by legal entities operating in the single market and their advisors. Even so, considerable uncertainties remain for these economic actors on how the new enforcement regime will affect them. These uncertainties stem from the fact that the twenty-two jurisdictions in which the EPPO will operate have in some cases radically different approaches to issues such as the nature of and conditions for corporate criminal liability as well as the substantive and procedural framework governing corporate criminal investigations. The fluidity with which the EPPO will conduct investigations across the EU, combined with potential unpredictability of the locus of an ultimate resolution or trial, will mean that these substantive and procedural divergences are likely to raise considerable difficulties, particularly for legal entities. The EPPO should therefore quickly establish guidelines on how to approach multi-jurisdictional investigations and proceedings involving legal entities.
The absence of such guidelines will not only unnecessarily reduce companies’ ability to manage their enforcement risk, but will also negatively impact the EPPO’s effectiveness in dealing with complex corporate investigations and proceedings.
