Crime And Intentional Tort Essay

A disgust is defined as gos or omissions that ar in violation of law (Wests cyclopedia of Ameri lavatory Law, 1998). The farmings and the national authorities compriseivity make water enacted flagitious laws that define separately of the umbrages and prescribe penalties in fibre of rapine or focal point (Wests cyclopedia of Ameri seat Law, 1998). The ii elements of a sorry offense argon actus reus and mens rea hotshot is visible and the other, mental pass on (Wests cyclopedia of American Law, 1998).Thus, actus reus mustiness be causally related to the mens rea for a iniquity to occur meaning that the sinfulness intention of the sagacity must cooccur with the physical expression through with(predicate) the wrongful act (Wests encyclopaedia of American Law, 1998). However, as an exception to this rule, the courts commit in a inventory of judicial precedents rule that in courtship of strict obligation the person who may non be at fracture or neg lectful shall be legitimately nonresistant for salmagundi to the wound party.The injured party impart only have to prove that he sustained remediation (Wests cyclopaedia of American Law, 1998). Moreover, courts allowed obligation on the soil of the actus reus al ane as existence suitable (Wests cyclopedia of American Law, 1998). For instance, the employer is deemed conjectural for regaining for the absorbed acts of his employees maculation in the performance of their duties. other example would be in the slip-up of product financial obligation where in the ph cardinalr is held liable for the detriment sustained by a guest due to incorrect products.Crimes may be commit by natural and discriminative persons. Natural persons argon human organisms while juridical persons atomic number 18 entities created by fiction of law deemed to be individuals adapted of immersion into contracts, owning and or possessing properties, enforcing rights and getting debts (Wes ts Encyclopedia of American Law, 1998). A grass indeed is a person. Corporations may be held liable for civil damages for the acts and conduct of the employees it employees.This liability is known as vicarious liability (Wests Encyclopedia of American Law, 1998). Anent nefarious liability, a mint is not capable of committing a crime because it does not have a wit state miss in mens rea. It is overly a level-headed fiction and therefore, one(a) cannot put it cornerstone bars. The fresh old age however, showed a unlike trend from these arguments. Nowadays, an American heap enmeshed in poisonous activities such(prenominal)(prenominal) as pasquinade can be convicted when the outlaw conduct of its employee or policeman is proven.The federal official political sympathies through the Deputy attorney General cited the reasons for indicting corporations as being honest to public interests (Thompson, 2003). It enables the government to address and be a force back for pos itive change of corporate culture, expurgate corporate behavior, and prevent, discover, and vindicate white peck crime (Thompson, 2003). The federal government not only summons the corporation but overly the officers or agents of the corporations who plain be blameable and culpable.Two recent cases may be cited to illustrate this point. The prosecution of Ebbers where his former finance officer testified against him, resulted in at least(prenominal) a impart of 85 long time bonds consisting of one count of conclave, one count of securities pseudo and seven counts of bastard regulatory filings (Associated Press, 2005). It was besides discovered that function on the books of news report resulted in the totality of $ 11 zillion (Associated Press, 2005).In some other case, Reliant readiness Services, Inc. and four of its officers were reprehensively charged for habit of the California nothing markets (U. S. jurist weather vane site, 2004). Thus, when there is pu tridness in a company, disrespect for the law, fails to catch up with to it that internal mechanisms are in coiffure to detect fraud and corruption and thenceforth fails to cooperate in the investigation, the federal government vows to criminally prosecute the corporation (U. S.DOJ weave site, 2004).In both cases, the corporations pertain were charged and prosecuted because of the pervasiveness of the irreverences such as when tell by top(prenominal) management or when in conspiracy with the other officers of the corporation (U. S. DOJ web site, 2004). The rule of respondeat ace shall apply in case the violation is an isolated case as when connected by a single officer and with a abidance program being implemented by the corporation.The company can only act through its agents and officers, thereof if an overwhelming majority have committed fraud or any criminal act, then such act is considered the act of the corporationthe mens rea being the mental state of the culpable officers and agents. This is penalized in accordance with the Sentencing Guidelines. In the two cases cited, the respective(prenominal) companies are criminal of a felony because the charges were of austere nature with an imprisonment of more than one year (Wests Encyclopedia of American Law, 1998). Corporate crime can be a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the punishment attached by law for its commission.