Are Penalties Applicable to Commercial Legal Entities? When Do Commercial Legal Entities Bear Criminal Liability?

Are penalties applicable to commercial juridical persons?

According to the current legal provisions in the field of criminal law, are penalties applicable to commercial juridical persons?

Answer:

Based on Article 30 of the 2015 Criminal Code, the concept of a penalty is defined as follows:

A penalty is the most severe coercive measure of the State as stipulated in this Code, decided by the Court and applied to individuals or commercial juridical persons committing crimes in order to deprive or restrict the rights and interests of those individuals or commercial juridical persons.

Therefore, according to the above provisions, penalties are indeed applicable to commercial juridical persons committing crimes.

When are commercial juridical persons criminally liable?

My name is Dinh Trong, currently residing in Ho Chi Minh City. Editorial staff, please assist me: When are commercial juridical persons criminally liable? Where is this matter stipulated?

Answer:

Clause 1 of Article 75 of the 2015 Criminal Code stipulates:

Commercial juridical persons are only criminally liable when the following conditions are met:

a) The criminal act is performed in the name of the commercial juridical person;

b) The criminal act is performed for the benefit of the commercial juridical person;

c) The criminal act is performed under the direction, administration, or approval of the commercial juridical person;

d) The criminal statute of limitations has not expired.

** Note: The criminal liability of commercial juridical persons does not exclude the criminal liability of individuals.

Handling commercial juridical persons committing the crimes of producing or trading counterfeit goods

Please provide advice on how commercial juridical persons committing the crimes of producing or trading counterfeit goods are handled according to the 2015 Criminal Code. I wish to understand this matter for my own knowledge. Kindly respond to this issue as soon as possible. Sincerely thank you!

Answer:

The handling of commercial juridical persons committing the crimes of producing or trading counterfeit goods is stipulated in Clause 5, Article 192 of the 2015 Criminal Code, as amended and supplemented by the 2017 Law amending the Criminal Code, as follows:

a) Committing the crime as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article results in a fine ranging from 1,000,000,000 VND to 3,000,000,000 VND;

b) Committing the crime under one of the circumstances stipulated in Points a, b, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, and m of Clause 2 of this Article results in a fine ranging from 3,000,000,000 VND to 6,000,000,000 VND;

c) Committing the crime as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article results in a fine ranging from 6,000,000,000 VND to 9,000,000,000 VND or suspension of operations for a period of 6 months to 3 years;

d) Committing the crime under the circumstances stipulated in Article 79 of this Code results in permanent suspension of operations;

e) The commercial juridical person may also be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 200,000,000 VND, and forbidden from conducting business, operating in certain fields, or raising capital for 1 to 3 years.

We hope our advice will help address your concerns.

Best wishes for health and success.

Respectfully!