Contemporary concern about technological hazards posed by business enterprises has intensified interest in the criminality of corporations. Incorporating ideas from a wide range of literature, the book argues that there is no magic answer to corporate power, to issues of personal safety and their inter-relationship with criminal law and justice. The attention paid to corporate criminal liability by courts, legislatures, law reform bodies and international organizations has increased markedly in the past decade. As in the first edition, the book takes what might be called a panoptic approach to the subject. Corporations and their susceptibility to criminal law are examined from sociological, psychological, philosophical and organizational perspectives as the book progresses. This edition has been revised and updated to take account of the burgeoning scholarly literature. Detailed analysis of judicial and legislative movements in England and Wales, in other national jurisdictions and at the level of international organizations follows. Two new chapters, on corporate manslaughter and on comparative and international responses to corporate crime, accommodate these changes. The book is distinctive in combining legal analysis and discussion of law reform debates with a theoretical account of the relationship between legal institutions and the role of risk and blame in shaping criminal law and the practices of the criminal justice system.

About the Author
Celia Wells is professor of law at Cardiff University where she has taught and researched since 1986. In 2001 she held a visiting position as PriceWaterhouseCoopers Legal Chair in Women and the Law at the University of Sydney. Her research has mainly focused on criminal law, in particular the criminal liability of corporations (Corporations and Criminal Responsibility 1993 (OUP)). Reflecting her interest in issues of risk and blame, Celia Wells has also published Negotiating Tragedy (1995) a study of the law relating to disasters. With Nicola Lacey, she is co-author of Reconstructing Criminal Law (2nd edition 1998), a student text which draws on a wide range of contextual material and adopts an explicitly feminist perspective. Previous appointments-University of North London 1973-5 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 1977-86 Cardiff University 1986.

Reviews
I was pleasantly suprised to find myself enjoying this thoughtful and thorough walk through the world of criminal responsibility in contemporary business. Matching legal and corporate theory with recent case studies, I was pleased at the way the author gave a balanced argument of both sides ... well researched ... both relevant and topical ... The sections on corporate killing and the arguments over strict liability were especially thought provoking. * Financial Adviser *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198267935
Author Celia Wells
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 163mm * 17mm