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Preventing Corporate Corruption pp 397–416Cite as

Corporate Responsibility and Compliance Programs in Italian Case Law

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Abstract

The chapter aims to select and evaluate the most relevant decisions of the Italian courts concerning corporate responsibility, especially for crimes of corruption, in order to collate the essential elements that a compliance program must contain to be judged suitable to prevent bribery offenses. Decree no. 231/2001 introduced a form of administrative responsibility of corporations to the Italian system, related to crimes committed by their officers, directors, managers, or employees, where the compliance program plays an important role in excluding or mitigating the corporation’s liability. The Decree sets out the basic elements that a compliance program must contain, with regards to the exercise of the delegated powers and the measures taken to prevent the risk of committing offenses. Judges are entitled to evaluate the compliance program’s suitability. As the legislator was aware of the impossibility of predetermining the specific contents of compliance programs, the Italian Courts, in their decisions, have added more specific requirements for their adoption and elaboration. The Italian case law studies concerning the violation of Decree no. 231/2001 focus on, inter alia, the Decision by Court of Milan of 20th September 2004 (so-called Decalogo 231), Decision by Court of Bari of April 18th 2005, Decision by Court of Naples of June 26th 2007, Decision by Court of Milan of November 17th 2009, Decision by Court of Appeal of Milan of March 21st 2012.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For analysis of the economic impact of the compliance programs, see Centonze 2009, p. 219. For a social analysis of corporate liability, see Grillo 2009, p. 205. (Manacorda 2012)

  2. 2.

    See Di Giovine 2005, p. 3; De Vero 2008; De Vero 2001, p. 1126; Marinucci 2007, p. 445; Stile 2012, p. 37. On the subject of Corporate Group liability, see Scaroina 2006.

  3. 3.

    On this point, see Assumma 2010, p. 193. The author has some doubts about assigning every decision on the suitability of the program to the judge.

  4. 4.

    See the decision of judge of the preliminary investigations of Rome of 4 April 2003, concerning a corporation charged with corruption, and the decision of Court of Milan of 20 September 2004.

  5. 5.

    The decisions passed by the judge of the preliminary investigation of Milan and by the Court of Milan, both of April 2004, refer to an energy company for the crime of internal corruption, although the evaluation of the compliance program is also made in relation to the conduct of corruption in a foreign country. On this point, see Sect. 19.3.5.

  6. 6.

    The decision is published on Foro it., 2005, II, 528.

  7. 7.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

  8. 8.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

  9. 9.

    The decision is published on Foro padano, 2010, 2, I, 360.

  10. 10.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

  11. 11.

    Confindustria is the most important industrial association in Italy.

  12. 12.

    Sect. 6, paragraph 3, D. Lgs. 231/2001.

  13. 13.

    The decisions are published on www.rivista231.it.

  14. 14.

    The decision is published on www.penalecontemporaneo.it.

  15. 15.

    The decision is published on Foro it.,2004, II, 317 and Riv. trim. dir. pen. economia, 2004, 293.

  16. 16.

    Another decision evaluated as positive the dismissal of the legal representative in a corporation charged with the crime of instigation of corruption committed by him. In the decision of 4 November 2002, the judge of the preliminary hearing of Pordenone convicted the corporation but reduced the amount of the financial measure because a compliance program suitable to prevent future crimes had been adopted and effectively implemented.

  17. 17.

    The decision is published on Giur. www.rivista231.it.

  18. 18.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

  19. 19.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

  20. 20.

    The decision is published on www.rivista231.it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy

    Alessia Paludi & Mattia Zecca

Authors
  1. Alessia Paludi
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  2. Mattia Zecca
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Correspondence to Alessia Paludi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Seconda Universita di Napoli, Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy

    Stefano Manacorda

  2. Facoltà di Giurisprudenza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Centonze

  3. Facoltà di Giurisprudenza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Gabrio Forti

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Paludi, A., Zecca, M. (2014). Corporate Responsibility and Compliance Programs in Italian Case Law. In: Manacorda, S., Centonze, F., Forti, G. (eds) Preventing Corporate Corruption. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04480-4_19

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