Criminal Liability Following Corporate Mergers: A Comparative Analysis of Arab Legal Systems, French Law, and Common Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66325/nusantaralaw.v5i2.376Keywords:
Corporate Accountability; Criminal Liability; Institutional Transformation; Regulatory Governance; Successor Liability.Abstract
Corporate mergers constitute a significant mechanism of economic restructuring, yet they raise complex questions concerning the continuity of criminal liability when an offending corporation is dissolved, absorbed, or transformed into a new legal entity. Although existing scholarship has extensively examined corporate criminal liability and merger regulation, limited comparative attention has been devoted to determining whether criminal responsibility survives corporate transformation, particularly across Arab, French, and common law jurisdictions. This study examines how selected legal systems regulate the continuity, transfer, or extinction of corporate criminal liability following mergers and identifies the legal principles that prevent corporate restructuring from becoming a means of evading accountability. The study employs a qualitative methodology combining doctrinal, comparative, and institutional legal analysis of legislation, judicial decisions, and regulatory practices in Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The analysis focuses on four dimensions: the legal effects of mergers on corporate personality; statutory rules governing successor liability; the relevance of economic and organizational continuity in attributing criminal responsibility; and judicial or regulatory mechanisms designed to prevent liability avoidance. The findings demonstrate that the examined jurisdictions cannot be adequately categorized within a simple formalistic–functional dichotomy. The legal frameworks of Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco remain comparatively more dependent on the continuity or termination of the predecessor corporation’s legal personality. By contrast, French and common law jurisdictions demonstrate more flexible approaches that combine statutory provisions, judicial doctrines, economic continuity, and successor liability principles. The study contributes to comparative corporate criminal law by proposing a hybrid accountability model that recognizes functional continuity in mergers and strengthens criminal liability despite changes in legal personality.
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