When Should the Master Answer?: Respondeat Superior and the Criminal Law
Citation:
Kenneth Silver, When Should the Master Answer?: Respondeat Superior and the Criminal Law, Criminal Law and Philosophy, 2023Download Item:
Abstract:
Respondeat superior is a legal doctrine conferring liability from one party onto
another because the latter stands in some relationship of authority over the former.
Though originally a doctrine of tort law, for the past century it has been used within
the criminal law, especially to the end of securing criminal liability for corporations.
Here, I argue that on at least one prominent conception of criminal responsibility,
we are not justified in using this doctrine in this way. Firms are not answerable for
the crimes committed by their employees, because firms cannot answer as to why
the crime was committed; they lack the authority to offer the employee’s reasons
for action. Though this rules out respondeat superior as a general principle, I show
contexts in which vicarious liability is still appropriate in the criminal law, and I
respond to a number of other concerns raised by this picture.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/silverkDescription:
IN_PRESS
Author: Silver, Kenneth
Type of material:
Journal ArticleSeries/Report no:
Criminal Law and Philosophy;Availability:
Full text availableSubject (TCD):
Criminal Law , corporate criminal law , corporate personhood , criminal law theory , philosophy of criminal lawDOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-023-09659-7ISSN:
1871-9791Metadata
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