Corporate Crime

Corporate crimes are crimes committed in the course of otherwise legitimate working procedures in respectable organisations. Although corporate crimes can cause many forms of physical, moral and financial damage, in practice the administration of criminal justice is rather lenient. Should the harmful behaviour of corporations be curbed by the intensification of criminal justice? In this paper the author rejects this option. He prefers fostering the social responsiveness of organisations, i.e. strengthening the ability of organisations to comply with existing social expectations. Responsive means that these expectations are properly assessed and are taken into account in the decision‐making. The author specifies two conditions which determined the extent of responsiveness and proposes several strategies for responsive regulation. Responsive regulation is based upon negotiation and persuasion. Only in this context can penal sanctions be effective; responsive regulation in the shadow of criminal law.