Corporate criminal liability for environmental crimes, a challenge in Costa Rica?

Abstract

This article is aimed at exposing and reflecting on some of the advantages that the Costa Rican justice system could enjoy if the legislature decides to incorporate into its criminal prosecution policy the tool of corporate criminal liability, as other countries have done. Given that Costa Rica has already implemented corporate criminal liability for corruption and other drug-related offenses, the possibility of applying this matter to environmental crimes is raised through a convenience analysis, by studying comparative law, as well as doctrine and jurisprudence from countries that have already implemented this resource. In the end, it is observed that Costa Rica holds the environment as a value of high importance, and there seems to be a spirit of penalizing companies for environmental damage. However, it is also noted that this spirit would require a regulatory framework that fully develops the system and leaves no room for interpretative gaps. Through this analysis, it is concluded that Costa Rica has a need to implement normative changes in favor of corporate criminal liability, but it seems to have the spirit to do so, and at the same time, this offers a series of advantages to the national system.