단위범죄와 개인범죄의 경계에 대한 탐구토론

Abstract

Whether a unit or individual personally should be held criminally liable for unlawful conduct performed in the process of management mainly depends on the assessment of mental state. A unit should not bear criminal responsibility unless the commission is out of its will. In general the principle of “superior agent” is applied, the persons who are directly in charge should be considered as an agent of unit. In other words, an agent represents the will of unit. However, in circumstance where the agent completely deviates from a unit, such as breaking relevant rules, it should be regarded as individual act rather than crimes committed by a unit. Moreover, not only the will of agent, but also other factors including governance structure, policy and custom should be taken into consideration.