Justification and convenience of the criminal responsibility of legal entities in Chile, in crimes against the Environment

Abstract

The article refers to the revision of the principle "societas delinquere non potest", as well as to the pragmatic and dogmatic problems associated with the criminal responsibility of companies, particularly in relation to the so-called ecological crimes, with the purpose of elucidating the convenience of its establishment in Chile. For these purposes, the origin of the criminal intervention in environmental matters is reviewed, as well as the close relationship that, in this matter, exists between Criminal Law and Administrative Law. Likewise, the investigation includes the study of the different positions formulated in the debate about the possibility of criminally sanctioning the collective entities, the different models of imputation proposed by the doctrine and the sanctioning systems prevailing in Spain and Chile. Finally, a brief analysis of the sanctioning administrative system that exists in Chile, in environmental matters, is carried out.