An Original Investigation of the Constitutional Foundations of Corporate Criminal Liability in Nigerian Law

Corporate criminal liability sits at the intersection of criminal law, corporate law, and constitutional law, yet its theoretical foundations in the Nigerian constitutional and legal order have not been comprehensively examined. Specifically, whether imposing criminal liability on a corporation, which cannot be imprisoned, constitutionally satisfies the principles of proportionality, legality, and due process under the 1999 Constitution as amended, remains an unresolved scholarly question. This study makes an original contribution by developing a Constitutional Framework for Corporate Criminal Liability in Nigeria (CFCCL), examining the constitutional permissibility, justifications, and design constraints of corporate criminal liability in Nigerian law. The theoretical framework draws on criminal law theory (actus reus, mens rea, and attribution doctrines), constitutional due process jurisprudence, and comparative corporate criminal liability models from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and South Africa. Original contributions include an original attribution model for corporate criminal liability appropriate to Nigerian law, a constitutional proportionality analysis of corporate criminal sanctions, and an original critique of the adequacy of existing corporate criminal liability provisions across Nigeria's criminal statutes. The study draws on systematic analysis of all corporate criminal liability provisions across 45 Nigerian statutes, approximately 25 decided cases involving corporate criminal liability, and structured interviews with 20 criminal law scholars and prosecutors. Results indicate that current corporate criminal liability provisions are constitutionally permissible but inadequately developed to address systemic organisational misconduct. The study constitutes an original contribution to Nigerian criminal corporate law theory and generates a model for a codified Corporate Criminal Liability Act.

Keywords: corporate criminal liability, constitutional law, mens rea attribution, corporate sanctions, Nigeria