دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی یافته های مطالعات تجربی کاربرد حقوق جزا در بحران های غیر تروریستی و تراژدی ها - الزویر 2018

I. The Significance of Criminal Prosecutions

A. Compensatory Damages

Criminal prosecutions are the best legal means of ensuring culpable parties are held to account. For example, corporations and governments may be accused of committing wrongful acts, but the actual decisions and acts are undertaken by people. Someone made the decision, committed the act, or failed to act when they should have acted. The culpable persons may escape liability if attention is solely focused on the corporate or government entity. Criminal liability can pierce the corporate veil or government entity to reach the individual wrongdoers. Civil liability developed Tort Law to compensate the victims, usually through compensatory damages assessed against the wrongdoer, commonly referred to as a tortfeasor. Compensatory damages are intended to place victims in the condition they were in before the accident. It can usually only be done through money damages. However, three limitations exist on individual culpability such that the wrongdoer escapes liability. First, if the tortfeasor is an employee, then the employer will also often be liable through vicarious liability. Under the doctrine of vicarious liability, often referred to as respondent superior, the employer is also liable for the wrongful conduct committed in the scope of employment by an employee. Individual employees remain liable in theory, but the victim will normally seek compensation from the defendant with “deeper” pockets, the employer. The employee will effectively be relieved of liability.

IX. Conclusion

The significance of this study is that decision makers now need to factor the possibility of criminal prosecutions into their risk analysis. Corporations, their officers and employees are at risk for criminal prosecutions, as are government employees. The Rana Plaza prosecutions signify a new risk for those responsible for disasters and tragedies, criminal liability, which can well include imprisonment and will not be covered by insurance.

The New Millennium globally ushered in an increasing application of criminal prosecutions in disasters and tragedies. Asia and the Pacific Islands are in the vanguard. Criminal prosecutions preceded the 21st Century, but not nearly to the extent as recently. The internet and social media may be fueling the public clamor for justice.

Investigators quickly enter disaster scenes and usually divine the cause(s) of the disaster. One commonality is a cavalier attitude to safety by owners, developers, builders, operators, and government regulators. Other common causes are poor design in the original construction or modifications, ship shod construction, and inferior building materials; in short, a rush to completion by cutting corners, often with the connivance of public officials. The Sewol and other maritime accidents also involved inadequate training.

Prosecutions involve those with direct involvement in the disasters, such as owners and operators, officers, and in the case of ships, captains and crew members. Many of the incidents involve derelictions in office, including bribery, by public officials. They have been swept up in the prosecutions. In some building collapses, such as the Rana Plaza and Sampoong, warning signs appeared before the collapses, but were ignored.