R. v. Canadian Dredge & Dock Co.

"R. v. Canadian Dredge & Dock Co." [1985] 1 S.C.R. 662 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on corporate liability where the Court adopted the English identification doctrine for liability, which states that culpability for acts and mental states of a corporation can be represented by employees and officers on the basis that they are the "directing mind" of the corporate entity. This principle was later elaborated on in "The Rhone v. The Peter A.B. Widener" [1993] .

Background

Four corporations, Canadian Dredge & Dock Company, Marine Industries Limited, The J.P. Porter Company Limited, and Richelieu Dredging Corporation Inc. were charged with conspiring to rig bids for government contracts under section 338(1) and 423(1)(d) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Opinion of the Court

Estey J., for the unanimous Court, held the four companies liable of bid rigging, stating that "the corporate vehicle now occupies such a large portion of the industrial, commercial and sociological sectors that amenability of the corporation to our criminal law is as essential in the case of the corporation as in the case of the natural person".

External links

*