“LA RESPONSABILIDAD PENAL DE LAS PERSONAS JURÍDICAS. ANÁLISIS DE SU APLICACIÓN EN LA LEGISLACIÓN ECUATORIANA”.

Abstract

The present work through the inductive-deductive and analytic-synthetic methods, analyzes the criminal responsibility of legal persons due to the fact that the Ecuadorian criminal law considers them subjects of criminal law. First, the origins of the concept of a legal entity are discussed in order to analyze criminal responsibility in a general way, reaching the central theme of the work. Favorable and unfavorable theses are taken into account and, as a reference, some legal systems of countries that contemplate the criminal liability of legal persons. The COIP for the first time stipulates it and according to it, the criminal types must include a full description of criminally relevant behavior. The action of the person must be done in order to cause harm, as well as be aware that the behavior is unlawful. These elements are specific to natural persons. Criminal law is a legal science in constant evolution due to the innovation of social control and globalization that generates capital movements throughout the world. Ecuador cannot be excluded from this evolutionary process of the Criminal Law, which creates new criminal types as a mechanism for the protection of juridical rights, so it is important to determinate the criminal liability of legal entities and the imposition of penalties, but if these are purely administrative, it is unnecessary to classify in the COIP.