Authors

Fernando Zelada
Director

Guatemala
E-mail

Under the basic principles of criminal law, only individuals can commit crimes. Legal entities themselves cannot do so. 

However, legal entities can incur criminal liability, whether through intent or negligence, due to the actions or omissions of their directors, managers, executives, representatives, administrators, officials, or employees who have contributed to the resultant offense.  

In our experience, many cases where criminal liability is incurred result from unintentional actions within business operations, translating into negligent liability, that is, without intent, but leading to this type of responsibility. 

State authorities, partners, and third parties have adopted a practice of pursuing criminal liability as a means to achieve their objectives. This pursuit is causing companies to invest human, economic, material, and intellectual resources in their business operations, emphasizing due diligence to avoid incurring criminal liabilities related to the environment, taxes, customs, labor, money laundering, etc.  

Such pursuits compel business law firms to address criminality without limiting legal advice to corporate matters.  

Moreover, due to commercial globalization among countries, companies involved in trade must comply with environmental, tax, customs, and labor regulations, which have attained the quality of international standards for providing goods and services. This compliance is part of the social responsibility of legal entities, crucial for protecting and maintaining corporate reputations, which is another reason for clients to address potential criminal liabilities that might arise in their business operations.  

Our professional experience enables us to provide our legal services in these areas with favorable results for our clients.