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Snapshot

  • The recent judgment in Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [2019] FCA 1170 presents a timely opportunity to examine the procedural steps a corporate defendant will encounter when charged and prosecuted for an indictable offence.
  • This examination is particularly relevant in the current environment following the Banking Royal Commission in which there has been a push for increased enforcement of the criminal law against corporations.

The recent judgment in Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [2019] FCA 1170 (‘CDPP v K-Line’) provides a unique opportunity to examine the procedural steps that a corporate defendant will encounter when charged with, and prosecuted for, an indictable offence.

This examination is particularly relevant in the current context, which has seen a broad push for increased enforcement of the criminal law against corporations in the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (‘Royal Commission’). For example, in February 2019, ASIC’s Deputy Chair, Daniel Crennan QC predicted that in the twelve months to follow the Royal Commission, the referral of matters by ASIC to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (‘CDPP’) would increase by a staggering 82 per cent. This new era of corporate criminal liability appears to have kicked-off recently, with the CDPP announcing on 4 October 2019 that it has laid 87 charges against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in relation to misconduct by its life insurance arm, CommInsure.

The following is a brief summary of the stages of a corporate criminal prosecution:

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