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Organizational Crime, Auditors and Liberal Government

NCJ Number
186379
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 28 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 69-82
Author(s)
Philip D. Bougen
Editor(s)
John Carrier, Stephen Savage
Date Published
2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper has three themes--circumstances under which organizational crime is committed and measures designed to prevent it, roles and responsibilities of company auditors in preventing organizational crime, and the practices of liberal government in Ireland with respect to organizational crime.
Abstract
Organizational crime often comes to the forefront of public attention in the aftermath of the disclosure of a spectacular case of corporate crime, as politicians and regulators examine the details and consider appropriate responses. An example of organizational crime in Ireland is presented that demonstrates the need for legislators to assess alternative responses to control corporate crime and to look beyond specific details of the particular case to more general economic and regulatory structures that created the opportunity for the perpetration of corporate crime. The importance of financial audits is discussed as a relatively simple yet versatile technique for assessing and monitoring corporate compliance with legal and regulatory financial accounting requirements. In considering organizational crime as an illustration of the failure of liberal government, the author suggests more detailed analysis of the intricacies of this failure can help to explain possible contributions of law to the functioning of liberal government. 32 references