Abstract

This article critically analyses the issues associated with the attribution and enforcement of criminal responsibility towards Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in India. It provides a rationale for the promulgation of a definite purpose-built legislative framework for ascertaining the ‘controlling mind’ of LLPs that would enhance the ‘capability of control’ by stakeholders. The post-LLP Act 2008 legal framework forms the backdrop of this analysis. The article critically analyses the role of LLPs in the globalization of business and the peculiar characteristics of LLPs such as the hybridity of its Continental Civil Law structure that incorporates elements of the classic partnership form and the modern corporations. It explores the potential challenges to the attribution of criminal responsibility and the inherent issues associated with the enforcement and prosecution of criminal liability associated with organised economic crime in India. A comparative study of corporate criminal liability regimes across jurisdictions reveals that the rigid nature of the structure of corporations compared to LLPs facilitates the legal attribution of criminal liability to corporations. This is in contrast with the fluidity/kaleidoscopic nature of the structures of LLPs. The conclusions and recommendations provide the prospective solutions for reforming the regulatory and legislative aspects of LLPs.

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