Attribution of criminal liability to legal persons in Iranian criminal law and twelvers jurisprudence

Committing a crime by legal persons can have many times more harmful effects than natural persons. The credit nature of legal persons and their distinction from natural persons from the point of view of various elements of criminal liability was considered an obstacle to assigning criminal liability to legal persons; But the need to maintain order and social cohesion made it inevitable to identify criminal liability for legal persons. To solve the problem of the obstacles of assigning criminal liability to legal persons, different legal systems, including the legal system of Iran, have adopted different solutions by accepting different theories. Based on this, with the descriptive-analytical method and using library resources, in the first part of the research, the analysis of the manifestation of theories of assigning criminal liability to legal persons, including theories of proxy, equality, responsibility of superiors and employers, collective, organizational culture and power and acceptance , has been discussed in the criminal law system of Iran and it is concluded that in the legal system of Iran, there are manifestations of the theories of equality, responsibility of superiors and employers, and organizational culture. Based on this, it becomes clear that although the acceptance of several theories according to the types of legal persons is not considered a defect; However, lack of coherence and lack of determination of specific theoretical bases for assigning criminal liability to legal persons will have adverse effects. One of the reasons for the inconsistency of Iran's criminal laws regarding the topic of discussion can be considered the development of twelvers jurists' opinions regarding the identification of juristic personality and the attribution of criminal liability to him. In the second part of the research, the analysis of the clear bases for assigning criminal liability to legal persons is done and it is concluded that the jurisprudence rules of preserving the system, no harm, the one who is satisfied with the work of a people is like the one who enters into them and the punishment for every forbidden act, are not only a fine for natural persons and the emergence of legal persons over time will also subject them to these rules.