Compliance Programs and their relevance for private companies, according to Law N.º 9699 of Criminal Liability of Legal Entities Law)

Abstract

On June 10, 2019, Law #9699, called “Corporations’ Liability on domestic bribery, trans- national bribery and other crimes”, entered into force, which included legal corporations within the subjects that can be prosecuted and criminally sanctioned, since it attributed to them the capacity to commit crimes and affect the legal sphere of third parties. The law responds to one of many social needs, that derived from an accelerated and exponential growth of the corporate environment, which aims in addition to sanctioning legal entities, to encourage them to participate through self-regulation, of the necessary measures to combat the corruption that affects society daily. Law #9699 provides a preventive model, which in practice and doctrine is known as a compliance program, a concept that, even though in other countries is not new, and some Costa Rican entities have already included it, for many entities it is brand new and unknown. However, the entry into force of this Law, although it contemplates it on an optional basis, makes this compliance program a necessity for organizations that intend to protect their operations from irregular acts that may lead to severe contingencies.