Legislative Decree No. 231 of June 8th, 2001 introduced into the Italian legal system the administrative liability of companies for certain crimes expressly indicated in the Decree (e.g., corruption, computer crimes, environmental crimes, manslaughter or serious or very serious injuries committed in violation of occupational health and safety regulations), committed by top management or employees.
In addition to the criminal liability of the natural person who committed the crime, the liability of the company is also provided, if the crime was committed in its interest or for its benefit. The company’s liability is completely independent of that of the natural person: in fact, the company is not exempt from liability even if the perpetrator of the offence has not been identified or is not imputable or if the crime is extinguished.
The sanctions that may be imposed on the company are the following:
· pecuniary penalties;
· disqualifying sanctions: (a) prohibition from carrying out the activity; (b) suspension or revocation of authorizations, licenses or concessions functional to the commission of the offence; (c) prohibition from contracting with the public administration, except to obtain the provision of a public service; (d) exclusion from benefits, financing, contributions or subsidies and possible revocation of those already granted; (e) prohibition from advertising goods or services;
· confiscation;
· publication of the sentence.
The Decree provides that the company’s liability is excluded if, before the offence is committed:
· an Organizational and Management Model suitable for preventing the commission of the crimes indicated in the model has been prepared and effectively implemented;
· the perpetrator committed the offence by fraudulently circumventing the Organizational Model;
· a supervisory body (Vigilance Committee) has been established, with autonomous powers of initiative and control (and which also oversees the updating of the model).
In this regard, Johnson & Johnson S.p.A. has adopted an Organizational and Management Model as available on this page (see the files below), structured as follows:
· a general part, in which, after a brief general introduction on the Decree, the crimes for which the company is liable are indicated, as well as the areas in which there is the greatest risk of their commission, the corporate bodies responsible for control and where, lastly, the procedure for reporting crimes and violations of the model by employees has been inserted;
· a number of special parts (divided into letters, from A to L), in which, for each area of risk, specific safeguards have been identified aimed at preventing the commission of the crimes set out in the Decree.
The Company has also set up an autonomous and independent Vigilance Committee, which supervises the functioning of the Model, takes care of updating it and is the body responsible for receiving all reports from employees. The e-mail address for contacting the Vigilance Committee is the following: [email protected].
Annexed to the Model are the text of the Decree (Annex 1), the list of crimes (Annex 2), the Codes of Ethics adopted by the Company (Annex 3), the Regulation of the Vigilance Committee (Annex 4), the curricula vitae of the members of the Body itself (Annex 5) and the sanctioning system prepared for violations of the Model (Annex 6).
MODEL OF ORGANIZATION, MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL. SPECIAL PARTS