Las personas jurídicas al banquillo de los acusados. Análisis de los aspectos procesales de la responsabilidad penal de las personas jurídicas en Colombia

Although criminal liability of legal entities has not been introduced in Colombia, several legislative initiatives have been presented in this direction. These have focused on the substantive aspects of the matter and barely deal with the procedural aspects. Hence the question arises as to whether the investigation and prosecution of legal persons requires special rules or whether those provided for natural persons are sufficient. The objective of the article is to anticipate some of the fundamental problems in this matter and to propose possible solutions, based on the analysis of the implications of the criminal liability of legal entities for the process in general and the right of defense in particular. The procedural effects of compliance programs, the conduct of internal investigations, the imposition of collaboration duties with the authorities and the incorporation of mechanisms to avoid the process or sentence are also included. It is concluded that a true system of criminal liability for legal entities requires its own procedural rules, as well as the recognition of a set of rights and guarantees in accordance with the nature of the legal entity.