The cancellation from the company register of the company does not determine the extinction of the offense charged to it pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/01

With judgment  no. 9006, filed on March 17, 2022, the Court of Cassazione, Criminal Chamber IV established that the cancellation from the business register does not automatically entail the extinction of the administrative offense pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/01 against the entity.

According to the Supreme Court, it is easy to observe, in fact, that section II of chapter II of Law no. 231 of 2001 (articles 28 et seq.) governs in an articulated manner the transformative events of the entity, expressly providing that in the event of transformation, merger and demerger, the responsibility for the offenses committed prior to the date of transformation remains valid (article 28), so that the entity resulting from the merger is liable for the crimes for which the entities participating in the merger were responsible (Article 29), which in the event of a split remains the responsibility of the split entity for the crimes committed (Article 30, paragraph 1), that the beneficiaries of the split, even if only partial, are jointly and severally obliged to pay the penalties due by the split body (Article 30, paragraph 2) and that in the event of the sale of the company, the transferee remains jointly and severally liable ( art. 33).

Furthermore, in the event of transformation, merger or demerger of the originally responsible entity, the procedure continues with regard to the entities resulting from the amending events or beneficiaries of the demerger, which participate in the process in the state in which it is located (Article 42).

It is therefore affirmed the principle of law according to which "the cancellation from the register of companies of the company to which it is contested (in the criminal trial that is also celebrated against individuals accused of negligent injuries with violation of the accident prevention regulations) the violation of art . 25-septies, paragraph 3, in relation to the offense referred to in art. 590 of the Italian Criminal Code, which is assumed to have been committed in the interest and to the benefit of the entity, does not determine the extinction of the offense charged to it ".