This module explores the growing regulation of commercial activities through criminal sanction. Traditionally, breaches of normative commercial values were a matter of private law resolution between private citizens. However, as society and commerce has evolved, the state has become more involved in regulating commercial behaviour particularly through regulatory frameworks. In the modern commercial world therefore, it is crucial to understand how to conduct business within the confines of these regulatory frameworks, particularly when that framework now imposes criminal sanctions for breaches of regulation. It is also vital to understand why state actors sometimes operate these regulatory frameworks without the full benefit of the traditional rules of due process applicable in the criminal process being available to the business person.

Historical development of criminalising commercial activities: pre-industrial revolution approaches to commercial crime, the shift of emphasis in policing towards more traditional crimes of personal violence and force and the emergence of corporations during the industrial revolution as investment vehicles; the re-emergence of criminalising commercial malpractice in modern times. Understanding commercial crime: what constitutes commercial crime; why commercial actors commit crimes; punishment and deterrence theories in criminal justice; understanding victims in commercial crime; the impact of criminalisation on business decision making and behaviour. Regulatory theory: regulatory theory including positive theories (market power, government opportunism) and normative theories, regulatory capture and information assymetry; legal basis of regulatory agencies; regulatory agencies powers, both investigative and adjudicative, sanctions and due process requirements; judicial control and oversight. Specific Regulatory Agencies: the module will examine a number of regulatory agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners; the Central Bank; the Competition and Consumer Authority, Health and Safety Authority, the Office of Corporate Enforcement; HIQA and the Environmental Protection Agency will be covered including their co-operation and co-ordination with external regulatory agencies and the move towards internationalising these regulatory agencies.

On completion of this module, students should be able to: • appreciate the extent and nature of crimes other than the 'street crimes' traditionally regulated by police, particularly 'crimes of the powerful' such as corporate, occupational, governmental and technological crime • gain an insight into the study, description, measurement, causes and explanation of regulatory crimes • understand the range of legal, criminal justice and regulatory responses for breach of commercial regulation • know regulatory theories that explain and inform regulatory practice, and developments in that practice • have a familiarity with a range of regulatory enforcement strategies including the differing approaches of various state agencies at national and international level

On completion of this module, students should: • Be challenged to think more broadly about the conduct of commercial activities within regulatory frameworks • Be able to connect the different interests in commercial activities that lead to regulation • Question the extent to which these regulatory frameworks provide the necessary safeguards for criminal sanctions • Engage with the international environment in regulatory crime.

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The module will be taught to postgraduate students using a mixture of didactic lectures and directed pre-assigned reading together with interactive discussion. Through research and class discussion and analysis, students will gain a deep understanding of how the various processes work. Students will also be given an opportunity to present and discuss various case studies, giving them a better understanding of the practical application of the underlying theory of regulatory crime. This will help develop their critical thinking about the use of these processes in real-world situations. They will become more articulate through engaging in discussion in class and taking part in case studies. The relevance and application of regulatory crime will be enhanced through the use of guest lectures by representatives from a number of the regulatory agencies dealt with in the syllabus. The International Commercial and Economic Research Group at the Law School in UL is at the cutting edge of commercial law innovation and this module will build on the research expertise of its Director, Raymond Friel and other faculty members of the Group. Student participation in the module will provide a foundation for further research development in the intersection of commercial law and criminal justice.. The module may use alternative delivery mechanisms, including blended learning techniques, to make it available and accessible to a wider group of students over time.