There is an ever-increasing recognition amongst legal professionals and the public alike that regulatory crime has the potential to cause enormous levels of harm to economies, as well as to individuals. Regulatory crime however is often situated as a mala prohibita, with the wrongfulness of the crime generally lacking the intuitive nature of more ‘traditional’ offences. Consequently, this area leads to questions of fair criminalisation, the choice of mens rea for offences, and matters of appropriate sentencing, to name a few. As the areas of everyday and corporate life captured by the umbrella term of ‘regulatory’ crime expand to include, amongst others, competition law, environmental protection, and financial affairs, the importance of holistic approaches to regulatory crime has become all the more apparent.

CCJVS researchers have considerable expertise in the area of regulatory crime, having published nationally and internationally on this topic. In this particular area of research, CCJVS members work closely with their colleagues in the International, Commercial and Economic Law (ICEL) Research Group which is also based in the School of Law. The availability of expert researchers from both criminal justice and commercial law backgrounds to work on this challenging area situates the School of Law in UL as a unique centre of excellence for the development of top-quality, innovative research outputs in this area.

Key Researchers in this area: Dr Luke Danagher and Professor Shane Kilcommins