Companies are acknowledged to be distinct legal persons that bear liability both for organizational failures and misconduct of their agents. Civil liability has long been imposed on companies and organizations. Corporate criminal liability has rapidly been expanded in recent years. Following the common law jurisdictions, in which notions of corporate criminal liability were introduced already in the early twentieth century, many civil law countries also recognize the possibility of holding companies criminally liable. However, distinctions in the use and theoretical underpinning of organizational liability remain across countries.