Abstract:
When a company is convicted of criminal offending, the liability must necessarily be based upon
some conduct performed by a human agent. The relationship between the company and the agent
must be examined in this context to ascertain whether the company, the agent, or both, may be
guilty of the offending, and the issue of accessory liability may also arise. This article considers the
case of Cullen v R [2014] NZCA 325, in which the director of a company whose conduct was
attributed to the company was treated as a secondary party although the company itself was not
charged. The article evaluates the approach taken by the Court of Appeal which, it is argued, added
unnecessary complexity to this area of law.