Member States should ensure that the judge or the court is able to take into account the mitigating circumstances set out in this Directive, as implemented in national law, when sentencing offenders. Subject to judicial discretion, such circumstances should cover those cases in which offenders provide information or otherwise collaborate with authorities. Similarly, where legal persons have implemented genuine, effective and duly assessed internal controls, ethics and compliance programmes, it should be possible to consider such actions as mitigating circumstances when sanctioning such legal persons. Lower penalties should also be considered where, upon discovery of an offence, a legal person swiftly discloses information and takes remedial measures. In any case, it remains within the discretion of the judge or the court to determine the actual amount of the penalty due to the specific mitigating circumstances, taking into account the specific circumstances in each individual case, including, where applicable, the fact that the legal person has compliance programmes only for cosmetic purposes, also called window dressing.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
