"Due to the proliferation of corporations, their increasing influence in economic and social life, and their involvement in the disasters that befall society, there has been an increase in the need to treat the corporation differently and to impose legal liability on it. In this regard, it should be noted that the considerations that led to the change in position were mainly pragmatic considerations. The courts did not approach the issue from a principled and dogmatic point of view. The courts did not attach great importance to the question of whether the nature and role of the penal laws allow for the imposition of criminal liability on a corporation, but rather dealt mainly with the question of how a corporation can be held criminally liable. What the courts wanted was mainly the result (imposing criminal lions on a corporation) and not the principles of penal law."
(Emphasis in the original, see the many references there in Hashem 46).
The conclusion is that the main purpose of imposing criminal liability on corporations, in light of their involvement in economic and community life, is to prevent the commission of offenses.
In this regard, the words of the Honorable Deputy President, Justice A. Rubinstein inCriminal Appeal 99/14 State of Israel v. Melisron inTax Appeal (published in Nevo, 2014, hereinafter: the Melisron case, paragraph 138 of his judgment):
"Let us recall that a conviction by virtue of the Organics Doctrine is intended, first and foremost, to deter, whether the specific company or similar companies, from similar acts in the future, and therefore deterrence considerations must be given real importance."
We find a similar view in the literature. Thus, for example, the words of Bar-Mor, Corporations, at p. 76 (in chapter 4.31, which deals with the corporation's criminal liability):
"The corporation, as a real entity, has a legally recognized entity, is a citizen of the world community, and therefore must bear personal criminal responsibility in order to protect the interests it may harm. The scope of the areas and issues in which the corporation is involved is almost exactly the same as that of an individual, and therefore it should be subjected to a similar network of liabilities. The intense involvement of the corporation in modern activity invites situations of actions or omissions carried out in the name of a corporation, which society wishes to prevent. The prevention will therefore be carried out by imposing personal criminal liability on the corporation."