"But is the right to freedom of expression and language also given to a corporation that is not flesh and blood? The answer is in the affirmative. A corporation also enjoys freedoms that its nature as a corporation allows it to enjoy. Freedom of occupation, the right to property, the rights of the accused, and the like, rights in which the existence of a physical entity ("flesh and blood") is not essential (such as the right to a family), are the domain of every legal person."
(Emphasis added - M.A.C .)
Prof. Dafna Barak Erez also noted this in her article: "Putting Man at the Center – On Man's Place in Law," Iyunei Mishpat 39:5, 40 (2016, hereinafter: Barak-Erez, Man at the Center):
"In Israel, the legal discourse regarding the possibility of recognizing the constitutional rights of corporations has developed, especially since the Basic Laws on Human Rights were enacted. The wording of the Basic Laws does not contradict the granting of rights under them to corporations as well. Against this background, and also in light of the rulings that preceded the Basic Laws, the Supreme Court applied the Basic Laws to corporations in principle, based on the implicit assumption that the protection of these rights is important for the protection of the rights of individuals. From time to time, it has been noted that not all rights are by their nature suitable to apply to corporations, but in a manner that makes it clear that the application of the protection of rights to corporations is the rule."
Before discussing the rights of the corporation in criminal cases, it is necessary to briefly address the rights of corporations in general, since, as we shall see, from the conceptual basis for granting rights to corporations it is possible to derive the scope of the rights in general, and the rights of the corporation as a defendant in particular.
As stated, it was determined that constitutional rights will apply to corporations, insofar as these rights are consistent with the nature and nature of the corporation (see in this regard the words of the Honorable President A. Barak in the case of the High Court of Justice 4593/05 Mizrahi Bank v. the Prime Minister (published in Nevo, 2006, hereinafter: High Court of Justice Mizrahi Bank). In paragraph 10 of his judgment, with reference to the constitutional right to property in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty: "The expression 'man' in the Basic Law also includes a legal personality who is not a human being, provided that the essence of the right granted in the Basic Law and the nature of the legal personality who is not a human being, are consistent with this conclusion..... Activity through non-human legal bodies is elementary in our society. A modern society cannot be beaten without them. The denial of human rights from these bodies will severely damage the fabric of modern life" (see also Marius Emberland, The Human Rights of Companies: Exploring the Structure of ECHR Protection (2006)). Thus, the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by Protocols No. 11 and No. 14, Rome, 4.XI. 1950, in which the right to a fair trial (set forth in Article 6 of the Convention) was interpreted as granting human rights to corporations as well.