Corporations cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed nor excommunicated, for they have no souls.

          Case of Sutton's Hospital, 10 Rep. 32

Reading some passages from Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) -- what else does one do on a Friday evening? -- I ran across the passage above.

And found it an interesting observation.

Coke's point was that a corporation cannot form specific intent and cannot suffer a corporal or spiritual punishment. In that he is right.

Now, by way of legal fiction, modern law transfers to the corporation the mind of those directing it thus allowing a corporation to "compass the death of Her Majesty" and so commit treason. (Or, far more likely, to commit murder).

Corporate crime is generally a result of a legal fiction -- put otherwise, corporations are inanimate tools and their actions are not their own, rather their actions are those of the directing minds.