R v W Stevenson & Sons (A Partnership) and others [2008] EWCA Crim 273, [2008] All ER (D) 351 (Feb)
In so far as business activities are conducted in the name of a partnership and the partnership has identifiable assets that are distinct from the personal assets of each partner, there is no reason why a partnership should not be treated, for the purposes of the criminal law, as a separate entity from the partners who are members of it.
The question of whether or not the context permits the word “person” in a criminal statute to be read as including a partnership, might depend critically upon whether or not there is some restriction upon the assets that would properly be available to meet any penalty imposed.
Legislation that renders a partnership liable as an independent entity will lead, in respect of a conviction for a single offence, to the imposition of a single penalty. Conviction of the partnership will not constitute conviction of the individual partners, nor render the individual partners liable to individual penalties.
Where a partnership alone is indicted, any fine imposed can only
