Q&A: Is there a prohibition against stealing from a limited company? A company, as is well known, is a legal entity.
Is there a prohibition against stealing from a limited company? A company, as is well known, is a legal entity.
Question
The question stems from the fact that it does not make sense to steal from something that is not a person. And a legal entity is merely a fiction. And the owner is not directly responsible for what happens in the company.
(Or is there a prohibition because of market regulation?)
Answer
If Jewish law recognizes legal entities as legal persons, like individual human beings, why should there not be a prohibition against stealing from them?
Discussion on Answer
Search online and you’ll find it. Of course, one can always distinguish, since in the Talmud there were no corporations in the modern sense, but this is obvious as daylight. Doesn’t Jewish law judge a community as an entity? I seem to recall an article in Tzohar 11 or 13 about a religious court as a corporation, and much more.
A community is a collection of human beings. A company is a legal fiction. Pretty soon they’ll permit marrying a limited company.
Where does Jewish law recognize them? Could you give an example?