Transnational protection against multiple prosecutions is becoming increasingly important because
states have shown a tendency in recent decades to extend their jurisdiction in criminal matters far
beyond their borders.1 Looking at ‘long-armed-statues’ like the U.S.-Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
or the UK Bribery Act, this is especially true for Corporate Criminal Law. From the perspective of
corporations or company groups that operate in several countries, this trend towards transnational
criminal prosecution bears a rising risk of being prosecuted for the same offense multiple times all
over the world. At least from a German perspective, the Volkswagen-Case is an omnipresent example
for such a case. In course of the so called ‘exhaust emission affair’, there are criminal investigations
being conducted against the Volkswagen AG and/or its daughter companies in over a dozen countries.
Sometimes the charges only relate to criminal conduct in the respective country where the
investigation is being held, sometimes also events in the German headquarters are under scrutiny,
and often both is part of the investigation. Against the background of such a scenario, in this article I
will first provide an overview of existing rules on transnational ne bis in idem (1). The second part
of the contribution is then devoted to selected legal problems that specifically arise regarding the
protection of corporations from cross-border multiple prosecution, which I will deal with by example
of the transnational ne bis in idem rules that exist in the Schengen area (2).