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The general rule is that criminal liability is personal, not vicarious. However, “… while prima facie a principal is not to be made criminally responsible for the acts of his servants, yet the legislation may prohibit an act or enforce a duty in such words as to made the prohibition or the duty absolute; in which case the principal is liable if the act is in fact done by his servants. To ascertain whether a particular Act of Parliament has that effect or not regard must be had to the object of the statute, the words used, the nature of the duty laid down, the person upon whom it is imposed, the person by whom it would in ordinary circumstances be performed, and the person upon whom the penalty is imposed.” (per Atkin J in Mousell Brothers Ltd v London and North-Western Railway Co [1917] 2 KB 836 @ 845). Vicarious liability is usually, though not always, imposed in the case of strict liability offences.