Corporate manslaughter has been in the media spotlight recently (see the floating of a potential prosecution of Sir David Nicholson over the Mid-Staffs incident, the charging of a watersports club with corporate manslaughter, and the charging of a sole director with manslaughter. Little is known by the public about corporate manslaughter, though. In this post we’re therefore going to examine the criminal offence of corporate manslaughter. We’ll do so by examining the following:
- What is corporate manslaughter?
- Who can be charged with corporate manslaughter?
- Can individuals be pursued for corporate manslaughter?
- What should you do if you or your business is accused of manslaughter?
What is corporate manslaughter?
Corporate manslaughter is a criminal offence under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. It replaced the common-law offence of manslaughter by gross negligence in its application to corporations. Only corporations and certain other organisations can commit an offence under the Act – directors and managers, however, retain liability under the common law offence of manslaughter.
Under s.1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 an organisation is guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a person’s death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.
The duty of care that an employer owes to its employees is a well-established one and the duty of care has also bee extended to the occupier of premises, those corporate persons holding persons in custody, and various other duties (i.e. the supply by an organisation of goods and services).
If found guilty of corporate manslaughter then the penalty available on conviction is a fine. Such fines can be substantial – Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings was ordered to pay £385,000 in a case in 2012 and Lion Steel Equipment Ltd was ordered to pay £480,000 over a three-year period.
Who can be charged with corporate manslaughter?
As above, only corporations and certain other organisations (such as police forces, partnerships, trade unions, employer’s associations etc.) can be pursued under the Act.
Can individuals be pursued for corporate manslaughter?
Individuals cannot be pursued for corporate manslaughter but retain liability under the existing common law offence of manslaughter.
What should you do if you or your business is accused of manslaughter?
If you or your business have been accused of manslaughter then you should obtain employment law advice or criminal law advice from a specialist solicitor as soon as your possibly can. Manslaughter is an extremely serious accusation and can have particularly serious consequences if it is not dealt with in the correct manner. If your business been charged with corporate manslaughter then there is a very real threat that you may be charged with health and safety offences under health and safety legislation.
Redmans Solicitors offer advice from employment law solicitors and criminal defence solicitors
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