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23 March 2005
The Home Secretary today set out tough new laws to prosecute companies and organisations whose gross failure at senior management level results in a fatality.
The draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill will update existing laws on corporate killing. The proposed new criminal offence of corporate manslaughter will apply when someone has been killed because the senior management of a corporation has grossly failed to take reasonable care for the safety of employees or others. This tackles the key problem with the current law: the need to show that a single individual at the very top of a company is personally guilty of manslaughter before the company can be prosecuted.
The new offence will mean that courts can look at a wider range of management conduct than at present. It focuses responsibility on the working practices of the organisation, as set by senior managers, rather than limiting investigations to questions of individual gross negligence by company bosses.
The new offence will be clearly linked to the standards required under existing health and safety laws. The criminal liability of individual directors will not be affected by the proposals. Corporate manslaughter is an offence committed by organisations rather than individuals and will therefore carry a penalty of an unlimited fine rather than a custodial sentence.
Ministers have stressed that no new burdens will be placed on companies that already comply with health and safety legislation. Organisations taking a conscientious approach to their current obligations have nothing to fear.
The proposals will apply to Crown bodies, such as Government departments, as well as the wider public sector and industry. They create a broad level playing field between public and private sectors and apply when both are carrying out similar activities, for example:
- ensuring safe working practices for their employees (e.g. that staff are properly trained and equipment is in a safe condition);
- maintaining the safety of their premises (e.g. ensuring that lifts are properly maintained and fire precautions taken); and
- when providing goods and services to members of the public, or when operating commercially (e.g. providing transport services, operating care homes or running hospitals).
Although the offence will apply to the Crown there will be certain public and Government functions that will be outside the scope of the Bill. These include:
- regulatory standards, statutory inspection, issuing guidance and standards to public services or centrally procuring goods or services for other public bodies;
- public policy decisions such as decisions that involve the allocation of public funds or competing social or political factors, for example decisions by Primary Care Trusts about what services to provide patients; and
- a narrow band of core public functions that require specific lawful authority (for example, the Government providing services during a civil emergency or the holding of prisoners in detention – whether in a publicly or privately managed prison).
The organisation and management of these functions involve wider questions of public policy where Parliament, public inquiries or the broader democratic process provides accountability.
The Home Secretary said:
“This Government is committed to delivering a criminal justice system that commands the confidence of the public. A fundamental part of this is providing offences that are clear and effective. The current laws on corporate manslaughter are neither, as a number of unsuccessful prosecutions over the years stand testament.The Government is committed to reforming this area of the law and today’s draft Bill marks an important step in delivering that commitment.
“Reforming the laws on corporate manslaughter is part of the Government’s wider agenda to modernise the criminal justice system - putting victims at the heart, protecting the public and ensuring that justice is done.
“The draft Bill covers an extremely complex area of law and it has taken time to get the proposals right. The draft Bill aims to ensure that the law is effective in bringing organisations to account when they have shown a clear disregard for the law with fatal consequences for members of their workforce or others”
Health and Safety Commission Chairman Bill Callaghan said:
“The Health and Safety Commission has long been a supporter of a new and effective corporate manslaughter offence. We are very pleased to see the Home Office proposals, and that they reflect HSC thinking, especially with regards to application to the Crown. This adds emphasis to our message that sensible health and safety is a cornerstone of a civilised society.
“We hope that the publication of the proposals means that there will soon be new and effective legislation in place.
“Our strong support for the new proposed offence, is based on the fact that we consider it will increase the deterrent effect already offered by existing health and safety penalties.
“Any new offence should be applied proportionately, and we believe it should be reserved for the most serious cases, to properly reflect society’s condemnation for workplace deaths caused by extreme disregard for health and safety.
“Companies that comply with health and safety law have nothing to fear from any new offence. As now, companies will need to manage risks, not eliminate them. This is sensible health and safety.”
Notes to Editors:
- Interested parties will have an opportunity to contribute to the consultation on the draft Bill until the closing date of
- The Bill will be presented for pre-legislative scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.
- The Government published a consultation paper on the reform of the law on involuntary manslaughter (including corporate manslaughter) on
- Copies of the draft Bill have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The draft legislation is also available on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.
