Corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide bill
We are strongly committed to safety in the workplace. This means having effective laws in place to prosecute organisations that pay scant regard to the proper management of health and safety - with fatal results.
Current law on corporate manslaughter links a company's guilt to the gross negligence of a person senior enough to be said to 'embody' the organisation. This fails to reflect the complexity of modern corporate life and there is strong support for reform.
The Government is committed to reforming this area of the law and introduced the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill (new window) into Parliament on 21 July 2006.
Background information
The Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Committees considered the draft Bill over the summer and autumn of 2005 and published their final report in December 2005. Further information about this enquiry can be found on the Parliament website (new window).
Date: Thu Jul 20 13:00:00 BST 2006
- The Government's response to the first joint report from the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Committees session 2005-06 HC 540 (PDF file - 292kb)
The Government is strongly committed to safety in the workplace and to having effective laws in place to prosecute organisations where they have paid scant regard to the proper management of health and safety with fatal results. Current laws on corporate manslaughter link a company’s guilt to the gross negligence of a person senior enough to embody the organisation. This fails to reflect the complexity of modern corporate life and there is strong support for reform.
- Draft Bill for Reform, March 2005 (PDF file - 598kb)
This Government is committed to delivering safe and secure communities, at home and in the workplace, and to 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.
- Draft Bill for Reform, March 2005: A regulatory impact assessment (PDF file - 145kb)
This assessment considers the impact of proposals set out by the Government in its draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill.
- Draft Bill for Reform, March 2005: Summary of responses to the 2005 consultation on Corporate Manslaughter (PDF file - 192kb)
In March 2005 the Government published a draft Bill for reforming the law on corporate manslaughter. The Bill sets out proposals for a new specific offence of corporate manslaughter, and is intended to make it easier to prosecute an organisation where the death of an employee or member of the public has been caused through gross negligence in the way the organisation was managed at a senior level.
- 2000 consultation: Reforming the law on involuntary manslaughter (PDF file - 551kb)
At present in English law there are two general homicide offences - murder and manslaughter. The most serious, murder, requires proof of an intention to kill or cause serious injury. If there are mitigating circumstances, such as provocation or diminished responsibility, then the offence is one of manslaughter - often referred to as "voluntary manslaughter". However, if someone kills but did not intend to cause death or serious injury but was blameworthy in some other way, then this is often referred to as "involuntary manslaughter".
- 2000 consultation: A summary of responses to the Home Office consultation on Corporate Manslaughter (PDF file - 124kb)
This paper provides an overview of the responses received during the consultation exercise to the proposals for a new offence of corporate manslaughter. Over 150 responses dealt specifically with this issue. These came from a wide range of organisations covering industry, unions, the public sector and victims’ groups, as well as from members of the public.
- Law Commission report 1996 on involuntary manslaughter (PDF file - 519kb)
This report is concerned with the criminal liability of those who kill when they do not intend to cause death or serious injury. There are two conflicting schools of thought about the way in which the law should deal with such people...
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