Corporate Manslaughter
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What is Corporate Manslaughter?
The offence of corporate manslaughter was established by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007). This removed the common law offence of gross negligence manslaughter for organisations to which the 2007 Act applies. These organisations affected are corporations (limited companies), partnerships, government departments and Crown bodies.
The Act addressed the perceived loophole in liability for large corporations where the common law doctrine of identification had proved an insurmountable hurdle. In other words, before the Act the prosecution could find it impossible to prove the act/omission causing death was in breach of a duty of care owed by an individual who embodied the corporation.
To show how important the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007) is, previous application of common law identification pre-act resulted in successful prosecutions of the company involved for manslaughter. This includes public disasters such as the Herald of Free Enterprise, Piper Alpha, the Marchioness and the Hatfield rail crash.
Corporate Manslaughter Process
The test for liability under the 2007 Act centres upon: how and corporates’ activities were managed, how such management was the cause of death, and how such management was a substantial element in the gross breach of a common law duty of care. Whether or not a breach of duty is gross may be assisted by reference to the factors set out within Section 8 of the 2007 Act, which include failure to comply with health and safety legislation, and the circular test for ‘grossness’ familiar to practitioners from the case of R v Adomako.
As with offences involving breaches of health and safety legislation, new sentencing guidelines have changed the landscape of potential liability. While a corporation cannot be sent to prison, the financial penalties are substantial and intended to have real economic impact on any defendant.
The Act also introduces two additional orders on conviction: a publicity order – to force an organisation to publicise on terms involvement in proceedings – and a remedial order. Failure to comply with these additional orders amounts to a further criminal offence, punishable by way of a fine.
The effect of the sentencing guidelines is to demand early legal advice to any client. The financial consequences of poorly thought-through or inexperienced advice will be significant for all organisations.
Prosecution of an organisation for corporate manslaughter does not preclude charges of gross negligence manslaughter against individual defendants, whether from within the organisation or outside. It is also common for health and safety offences to be charged alongside the manslaughter offence.
Corporate Manslaughter Cases with St Pauls Chambers
Our team of barristers are highly experienced in advising and advocating for both prosecution and defence in corporate manslaughter cases. Members of our chambers have appeared in the most high profile cases with involvement pre-charge during the period of an investigation, presenting cases in the Magistrates Court, through to the Crown Court and associated proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal.
