Royal Assent has been obtained for the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.
On 26 July 2007 the Ministry of Justice announced that Royal Assent had been granted to this very signifi cant statute. Thus companies whose gross negligence leads to the death of individuals will now face prosecution for manslaughter, under what the Government is calling "…..tough new legislation".
Companies, organisations and Government bodies now face an unlimited fi ne if they are found to have caused death due to, for example, gross corporate health and safety failure.
The full text of this extensive Act can be seen via this link http://www.opsi.gov. uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070019_en.pdf, but in brief the new legislation:
- Will make it easier, by a more effective regime of corporate liability, to prosecute companies and other large organisations when gross failures in the management of health and safety lead to death;
- Has removed a key obstacle to successful prosecution, such that both small and large companies can be held liable for manslaughter where gross failures in the management of health and safety cause death, not just health and safety violations;
- Complements the current law under which individuals can be prosecuted for gross negligence, manslaughter and health and safety offences where there is direct evidence of their culpability. The Act builds on existing health and safety legislation, rather than imposing new regulations on business;
- Removes Crown immunity from prosecution in this area. Thus Crown bodies will for the fi rst time be liable to prosecution. The Act will apply to companies and other corporate bodies in both the public and private sectors, Government departments, police forces and also certain unincorporated bodies such as partnerships, where such are employers.
The Act comes into force on 6 April 2008. The Ministry of Justice will issue further guidance for bodies affected by it in the Autumn of 2007, and members of Hill Dickinson will be providing further detailed commentary in later editions of this newsletter and presenting a series of talks to associations, individual companies and many other bodies who or whose members will need to get to grips with these important new provisions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.