UNIT 56: COMPANIES: CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER

(A) ABOUT CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER

Under UK law, a corporation can be found guilty of the crime of
corporate manslaughter (or corporate homicide in Scotland) if a
gross breach of the duty of care of a company results in death.
Following a police investigation, the crime of corporate manslaughter
will be prosecuted on behalf of the state by an organisation known as the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which makes its decisions
independently of either the police or government. The organisation states
on its website that "our duty is to make sure that the right person is
prosecuted for the right offence, and to bring offenders to justice
wherever possible." The information below is an extract from the Code
for Crown Prosecutors, a public document which contains the
principles Crown Prosecutors should have in mind when they make
decisions on cases.

(B) INTRODUCTION
Corporate Manslaughter is an offence created by Section 1 of the
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (the
Act'). It came into force on 6 April 2008. The offence was created to
ensure that companies and other organisations can be held properly
accountable for very serious failings resulting in death. The offence of
gross negligence manslaughter is abolished insofar as it relates to
companies and other organisations. Corporate Manslaughter is wider in
scope than the previous common law offence. It continues to apply only
to the most serious corporate failings. There is a high threshold for
liability, requiring proof of a gross breach of the relevant duty of care.
However, it is no longer necessary to show that a person who was the
'controlling mind' of the organisation was personally responsible for the
offence.
Under the 2007 Act, the offence of corporate manslaughter relates to the
way in which the relevant activity was managed or organised throughout
the company or organisation. Wider considerations such as the overall
management of health and safety, the selection and training of staff, the
implementation of systems of working and the supervision of staff can
be taken into account. An organisation is not liable if the failings were
exclusively at a junior level. The failings of senior management must
have formed a substantial element in the breach. However, the failings
at senior management level do not of themselves have to amount to a
gross breach of duty. Liability for the offence is assessed by looking at
the failings of the organisation as a whole.
The prosecution must prove that the breach of duty was causative of
death. The test is whether the breach made a more than minimal
contribution to the death. Because the defendant is a corporate body,
the penalty must be a fine. The court also has power to make ancillary
orders including Remedial Orders and Publicity Orders. A definitive
sentencing guideline has been published by the Sentencing Council
with effect from 1 February 2016.
The level of sentence will depend on the size of the organisation. The
sentence range is specified as £180,000 to £20 million.

(C) ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENCE

The following needs to be proved: the defendant is a qualifying
organisation; the organisation owed a relevant duty of care to the
deceased; there was a gross breach of that duty by the organisation; the
way in which its activities were managed or organised by its senior
management was a substantial element in the breach; and the gross
breach of the organisation's duty caused or contributed to the death.

(D) FOREIGN COMPANIES

The offence of corporate manslaughter applies to all companies and
other corporate bodies operating in the UK, whether they are
incorporated in the UK or abroad. Section 28 makes express provision as
to territorial jurisdiction, the determinative factor being whether the
harm from which death resulted occurred within the United Kingdom.
EXERCISE
Read A and B opposite and circle the mistake in the following sentences.
Each word is incorrect because it results in an inaccurate collocation.

1. Since the new Act came into force only a few companies have been
held found guilty of the crime of corporate manslaughter.

2. Any breach of the duty of care must be a major gross breach in order
to amount to corporate
manslaughter.

3. One of the stated principles of the CPS is to take bring offenders to

justice whenever possible.

4. The new Act was intended to make sure that negligent companies can
be found held accountable for their actions.

5. The offence of corporate manslaughter is larger wider in scope than

the previous common law offence of gross negligence manslaughter.

6. There have been relatively few prosecutions under the new Act
because the threshold for liability is so tall high.
7. The new act looks at the way activity within a company is managed,
including the execution implementation of systems of working.

8. Under the new act a company can be liable for corporate

manslaughter if the control supervision of staff is not carried out
carefully enough.

9. In order to be guilty of corporate manslaughter the acts or omissions

of senior managers must have formed a big substantial element of the
breach which led to someone's death.

10. Liability for corporate manslaughter is, assessed by the CPS by

looking at the faults failings of the whole organisation and not just the
management.
EXERCISE-DEFINITIONS
ANCILLARY ORDER any order imposed by the court in
addition to the sentence
REMEDIAL ORDER an order requiring a company to
remedy a management failure that
led to a death
PUBLICITY ORDER an order to make information
about a criminal offence generally
known
SENTENCING COUNCIL the public body that issues
guidelines on criminal sentences
A QUALIFYING bodies such as companies,
ORGANISATION INCLUDES partnerships or trade unions, as
listed in the Act