DRAFT CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER BILL
It is likely that the Government will announce a draft Bill on Corporate Manslaughter for pre-legislative scrutiny in the Queen’s Speech.
This follows a Law Commission recommendation and a Manifesto Commitment to legislate on this issue.
Whether the Bill will be effective shall depend on the contents. It is certain that it will introduce a new offence of Corporate Manslaughter which will apply to corporations. However the TUC hopes that it will include all employers, including the Government itself. We believe that the removal of Crown Immunity is an extremely important indicator of the Governments commitment to lead by example.
The Home Secretary has already announced that the Bill will not include a provision to extend the new offence to individual directors. This is of some concern as it is individuals, not companies that make decisions. The TUC hopes that, either the scope of the Bill be extended to include individual directors, or that a commitment is made for separate regulation on this.
It is also likely that the only penalty will be a fine. This is unlikely to be a real deterrent to large corporations, and we hope that the government will consider more innovative penalties such as corporate probation.
The Government is also committed to increasing general penalties for health and safety offences, and the TUC hopes that the Bill will be drafted in a way that will allow this to be added. We also hope that the Bill will pave the way to removal of Crown Immunity for all health and safety offences.
The new draft Bill will be welcomed as a significant step towards reducing the terrible death toll, not only from accidents, but also negligent exposure to hazardous substances. It will also help reassure relatives of the bereaved who have, too often seen those whose negligence has caused the death of a loved one, walk away either totally free or with a small fine for a breath of health and safety laws. However it will only be effective if it has real penalties, and covers all employers.
Briefing document (400 words) issued 11 Nov 2004
