Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007[1]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title An Act to create a new offence that, in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, is to be called corporate manslaughter and, in Scotland, is to be called corporate homicide; and to make provision in connection with that offence.
Statute book chapter 2007 c. 19
Introduced by Home Secretary John Reid, July 20, 2006
Territorial extent England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal Assent 26 July 2007
Commencement 6 April 2008
Repeal date
Other legislation
Amendments
Related legislation
Repealing legislation
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to broaden the law on corporate manslaughter in the United Kingdom. The Act created a new offence respectively named corporate manslaughter, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and corporate homicide in Scotland.

The Act received the royal assent on 26 July 2007 and came into force on 6 April 2008.[2]

Contents

Background

In English law, a corporation is a juristic person and is capable of committing, and being convicted of and sentenced for, a criminal offence.[3] However, some conceptual difficulty lies in fixing a corporation with the appropriate mens rea.[4] Before the Act, a corporation could only be convicted of manslaughter if a single employee of the company committed all the elements of the offence and was of sufficient seniority to be seen as embodying the "mind" of the corporation.[5][6] The practical consequence of this was that such convictions were rare and there was public discontent where it was perceived that culpable corporations had escaped censure and punishment.[4]

A Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Home Secretary John Reid on 20 July 2006.[7]

The Act

The offence

The Act attempts to align the offence of corporate killing north and south of the border. An indictable offence[8] is committed if the way in which an organisation's activities are managed or organised:[9]

  • Causes a person's death; and

Amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased; — and the way in which its activities are managed or organised by its senior management is a substantial element in the breach.[10] Prosecution in England or Wales requires the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and in Northern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland[11] and no natural person can be charged with aiding and abetting the offence.[12] The common law offence of gross negligence manslaughter, as it applies to corporations, is abolished.[13]

Organisations liable

The offence applies to:[14]

Relevant duty of care

A relevant duty of care is one of several duties of care owed by the organisation under the law of negligence and is a question of law for the judge.[17] Various government policy decisions;[18] policing,[19] military[20] and child protection[21] activities; and emergency responses[22] are excluded.

There are particular duties of care owed to persons in custody (s. 2(1)(d)) and, owing to the sensitivity and difficulty of such duties, implementation of this section was delayed. The Ministry of Justice published a report on progress towards implementation in July 2008.[23]

Gross breach

A breach of a duty of care by an organisation is a gross breach if the alleged conduct amounts to a breach of that duty that falls far below what can reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances.[24] The jury must consider whether the evidence shows that the organisation failed to comply with any health and safety legislation that relates to the alleged breach, and if so:[25]

  • How serious that failure was; and
  • How much of a risk of death it posed.

The jury may also:[25]

  • Consider the extent to which the evidence shows that there were attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices within the organisation that were likely to have encouraged the failure, or to have produced tolerance of it; and
  • Have regard to any health and safety guidance that relates to the alleged breach.

Senior management

Senior management means the persons who play significant roles in:[26]

  • The making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its activities are to be managed or organised; or
  • The actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of those activities.

Penalties

On conviction a corporation may be ordered to remedy any breach,[27] or to publicise its failures,[28] or be given an unlimited fine.[8] Sentencing guidelines are expected in autumn 2008[2] but on 15 November 2007, the Sentencing Guidelines Council issued a consultative document[29] recommending a starting point of a fine of 5% of company turnover for a first offence with a not guilty plea, rising to 10% of turnover.[30]

References

  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 29 of this Act.
  2. ^ a b "Understanding the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007" (pdf). Ministry of Justice. http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/manslaughterhomicideact07.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
  3. ^ Interpretation Act 1978, s. 5
  4. ^ a b Herring (2004) p. 720
  5. ^ Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v. Nattrass [1972] AC 153
  6. ^ Attorney General's Reference (No. 2 of 1999) [2000] QB 796, CA
  7. ^ "History of passage through Parliament". Parliament of the UK. 2007. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/corporate_manslaughter_and_corporate_homicide.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
  8. ^ a b S. 1(6)
  9. ^ S. 1(1)
  10. ^ S. 1(3)
  11. ^ S. 17
  12. ^ S. 18
  13. ^ S. 20
  14. ^ S. 1(2)
  15. ^ S. 14
  16. ^ Sch. 1, s. 11
  17. ^ S. 2
  18. ^ S.3
  19. ^ S. 4, s. 13
  20. ^ S. 5, s. 12
  21. ^ S. 6
  22. ^ S. 7
  23. ^ "Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act: custody provisions". Ministry of Justice. 2008-07-21. http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/announcement210708d.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
  24. ^ S. 1(4)(b)
  25. ^ a b S. 8
  26. ^ S. 1(4)(c)
  27. ^ S. 9
  28. ^ S. 10
  29. ^ "Consultation Paper on Sentencing for Corporate Manslaughter" (PDF). Sentencing Guidelines Council. http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/SAP%20(07)K3%20-%20Corporate%20manslaughter%202007-10-31-v%203.10.AR.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-12. 
  30. ^ "Companies face record corporate manslaughter fines". Solicitors' Journal. 2007. http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/story.asp?sectioncode=2&storycode=11761&c=1. Retrieved 2007-12-12. 

Bibliography



External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Corporate manslaughter (England and Wales) — Corporate manslaughter is a criminal offence in English law, being an act of homicide committed by a company or organisation. In general, in English criminal law, a juristic person is in the same position as a natural person, and may be convicted …   Wikipedia

  • Corporate manslaughter — is a crime in several jurisdictions, including England and Wales and Hong Kong.[1] It enables a corporation to be punished and censured for culpable conduct that leads to a person s death. This extends beyond any compensation that might be… …   Wikipedia

  • Corporate law — (also company or corporations law) is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another under the internal rules of the firm.… …   Wikipedia

  • Culpable homicide — Criminal law Part of …   Wikipedia

  • Health and safety crime in the United Kingdom — In the United Kingdom there are several crimes that arise from failure to take care of health, safety and welfare at work.Offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974All offences under the Act are triable summarily in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Manslaughter in English law — Homicide Murder …   Wikipedia

  • Offence against the person — Criminal law Part o …   Wikipedia

  • Vehicular homicide — ( or sometimes known as Vehicular Manslaughter ) in most states in the United States, is a crime. In general, it involves death that results from the negligent operation of a vehicle, or that results from driving whilst committing an unlawful act …   Wikipedia

  • United Kingdom company law — Beside the River Thames, the City of London is a global financial centre. Within the Square Mile, the London Stock Exchange lies at the heart of the United Kingdom s corporations. United Kingdom company law is the body of rules that concern… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Statutory Instruments of the United Kingdom, 2008 — This is an incomplete list of Statutory Instruments of the United Kingdom in 2008. NOTOC 1 100* Insolvency Practitioners and Insolvency Services Account (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2008 S.I. 2008/3 * Information as to Provision of Education… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”