Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 explained

Short Title:Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007[1]
Parliament: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, 20 July 2006
Territorial Extent:England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Royal Assent:26 July 2007
Commencement:6 April 2008
Repeal Date: -
Amendments: -
Related Legislation: -
Repealing Legislation: -
Status:Current
Original Text:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/19/contents/enacted
Legislation History:https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/corporate_manslaughter_and_corporate_homicide.htm
Revised Text:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/19/contents

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]

Background

See main article: article and Corporate manslaughter (England and Wales). In the United Kingdom, a corporation is considered a juristic person and can be capable of committing, 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.

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]

- 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] In Scotland, all prosecutions are initiated by the Procurator Fiscal. 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]

The jury may also:[25]

Senior management

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

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. The Sentencing Guidelines Council issued a steps based definitive guideline, effective from 1 February 2016, for sentencing the offence of corporate manslaughter. The recommendations of the guideline are based on the size and turnover of the organisations with a starting fine of £300,000 and a no limit maximum.[29] If an individual is also found liable for the offence of manslaughter, it can be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 ruled by the same sentencing guideline.

Convictions

!! Company name! Conviction date! Victim's name! Cause of death! Fine (plus costs)
1Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings[30] 15 February 2011Alex WrightGeologic trial pit collapse.£385,000
2JMW Farm Ltd[31] 8 May 2012Robert WilsonLarge metal bin fell off forklift and onto victim.£187,500
3Lion Steel Ltd[32] 3 July 2012Steven Berry Fall through a factory roof.£480,000
4J Murray and Sons[33] 7 October 2013Norman PorterPulled into an animal feed mixing machine.£100,000
5Princes Sporting Club[34] 22 November 2013Mari-Simon CronjeEleven-year-old struck by speedboat.£135,000
6Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Ltd[35] 2 December 2013Malcolm HintonCrushed attempting to repair a street-sweeping truck.£8,000
7Cavendish Masonry Ltd[36] 22 May 2014David EvansBuilder crushed by a two-ton block of limestone.£150,000
8Sterecycle (Rotherham) Ltd[37] 7 November 2014Michael Whinfrey Plant explosion.£500,000
9A Diamond and Son (Timber) Ltd[38] 17 December 2014Peter LennonCrushed while carrying out machinery maintenance.£75,000
10Peter Mawson Ltd[39] 19 December 2014Jason PenningtonFell through a skylight while working on a roof.£200,000
11Pyranha Mouldings Ltd[40] 12 January 2015Alan CatterallAccidentally locked inside industrial oven.£200,000
12Nicole Enterprises[41] 12 March 2015Thomas HoustonCrushed by a static caravan.Not yet sentenced
13Kings Scaffolding[42] 28 April 2015Adrian SmithFell through a skylight.£300,000
14Huntley Mount Engineering Ltd[43] 14 July 2015Cameron MinshullSixteen-year-old apprentice became entangled on a lathe.£150,000
15CAV Aerospace Ltd[44] 24 July 2015Paul BowersCrushed by aircraft components.£600,000
16Linley Development Ltd[45] 7 September 2015Gareth JonesCrushed by wall collapse while excavating.£200,000[46]
17Cheshire Gates and Automation Ltd[47] 7 September 2015Semelia CampbellTrapped in a faulty electric gate£50,000
18Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd[48] 22 December 2015Lindsay EastonCrane crashed into an earth bank.£700,000
19Sherwood Rise Ltd[49] February 2016Ivy AtkinDied in a care home.£300,000
20Monavon Construction Ltd[50] June 2016Gavin Brewer and Stuart MeadsFell through roadside hoarding£500,000
21Bilston Skips Ltd[51] August 2016Jagpal SinghFell from the top of a skip£600,000
22SR and JR Brown Ltd[52] March 2017Benjamin EdgeRoof fall£300,000
23Koseoglu Metalworks Ltd[53] May 2017Nikolai ValkovRoof fall£300,000
24Odzil Investments LtdMay 2017Nikolai ValkovRoof fall£500,000
25Martinisation London Ltd[54] May 2017Tomasz Procko and Kyrol SzymanskiLifting operations at height£1,200,000
26Master Construction Products (Skips) LtdNovember 2017Safi Qais KhanCrushed by machinery£255,000
27Deco-Pak[55] January 2022Andrew TibbottCrushed to death by a robotic packing arm

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 29 of this Act.
  2. Web site: Understanding the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 . Ministry of Justice . 17 October 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071025031113/http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/manslaughterhomicideact07.pdf . 25 October 2007 .
  3. [Interpretation Act 1978]
  4. 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. Web site: History of passage through Parliament . 17 October 2007 . 2007 . Parliament of the UK .
  8. 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. Web site: Ministry of Justice . Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act: custody provisions . 22 July 2008 . 21 July 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121022657/http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/announcement210708d.htm . 21 November 2008 . dead .
  24. S. 1(4)(b)
  25. S. 8
  26. S. 1(4)(c)
  27. S. 9
  28. S. 10
  29. Web site: Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences Definitive Guideline. Sentencing Council. https://web.archive.org/web/20160322072031/https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/HS-offences-definitive-guideline-FINAL-web.pdf. 22 March 2016. dead.
  30. Web site: Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings convicted of first corporate manslaughter charge under new Act . CPS . 2011 . 19 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150327100524/http://cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/107_11/ . 27 March 2015 . dead .
  31. Web site: Court sets out sentencing guidance for the offence of corporate manslaughter . Northern Ireland Courts . 2012 . 19 March 2015 .
  32. Web site: Second ever conviction for corporate manslaughter . CPS . 2012 . 19 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100442/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/second_ever_conviction_for_corporate_manslaughter/index.html . 2 April 2015 . dead .
  33. Web site: Fourth statutory corporate manslaughter conviction – are trends emerging? . Kingsley Napley . 2013 . 19 March 2015 .
  34. Web site: London sports club sentenced for corporate manslaughter over banana boat ride . CPS . 2013 . 19 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115919/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/london_sports_club_sentenced_for_corporate_manslaughter/index.html . 2 April 2015 . dead .
  35. Web site: Corporate manslaughter convictions now up to six . RPC . 2014 . 19 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104711/http://www.rpc.co.uk/index.php?id=2883&cid=20372&fid=22&task=download&option=com_flexicontent&Itemid=10 . 2 April 2015 . dead .
  36. News: Cavendish Masonry fined for corporate manslaughter . 13 November 2020 . BBC News . 19 November 2014.
  37. Web site: Rotherham firm found guilty of corporate manslaughter . The Star . 2014 . 19 March 2015 .
  38. Web site: Coleraine firm accepts guilt over worker's 'terrible and tragic' death . News Letter . 2014 . 19 March 2015 .
  39. Web site: Firm admits to failures which led to fatal Lindal plunge . North-West Evening Mail . 2014 . 19 March 2015 .
  40. Web site: Family welcome corporate manslaughter conviction after Merseyside dad died in industrial oven . Liverpool Echo . 2011 . 19 March 2015 .
  41. Web site: Alan Milne admits manslaughter and other charges on behalf of one of his companies . BBC News. 2015 . 19 March 2015 .
  42. Web site: Scaffolding firm admits responsibility for death of Liverpool dad who fell while fixing roof . Liverpool Echo . 2015 . 13 August 2015.
  43. Web site: Company and its senior management sentenced following death of 16 year old apprentice . CPS . 2015 . 25 August 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211102/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/huntley_mount_engineering_ltd/ . 23 September 2015 . dead .
  44. Web site: CAV Aerospace fined £600K over worker Paul Bowers crush death . BBC News . 2015 . 31 July 2015 .
  45. Web site: St Albans wall collapse death: Executives admit corporate manslaughter . BBC News. 2015 . 15 September 2015 .
  46. Web site: Corporate manslaughter case concluded . Philip Poynter Construction Safety . 2015 . 26 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150926044302/http://www.ppconstructionsafety.com/newsdesk/2015/09/25/corporate-manslaughter-case-concluded-2/ . 26 September 2015 . dead .
  47. Web site: Company sentenced for corporate manslaughter after six year old girl dies. 2015. 12 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171114094031/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/company_sentenced_for_corporate_manslaughter_after_six_year_old_girl_dies/. 14 November 2017. dead.
  48. Web site: Baldwins Crane Hire fined £700k for driver's corporate manslaughter. LexisNexis. 23 December 2015. 22 April 2017.
  49. Web site: Sentencing for first corporate manslaughter conviction relating to a care home. cps.gov.uk. CPS. 28 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606215256/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/sentencing_for_first_corporate_manslaughter_conviction_relating_to_a_care_home/. 6 June 2017. dead.
  50. Web site: Firm fined £550,000 for 'preventable' death of couple who fell 20ft. 27 June 2016. standard.co.uk. 28 March 2017.
  51. Web site: CPS. Crown Prosecution Service. 15 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160922224800/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/failed_company_and_its_manager_convicted/. 22 September 2016. dead.
  52. Web site: Directors of corporate killer jailed after fatal fall cover up attempt Health and Safety at Work Corporate manslaughter Work at height. www.healthandsafetyatwork.com. 2017-06-22.
  53. Web site: Three directors jailed after developer hired unqualified friend to replace roof. Health and Safety at Work. 9 June 2017.
  54. News: Boss jailed over Knightsbridge balcony fall deaths. 2017-07-07. BBC News. 2017-07-18. en-GB.
  55. News: Deco-Pak: Firm guilty of corporate manslaughter over worker's crush death . 2022-01-14. BBC News. 2022-01-23. en-GB.

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