Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
Corporate killing—the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
Stephen Griffin *
In the context of the corporate entity, this paper will consider the merits and deficiencies of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. As a matter of corporate accountability, this new legislation is long overdue; reform of the law relating to corporate manslaughter being a subject of debate for well over a decade. In analysing the provisions of the Act, the paper will also question the legislature’s decision to provide no apportionment of liability between a culpable company and its senior management. In discussing this latter point, the paper will consider whether the prosecution of a senior manager under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is appropriate in cases where the neglect of the manager was a substantial element in causing the unlawful death of an individual.
Introduction
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 20071
(“CMCHA”) received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and was brought into force on 6 April 2008.2
CMCHA codifies the offence of corporate manslaughter for the very first time and in summary3
imposes a criminal sanction, by way of an unlimited fine, against a corporate entity and any other relevant organization4
in circumstances where a senior management failure was
* Professor of Law, University of Wolverhampton. The author wishes to express his thanks to Professor Dan Prentice, Professor David Milman and Dr Jon Moran for reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this paper.
The following abbreviations are used:
CA: Companies Act;
CDDA: Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986;
CMCHA: Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007; CMCHB: Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill;
HSWA: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
1. The Act extends to England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. In Scotland the offence of manslaughter is referred to as culpable homicide. For the regulation and debate concerning corporate homicide in Scotland prior to the CMCHA 2007 see B Clark & H Langsford: “A re-birth of corporate killing? Lessons from America in a new law for Scotland” (2005) 16 ICCLR 28.
2. See the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2008 (SI 2008 No. 401). However, the commencement of two specific provisions have been delayed, namely, s 2(1)(d) (duty owed to a person in custody as a relevant duty of care and (ii) s 10 (power to order conviction etc to be publicized).
3. See CMCHA, s 1.
4. CMCHA, s 1(2) defines a relevant organization as (a) a corporation, (b) a department or other body listed in CMCHA, Sch 1, (c) a police force and (d) a partnership, or trade union or employers’ association, that is an employer.
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