Corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide act factsheet

Filed Under: Health & Safety - Factsheets | Published on: Friday, 20 January 2012 02:21 PM
Background
 
The new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and came into force on 6 April 2008. 
 
In the last decade an increasing number of corporate manslaughter cases have been brought, but with little success.   Under the previous law of England and Wales, a company could only be convicted of corporate manslaughter if a director or company officer could be:
  • Proved, beyond reasonable doubt, to be guilty of manslaughter himself; and
  • Identified as the "controlling mind" of the company.

However, it proved very difficult to identify an individual who was both the controlling mind of the company and who had the mental state to be guilty of manslaughter, particularly in larger companies, where health and safety issues and decisions are often delegated to lower tiers of management.

SEARCH TERMS: HEALTH AND SAFETY, CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER, CORPORATE HOMICIDE
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