Prosecutions set to rise under new Corporate Manslaughter laws

Legal and corporate responsibility experts have predicted a dramatic increase in the number of firms successfully prosecuted for corporate manslaughter as a result of UK legislation introduced last month.

But while they forecast a rise in company prosecutions under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, they criticised the legislation for not going far enough because it failed to create a new offence for individual directors who control large corporations.

The experts were speaking at the launch of a professional guide to the new Act for business leaders and safety professionals published by Croner.

Norman Selwyn, a leading authority on employment law, said: “The inability of the law to cope with manslaughter charges against all but smaller companies has long been a source of disappointment to proactive campaigners for change.

“It is now estimated that there are likely to be about a dozen or so corporate manslaughter prosecutions each year and that the clarification of the law will more than likely lead to these being successful. The failures of high-profile cases such as the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987 and the Southall rail accident in 1997 are unlikely to be repeated.

“But the Corporate Manslaughter Act is by no means perfect. It is strange that it does not place specific health and safety duties on company directors,” Mr Selwyn said. “It therefore begs the question: will it do any good? All corporate entities, whether large or small, including many government departments, are now within the scope of the law. But major industrial accidents will only have a realistic chance of greater prevention if boards of directors formally and publicly accept their collective roles on safety.”

Peter Power, a specialist in crisis management and a member of the reference group to the UK Commission on national security, echoed Norman Selwyn’s analysis: “Corporate citizenship and governance is about businesses taking greater account of their social, environmental and financial activities, and holding the balance between economic and social goals.

“The pressure on directors of all corporations to move their attitude towards a culture of safety will come from their stakeholders – shareholders, customers, suppliers, regulators, business partners, employees – as well as the law,” Mr Power said. “It is all about up-to-date corporate resilience. It is unacceptable that companies and their directors should learn only from their own mistakes as we used to do in the past. Driving any organisation forward in 2008 depends less on the rear view mirror and more on the road ahead.”

Croner’s Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide 2007: A Guide outlines the significant changes in the law that came into effect last month, making it easier to prosecute companies guilty of causing death through management failings. It steers companies through the legislation and their corporate responsibilities, while interpreting the new law to give a clear definitive guide with contributions from some of Britain’s acknowledged experts.

The Act establishes a wider basis of liability by looking at the way companies organise and run their activities, focusing on management failure rather than the failings of individuals. In the past proving corporate manslaughter has been notoriously difficult. Now companies found guilty can face unlimited fines.

Martin Smith, Croner’s Executive Director, said: “Every company now has a legal responsibility to monitor its activities and management practices to ensure the correct systems are in place to protect health and safety. Those systems should be constantly reviewed with lines of communication between directors and staff always open so that concerns can be raised and properly addressed.

“Our authors are recognised experts in corporate manslaughter, health and safety and employment law as well as crisis management. This will become the definitive guide to the subject, giving clear and concise advice for company directors and their advisers on how the new law should be complied with.”

Information on obtaining the guide can be found at www.croner.co.uk/corpman or by calling 020 8247 1630.

You can also read some of Bytestart's Corporate Manslaughter Act tips.