Corporate Manslaughter Act July 2007

Royal Assent has been obtained for the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.

On 26 July 2007 the Ministry of Justice announced that Royal Assent had been granted to this very signifi cant statute. Thus companies whose gross negligence leads to the death of individuals will now face prosecution for manslaughter, under what the Government is calling "..tough new legislation".

Companies, organisations and Government bodies now face an unlimited fi ne if they are found to have caused death due to, for example, gross corporate health and safety failure.

The full text of this extensive Act can be seen via this link http://www.opsi.gov. uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070019_en.pdf, but in brief the new legislation:

Will make it easier, by a more effective regime of corporate liability, to prosecute companies and other large organisations when gross failures in the management of health and safety lead to death;

Has removed a key obstacle to successful prosecution, such that both small and large companies can be held liable for manslaughter where gross failures in the management of health and safety cause death, not just health and safety violations;

Complements the current law under which individuals can be prosecuted for gross negligence, manslaughter and health and safety offences where there is direct evidence of their culpability. The Act builds on existing health and safety legislation, rather than imposing new regulations on business;

Removes Crown immunity from prosecution...