Recent Legislation

• The Act creates a new statutory offence of corporate manslaughter which will replace the common law offence of manslaughter by gross negligence where corporations and similar entities are concerned. In Scotland the new offence will be called 'corporate homicide'.
  
  An organisation will have committed the new offence if it:
• owes a duty of care to another person in defined circumstances and
• there is a management failure by its senior managers and
• it amounts to a gross breach of that duty resulting in a person's death.

On conviction the offence will be punishable by an unlimited fine and the courts will be able to make remedial orders requiring organisations to take steps to remedy the management failure concerned.

It is important to note that the Act does not create a new individual liability. Individuals may still be charged with the existing offence of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Crown immunity will not apply to the offence, although a number of public bodies and functions will be exempt from it (in defined circumstances).

• In force - 6 April 2008
• Access to document:  Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) Document

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