Unlimited fines and publicity damage under the new offence of corporate manslaughter

Citation

(2009), "Unlimited fines and publicity damage under the new offence of corporate manslaughter", Structural Survey, Vol. 27 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.2009.11027dab.007

Unlimited fines and publicity damage under the new offence of corporate manslaughter

Article Type: Newsbriefs From: Structural Survey, Volume 27, Issue 4

Keywords: Organizations, Health and safety

Companies could be fined between 2.5 per cent and 10 per cent of their turnover for committing the new offence of Corporate Manslaughter. For many companies, this will mean fines of several millions of pounds and for some, fines could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds. Potentially even more damaging, is that the Court may also impose a publicity order, which requires the organisation to publicise in a specified manner the fact that it has been convicted of the offence, the specified particulars of the offence, the amount of any fine imposed, and the terms of any remedial order made. It is anticipated that the Sentencing Guidelines Council will be issuing its guidance for the Court, later this year.

The new law is designed to increase the amount of convictions of corporate manslaughter by removing the necessity to identify and establish the guilt of a directing mind. It instead focuses on “management failure”, referring to the way in which the organisation’s activities were managed or organised. As Justice Minister, Maria Eagle, says: “We are sending out a very powerful deterrent message to those organisations which do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously.” Guy Bastable, specialist corporate defence partner in the Business Crime and Regulation department of leading London-based law firm BCL Burton Copeland, says, “Now, more than ever before, it is imperative that organisations and individuals caught up in an investigation following a work-related death obtain expert legal advice from those experienced in dealing with the unique problems that arise when advising a company, its directors and its employees.”