Unlimited fines and publicity damage under new offence of corporate manslaughter
Guy Bastable, specialist corporate defence partner in BCL Burton warns that companies could be fined between 2.5 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".
Companies should be aware that the police will now investigate a work-related
death not only with a view to prosecuting the organisation for corporate
manslaughter and a breach of health and safety legislation, but also with a view
to prosecuting directors and employees for gross negligence manslaughter and
secondary liability for breach of health and safety legislation by the
organisation.
Furthermore, this situation has been compounded by the coming into force of the
Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, which for the first time has made most
health and safety offences imprisonable, rather than merely punishable by a
fine, and increased significantly the maximum fine for certain breaches.
Guy Bastable, specialist corporate defence partner in the Business Crime &
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".
