UK Parliament / Open data

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

May I respond fraternally to my hon. Friend and fellow member of the Transport and General Workers Union by saying that I have already pointed out that an individual director or manager who can be proven to be guilty of gross negligence can, at the moment, be prosecuted for gross negligence and manslaughter in that way? So at the moment, there is nothing to prohibit that, and nor does anything in the Bill prohibit it; it can still be achieved. The Bill supplements that by stating that, even where that individual cannot be shown himself to have acted with gross negligence, nevertheless, if he and others in the senior management have acted in such a way that a systemic failure across the organisation has resulted in death and destruction on a significant scale, they ought, in addition to the individual responsibility, to be open to the corporation’s being fined or faced with a remedial order. Of course, it is ““corporate”” manslaughter, so individuals are not held responsible; rather, the incorporated institution itself is.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

450 c201-2 

Session

2005-06

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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