Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

One theme that has run through the contributions that have been made in Committee is the importance of getting the balance right in this legislation, so that it is even-handed and so that the measures are seen to be fair and just, as well as simple and easy to understand. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure us on this. I would be grateful if, in doing so, he could bear in mind the case that was raised by my noble friend Lord James, which he did not have the opportunity to answer in the previous debate. It is as relevant in this debate, so I hope that the Minister can respond to that point about practical circumstances, as it is in everybody’s interest that we get not only a fair and just law but one that everybody can understand in its application right across the board. We shall debate later the need for even-handedness between the public and private sectors, but the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, has done us all a service by simplifying everything and removing all these different examples to insert the words, "““duties owed … under the law of negligence to any person””." We will shortly debate the question of members of the public, but in the mean time it would be helpful to have the Minister’s response.