Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
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Other Bills before Parliament

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
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A
Bill
To
Create a new offence that, in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, is to be
called corporate manslaughter and, in Scotland, is to be called corporate
homicide; and to make provision in connection with that offence.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide
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The offence
(1)
An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the way
in which any of its activities are managed or organised by its senior
managers—
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(a)
causes a person’s death, and
(b)
amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the
organisation to the deceased.
(2)
The organisations to which this section applies are—
(a)
a corporation;
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(b)
a department or other body listed in Schedule 1;
(c)
a police force (as defined in section 13(1)).

In this Act “corporation” does not include a corporation sole but includes any
body corporate wherever incorporated.
(3)
For the purposes of this Act—
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(a)
“senior manager” has the meaning given by section 2;
(b)
“relevant duty of care” has the meaning given by section 3, read with
sections 4 to 8;
(c)
a breach of a duty of care by an organisation is a “gross” breach if the
conduct alleged to amount to a breach of that duty falls far below what
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can reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances.
(4)
The offence under this section is called—
(a)
corporate manslaughter, in so far as it is an offence under the law of
England and Wales or Northern Ireland;

Bill 220 54/1

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
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(b)
corporate homicide, in so far as it is an offence under the law of
Scotland.
(5)
An organisation that is guilty of corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide
is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(6)
The offence of corporate homicide is indictable only in the High Court of
5
Justiciary.
Senior managers
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Meaning of “senior manager”
A person is a “senior manager” of an organisation if he plays a significant role
in—
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(a)
the making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its
activities are to be managed or organised, or
(b)
the actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of
those activities.
Relevant duty of care
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3
Meaning of “relevant duty of care”
(1)
A “relevant duty of care”, in relation to an organisation, means any of the
following duties owed by it under the law of negligence—
(a)
a duty owed to its employees or to other persons working for the
organisation or performing services for it;
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(b)
a duty owed as occupier of premises;
(c)
a duty owed in connection with—
(i)
the supply by the organisation of goods or services (whether for
consideration or not),
(ii)
the carrying on by the organisation of any construction or
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maintenance operations,
(iii)
the carrying on by the organisation of any other activity on a
commercial basis, or
(iv)
the use or keeping by the organisation of any plant, vehicle or
other thing.
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(2)
Subsection (1) is subject to sections 4 to 8.
(3)
For the purposes of this Act, whether a particular organisation owes a duty of
care to a particular individual is a question of law.

The judge must make any findings of fact necessary to decide that question.
(4)
In this section—
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“construction or maintenance operations” means operations of any of the
following descriptions—
(a)
construction, installation, alteration, extension, improvement,
repair, maintenance, decoration, cleaning, demolition or
dismantling of—
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(i)
any building or structure,

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
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(ii)
anything else that forms, or is to form, part of the land,
or
(iii)
any plant, vehicle or other thing;
(b)
operations that form an integral part of, or are preparatory to,
or are for rendering complete, any operations within paragraph
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(a);
“the law of negligence” includes—
(a)
in relation to England and Wales, the Occupiers’ Liability Act
1957 (c. 31), the Defective Premises Act 1972 (c. 35) and the
Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 (c. 3);
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(b)
in relation to Scotland, the Occupiers’ Liability (Scotland) Act
1960 (c. 30);
(c)
in relation to Northern Ireland, the Occupiers’ Liability Act
(Northern Ireland) 1957 (c. 25), the Defective Premises
(Northern Ireland) Order 1975 (S.I. 1975/1039 (N.I. 9)), the
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Occupiers’ Liability (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (S.I. 1987/
1280 (N.I. 15)) and the Defective Premises (Landlord’s Liability)
Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (c. 10);
“premises” includes land, buildings and moveable structures.
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Public policy decisions, exclusively public functions and statutory
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inspections
(1)
Any duty of care owed by a public authority in respect of a decision as to
matters of public policy (including in particular the allocation of public
resources or the weighing of competing public interests) is not a “relevant duty
of care”.
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(2)
Any duty of care owed in respect of things done in the exercise of an
exclusively public function is not a “relevant duty of care” unless it falls within
section 3(1)(a) or (b).
(3)
Any duty of care owed by a public authority in respect of inspections carried
out in the exercise of a statutory function is not a “relevant duty of care” unless
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it falls within section 3(1)(a) or (b).
(4)
In this section—
“exclusively public function” means a function that falls within the
prerogative of the Crown or is, by its nature, exercisable only with
authority conferred—
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(a)
by the exercise of that prerogative, or
(b)
by or under a statutory provision;
“public authority” has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Human
Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) (disregarding subsections (3)(a) and (4) of that
section);
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“statutory function” means a function conferred by or under a statutory
provision;
“statutory provision” means provision contained in, or in an instrument
made under, any Act, any Act of the Scottish Parliament or any
Northern Ireland legislation.
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5
Military activities
(1)
Any duty of care owed by the Ministry of Defence in respect of—

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
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(a)
operations within subsection (2),
(b)
activities carried on in preparation for, or directly in support of, such
operations, or
(c)
training of a hazardous nature, or training carried out in a hazardous
way, which it is considered needs to be carried out, or carried out in
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that way, in order to improve or maintain the effectiveness of the armed
forces with respect to such operations,

is not a “relevant duty of care”.
(2)
The operations within this subsection are operations, including peacekeeping
operations and operations for dealing with terrorism, civil unrest or serious
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public disorder, in which members of the armed forces come under attack or
face the threat of attack or violent resistance.
(3)
Any duty of care owed by the Ministry of Defence in respect of activities
carried on by members of the special forces is not a “relevant duty of care”.
(4)
In this section—
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“the armed forces” has the meaning given by section 12, and a reference
to members of the armed forces is to be read in accordance with
subsection (3) of that section;
“the special forces” means those units of the armed forces the
maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director
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of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the
operational command of that Director.
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Policing and law enforcement
(1)
Any duty of care owed by a police force or other public authority in respect
of—
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(a)
operations within subsection (2),
(b)
activities carried on in preparation for, or directly in support of, such
operations, or
(c)
training of a hazardous nature, or training carried out in a hazardous
way, which it is considered needs to be carried out, or carried out in
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that way, in order to improve or maintain the effectiveness of a police
force with respect to such operations,

is not a “relevant duty of care”.
(2)
The operations within this subsection are operations for dealing with
terrorism, civil unrest or serious public disorder in which the police come
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under attack or face the threat of attack or violent resistance.
(3)
Any duty of care owed by a police force or other public authority in respect of
other policing or law-enforcement activities is not a “relevant duty of care”
unless it falls within section 3(1)(a) or (b).
(4)
In this section—
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“policing or law-enforcement activities” includes—
(a)
activities carried on in the exercise of functions that are—
(i)
functions of police forces, or
(ii)
functions of a similar nature exercisable by public
authorities other than police forces;
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(b)
activities carried on in the exercise of functions exercisable
under Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Serious Organised Crime and

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill
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Police Act 2005 (c. 15) (protection of witnesses and other
persons);
(c)
activities carried on to enforce any provision contained in or
made under the Immigration Acts;
“public authority” has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Human
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Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) (disregarding subsections (3)(a) and (4) of that
section).
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Emergency services
(1)
Any duty of care owed by an organisation to which this section applies in
respect of the way in which it responds to emergency circumstances (or
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circumstances believed to be emergency circumstances) is not a “relevant duty
of care” unless it falls within section 3(1)(a) or (b).
(2)
The organisations to which this section applies are—
(a)
a fire and rescue authority in England and Wales;
(b)
a fire and rescue authority or joint fire and rescue board in Scotland;
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(c)
the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board;
(d)
any other organisation employing people whose duties involve
extinguishing fires or protecting life and property in the event of a fire;
(e)
a relevant NHS body;
(f)
an organisation providing ambulance services in pursuance of
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arrangements made by, or at the request of, a relevant NHS body;
(g)
an organisation providing services for the transport of organs, blood,
equipment or personnel in pursuance of arrangements made by, or at
the request of, a relevant NHS body;
(h)
an organisation providing a rescue service;
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(i)
the armed forces.
(3)
In this section—
“the armed forces” has the meaning given by section 12;
“emergency circumstances” means circumstances that are present or
imminent and—
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(a)
are causing, or are likely to cause, serious harm or a worsening
of such harm, or
(b)
are likely to cause the death of a person;
“relevant NHS body” means—
(a)
an NHS foundation trust, National Health Service trust, Special
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Health Authority, Primary Care Trust or Local Health Board in
England and Wales;
(b)
a Health Board or Special Health Board in Scotland, or the
Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service;
(c)
a Health and Social Services trust or Health and Social Services
40
Board in Northern Ireland;
“serious harm” means—
(a)
serious injury to or the serious illness (including mental illness)
of a person;
(b)
serious harm to the environment (including the life and health
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of plants and animals);
(c)
serious harm to any building or other property.