68. Memorandum submitted by Bryan Wilson
I have read and examined the draft proposed
Corporate Manslaughter Bill and would make the following comments.
The need for a review and a Corporate Manslaughter Bill is long
over due, the perceived inability to secure prosecutions against
large companiues has done little in the minds of the public to
deliver justice. The historic problem of identifying a directing
mind has in many cases proven problematic and contributed to the
overall failure to deliver justice in the appropriate cases to
the victims.
The proposed bill addresses this problematic
area by introducing the new concept of management failure at a
senior level within the organisation under investigation. Whilst
individuals may still be liable personally for gross negligence
manslaughter the organisation employing the individuals may itself
be responsible for corporate manslaughter without the identification
of the "directing mind" or the guilt of an individual.
The proposed bill enhances investigators abilities to impact in
those cases that warrant such intervention if there are gross
failures in the organisations management structures and practices.
The issues that I believe may still prove problematic
are those of definition of "senior manager" and "significant
role" and this may well be subject to case decisions as the
law develops in this area.
The new offence will still require the guiding
principles within gross negligence manslaughter to be adhered
to namely duty of care and a gross failure that then causes death.
The ordinary rules of causation will apply in determining this
question.
Overall my view is that this proposed legislation
fills a gap in current legislation which will enhance the investigators
abilities to deliver justice to the victim. I believe that such
investigation should be jointly conducted between the police and
the Health and Safety Executive. However the Police should retain
primacy in such investigations.
The bill and guidance notes are clear and I
support fully the proposed bill. Whilst the number of prosecutions
emanating from its use may be small they will in all probability
be cases that are in the media spotlight. The bill will assist
in restoring confidence in our abilities to deliver justice on
behalf of victims, victims who were owed a duty of care and through
gross negligence by an organisation at the highest levels their
death ensued.
With regard to road death the investigator will
now have to consider the issues of corporate manslaughter in relation
to the provision of road furniture that may have caused the death
of a road user, organisations that are involved in the supply
of motorvehicles or parts which it can be shown were a causative
link in the death through gross negligence.
Both crime SIO's and road death IO's will require
updating when the bill becomes law to ensure that the staff dealing
with road death, work related death or cases of gross negligence
manslaughter consider the organisation providing the service to
the deceased, employing the deceased, or are connected to the
provision of services, with a duty of care, that has been breached
by gross negligence and is shown to have been a causative link
to the death.
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