Corporate Manslaughter: convictions to be made easier

The Government Select Committee has urged the Government to enact The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act sooner rather than later because of the failure of many high-profile corporate manslaughter prosecutions. It is widely believed that current law fails to operate in a sufficiently flexible way to reflect the reality of decision making in organisations and therefore fails to provide proper justice for victims. The new Act will hold an organisation's senior managers to account for gross failings that result in a person's death.

UK Training's half-day seminar 'The Essential Guide to Corporate Manslaughter Legislation' details fully the implications for UK employers.

The Act will complement, not replace, other forms of health and safety legislation and will be clearly linked to the standards required under those laws. The aim is to enable corporate manslaughter prosecutions to be more effective. For a jury to find an organisation guilty of the new offence it will need to establish that the organisation owed a relevant duty of care to the person and that there was a gross breach of that duty.

Quite clearly organisations need to be prepared for this new legislation. Its success will be measured by whether it changes the behaviour of senior managers so that there are far fewer work related deaths, not by the number of convictions that follow.

It will be the organisation that will be liable for prosecution under this Act, not the senior managers. Individuals will not be prosecuted under this new legislation although they could still be liable under common law for the offence of manslaughter by gross negligence. Corporations, including public bodies, found guilty of this new offence will receive unlimited fines.

In order to ensure that you are thoroughly prepared for the challenges of this new legislation you should click here to book a place on this important seminar.

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The Age Regulations 2006 have arrived

The implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 on the 1st October has led many legal experts to warn of an alarming rise in the number of companies facing a hearing at an employment tribunal. Several recent surveys have shown how unprepared employers are to meet the demands of the new legislation. Ensure that you are fully prepared by booking a place on The Essential Guide to Employment Law seminar, which gives full details of the requirements and implications of the Age Regulations. UK Training has also prepared a previous Business Briefing devoted to this important topic.