Expert Group to Review Law on Corporate Homicide in Scotland

An Expert Group - set up by the Executive to review the law on corporate homicide in Scotland - has recommended creating a new offence of corporate killing through recklessness.

Under the proposed new offence, organisations whose actions or failure to put policies, practices and systems in place to ensure the health and safety of its employees and the public, could face prosecution if these actions result in death.

This differs from the Home Office's proposals which will essentially build on the English common law of manslaughter, with an organisation being found guilty if the way in which its senior managers managed or organised its activities caused a person's death through gross breach of a duty of care.

The Group considered that those proposals would not translate easily into Scots law and could retain the problems associated with identifying a controlling mind - the main difficulty with the current law of culpable homicide as it applies to organisations.

Other recommendations from the Expert Group include:

::   Organisations would have a defence if they could show that they had policies and procedures in place which should have prevented death and had a corporate culture which reinforced these

::   Most members considered that there should be a new stand-alone offence to deal with directors and others who are directly responsible for the death of employees or the public. Most also considered there should be a secondary offence for directors or senior managers whose actions/omissions significantly contributed to the new offence of corporate killing being committed

::   The majority of members felt that proposals should apply equally to deaths in Scotland caused by organisations based outside Scotland, and to deaths caused elsewhere by organisations based here

::   The courts should have a wide range of penalties, including imprisonment so that the sentences applicable under the new legislation are appropriate to the circumstances of each case

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said:

"Corporate homicide is an extremely complex area of law and I am very grateful to the Expert Group for their hard work on this issue. Despite the challenging nature of this work, the Group has come forward with some innovative and radical proposals.

"The Executive now needs to consider, in detail, the legal and practical issues surrounding those recommendations, such as whether the proposals impact on reserved areas, for example health and safety, before we indicate the next steps. What is important is that we get the right solution for Scotland."

The Expert Group on Corporate Homicide was set up on April 15 this year and chaired by Richard Scott, Head of Criminal Justice Division at the Executive.

Members are:

::   Ian Tasker - Health and Safety Officer, Scottish Trades Union Congress

::   Professor Russel Griggs - non executive director of the IMES Group who specialises in onshore and offshore health and safety issues. Representing the Confederation of British Industry

::   Jim Brisbane - Deputy Crown Agent, Crown Office

::   Michael Clancy - Director of Legal Reform at the Law Society

::   Patrick McGuire - STUC legal advisor on issues related to corporate killing and solicitor with legal firm Thompsons

::   Stewart Campbell - Director, Health and Safety Executive Scotland

::   Dave Whyte - lecturer at Stirling University with particular interest in workplace safety crimes.

::   Hazel Croall, Professor of Criminology at Glasgow Caledonian University, an expert on white collar and economic crime

::   Karen Gillon, MSP

::   John Downie, Federation of Small Businesses (resigned w.e.f. May 2005)

::   Scott Steven, Scottish Chambers of Commerce (joined July 2005)

The group's remit is "to review the law in Scotland on corporate liability for culpable homicide and to submit a report to the Minister of Justice by the summer, taking into account the proposals recently published by the Home Secretary."

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Posted 22/11/05

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