Corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide
I11The offence
1
An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised—
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;
b
a department or other body listed in Schedule 1;
c
a police force;
d
a partnership, or a trade union or employers' association, that is an employer.
3
An organisation is guilty of an offence under this section only if the way in which its activities are managed or organised by its senior management is a substantial element in the breach referred to in subsection (1).
4
For the purposes of this Act—
a
“relevant duty of care” has the meaning given by section 2, read with sections 3 to 7;
b
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 can reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances;
c
“senior management”, in relation to an organisation, means the persons who play significant roles in—
i
the making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its activities are to be managed or organised, or
ii
the actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of those activities.
5
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;
b
corporate homicide, in so far as it is an offence under the law of Scotland.
6
An organisation that is guilty of corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine.
7
The offence of corporate homicide is indictable only in the High Court of Justiciary.