In the United Kingdom, a corporation is considered a juristic person and can be capable of committing, being convicted of and sentenced for, a criminal offence. However, some conceptual difficulty lies in fixing a corporation with the appropriate mens rea. Before the Act, a corporation could only be convicted of manslaughter if a single employee of the company committed all the elements of the offence and was of sufficient seniority to be seen as embodying the "mind" of the corporation. The practical consequence of this was that such convictions were rare and there was public discontent where it was perceived that culpable corporations had escaped censure and punishment. A Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Home SecretaryJohn Reid on 20 July 2006.
Partnerships, trade unions and employers' associations, that are themselves employers.
Police forces;
Various, but not all, government departments;
Relevant duty of care
A relevant duty of care is one of several duties of care owed by the organisation under the law of negligence and is a question of law for the judge. Various government policy decisions; policing, military and child protection activities; and emergency responses are excluded. There are particular duties of care owed to persons in custody ) and, owing to the sensitivity and difficulty of such duties, implementation of this section was delayed. The Ministry of Justice published a report on progress towards implementation in July 2008.
Gross breach
A breach of a duty of care by an organisation is a gross breach if the alleged conduct amounts to a breach of that duty that falls far below what can reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances. The jury must consider whether the evidence shows that the organisation failed to comply with any health and safetylegislation that relates to the alleged breach, and if so:
Consider the extent to which the evidence shows that there were attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices within the organisation that were likely to have encouraged the failure, or to have produced tolerance of it; and
Have regard to any health and safety guidance that relates to the alleged breach.
Senior management
Senior management means the persons who play significant roles in:
The making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its activities are to be managed or organised; or
The actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of those activities.
Penalties
On conviction a corporation may be ordered to remedy any breach, or to publicise its failures, or be given an unlimited fine. The Sentencing Guidelines Council issued a steps based definitive guideline, effective from 1 February 2016, for sentencing the offence of corporate manslaughter. The recommendations of the guideline are based on the size and turnover of the organisations with a starting fine of £300,000 and a no limit maximum. If an individual is also found liable for the offence of manslaughter, it can be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 ruled by the same sentencing guideline.
