Corporate Manslaughter

Overview

The UK was the first national jurisdiction in the world to introduce a specific homicide offence to criminalise corporate bodies which cause the death of a worker or member of the public - the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. This law came into force in order to provide a more effective (practically and symbolically) means of making large organisations accountable where they are culpable in relation to loss of life, whether via a public disaster, an occupational accident, or some other incident or event. Ladbroke Grove, the Herald of Free Enterprise, Piper Alpha, and many other historical examples serve to highlight the seriousness of this issue, and may help in understanding the emergence of laws of this sort. Other countries have faced similar issues and responded in different ways - but a shift towards criminalisation can be identified as a contemporary trend in this area.

Relatedly, questions can be asked about the legitimacy (appropriateness, rightness, and deservingness of acceptance) of this type of law, and of the way that it impacts on the perceived legitimacy of health and safety regulation in general. How do such measures strengthen, support, or affect assessments of, the law in general? My 2007 paper (‘Regulation Crisis’) was selected for inclusion in a 2008 Law and Policy journal special edition entitled ‘Thirty years of key contributions to debates on law and policy’.

My work sought to ask - why is this? Why has this issue proved so important and seen such concern? Why, at a time when standards of health and safety seem to be better than ever before, is the movement towards criminalisation so powerful? And what effects, if any, will these new offences actually succeed in having? I have followed it up more recently with a piece that has sought to take stock of the impact and legacy of those reforms, more than 10 years on.

Key Publications

Almond, P. (2020) ‘Workplace Safety and Criminalisation: A Double-Edged Sword’, in A. Bogg, J. Collins, M. Freedland, and J. Herring (eds.) Criminality at Work, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ch.19 (pp391-408).

Almond, P. (2013), Corporate Manslaughter and Regulatory Reform, London: Palgrave Macmillan.