New Bill could punish individuals guilty of corporate manslaughter

Solicitor MP Andrew Dismore last week criticised as 'inadequate' existing laws surrounding corporate manslaughter when he introduced a private member's Bill seeking to create a new criminal offence of corporate killing.

Mr Dismore, the MP for Hendon - who acted for victims of the King's Cross fire and the Zeebrugge ferry disaster while a partner at Russell Jones & Walker - said that only by imposing duties on senior company officers would safety be 'given the same priority as profit'.Mr Dismore added that under the current law, corporate guilt rested entirely on proving the individual guilt of a senior company officer.

'Large companies escape because the accident is due not to the failure of an individual, but to the collective failure of the company's management systems,' he said.The proposed Bill would create a new criminal offence of corporate killing where the conduct of company management fell far below what could reasonably be expected.

It would also afford courts the power to punish convicted companies and to force them to put right the failings which had caused death.The Bill would seek to impose overarching responsibilities on senior managers for the health and safety of employees and customers.This week, a spokesman for the Home Office confirmed that it is about to publish a consultation paper looking at changing the law in this area.

She denied that it was in response to Mr Dismore's Bill, saying it was 'an important area of the law which everyone agrees needs revising'.Newly appointed president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, Frances McCarthy, said the group is 'entirely behind' the Bill.

She said that the only two successful prosecutions for corporate manslaughter have been brought against small companies, because in larger companies there are 'too many people to hide behind'.Des Collins, senior partner at Watford-based Collins which acts for victims of the Southall, Watford and Ladbroke Grove rail disasters, said the Bill was an 'accurate and reasonable reflection of public demand for change in this area of the law'.However, Mr Collins added that he could see real problems in attempting to attach personal liability as a result of such disasters.

'Which director is going to go home to his wife and family and say he got the job and the company car, but the downside is that he could end up in prison?'Sue Allen