The Sentencing Guidelines Council has published its final definitive guideline Corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences causing death: see here (pdf). The guideline sets out principles to guide courts in England and Wales and applies to the sentencing of organisations on or after 15 February 2010 under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007). It makes clear that fines for companies and organisations found guilty of corporate manslaughter should seldom be less than £ 500,000. It also provides that in fixing the level of the fine, account should be taken of the financial circumstances of the offending organisation and that the court should not be influenced by the impact on shareholders and directors. For discussion of the Guideline, see here. Note: later this month the first trial for corporate manslaughter under the 2007 Act begins at Bristol Crown Court: see here.
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