Friday 4 January 2013

UK: suspected corporate manslaughter cases referred to the CPS

The Attorney General was recently asked this question in Parliament: "... how many cases for potential prosecution of offences under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by (a) police forces and (b) the Health and Safety Executive since the commencement of the Act?". Here is the answer that was provided shortly before Christmas (as recorded in Hansard):

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has four Casework Divisions, one of which is the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division (SCCTD). Cases involving suspected corporate manslaughter are referred to the Special Crime unit within SCCTD, unless the suspect is an unincorporated partnership, as these cases will be referred to a Complex Casework Unit. The number of cases referred to SCCTD and recorded as being “corporate manslaughter” since the commencement of the Act is 141. The CPS does not hold this data broken down by referring agency. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 does not apply to pre-Act deaths, thus some cases may have been recorded as gross negligence manslaughter rather than corporate manslaughter. The CPS figures are based on a single categorisation of the case type and so, some cases that include a corporate manslaughter element will not necessarily be recorded as a case of that type."

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