Local authorities and other public sector bodies face fines running into millions if guilty of corporate manslaughter
Fines for companies and organisations – including public sector bodies – found guilty of corporate manslaughter may run to millions of pounds and “should seldom be below £500,000”, the Sentencing Guidelines Council said this week.
The Council said its advice was clear: “Punitive and significant fines should be imposed both to deter and to reflect public concern at avoidable loss of life.”
It added that fines from £100,000 up to hundreds of thousands of pounds should be imposed for other health and safety offences that cause death.
In its guideline the Council advised that courts should take account of the financial circumstances of the offending organisation when deciding on the level of fine.
The fixing of a fine should not be influenced by the impact on shareholders or directors, nor on the costs of complying with other sanctions. However, courts can bear in mind the effect on the employment of the innocent, as well as the impact on provision of services to the public.
The Council identified a number of factors that would increase the seriousness of the offence, including the foreseeability of injury, whether non-compliance was common and widespread within the organisation, and how far up the organisation responsibility for the breach went.
Other factors aggravating the offence and raising the fine above the relevant minimum include:
- the number of deaths and serious injury caused
- injury to vulnerable persons
- failure to heed warnings or respond to near misses of a similar nature
- cost-cutting, and
- deliberate failure to obtain or comply with relevant licences.
The Council also said that publicity orders requiring offending organisations to publish statements about their conviction for corporate manslaughter, details of the offence and the fine “are part of the penalty and should be imposed in virtually all cases”.
Lord Justice Anthony Hughes, Council member and Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Justice Division) said: “Fines cannot and do not attempt to value a human life – compensation will be assessed separately in these cases. These are serious offences and the fines must be punitive and substantial and have an impact on the company or organisation.”
To read the guideline, click here.
