Corporate Manslaugther in the UK

In the world of corporate responsibility, this might seem to be good news. In the UK, entities (including the government) whose gross negligence leads to the death of an individual may now face criminal sanctions for manslaughter. Interestingly, the sanctions are not usually prison time....instead, it is financial penalties, a "publicity order" and an order to publicly take remedial steps to correct the conditions that led to the death.

Penalty No. 1 is the most interesting. In America, we call this punitive damages, and our tradition has been to allow injured parties to decide if, and when, to make a claim that gross negligence has led to death. We have also traditionally permitted juries to decide the appropriate punishment - by assessing a financial penalty. Recent US Supreme Court cases have all but removed this option under the guise of due process. And, according to reports, the High Courts in England had done the same thing -- resulting in the passage of this corporate manslaugther statute.

Whether one believes that corporate accountability is a matter of law or economics, this evolution in the law most certainly places power in the hands of the government that used to belong to the people. And, it is a symptom of a larger trend to criminalize conduct that used to be a matter for tort cases. Individualized harm is taking a back seat to generalized harm, with decisions on prosecution, trial and punishment left largely to the whim of political offices.

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