The draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill for England & Wales was published on 23 March 2005. Following the criticisms of a joint report on the Bill by the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions Committees published last December, the government has now published its response, stating that it will look again at the draft legislation.
As we reported in our January ebulletin, the joint report had warned that the test which made firms responsible where death had resulted from failings of senior management could result in responsibility being delegated to less senior individuals. The government has acknowledged the concerns raised about this test and accepted the recommendation that a new test should be brought forward which better captures the essence of corporate culpability.
The government also confirmed that it is "looking further at the interaction between legislation on disqualification of directors and the new offence".
