Question: “The chances of any organisation being convicted of corporate manslaughter in relation to any death is only very marginally higher than it was under the common law.” Victoria Roper 2018. 

Expert answer

The statement by Victoria Roper that the chances of any organisation being convicted of corporate manslaughter in relation to any death is only very marginally higher than it was under the common law is a valid one. The offence of corporate manslaughter has been in existence for less than 10 years, and there have been few convictions under the offence.

However, it is important to note that the offence of corporate manslaughter is a strict liability offence. This means that an organisation can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter even if no individual within the organisation did anything wrong. This makes it a very serious offence, and one which organisations should take care to avoid.

Under the common law, an organisation could only be found guilty of manslaughter if an individual within the organisation was found guilty of the offence. This made it much more difficult to convict an organisation of manslaughter, as prosecutors would have to prove that an individual within the organisation had acted unlawfully and negligently, and that this had led to a death.

The offence of corporate manslaughter makes it easier to convict an organisation of the offence, as it only requires prosecutors to prove that the organisation failed to take reasonable care to prevent a death from happening. This means that an organisation can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter even if no individual within the organisation did anything wrong.

This makes the offence of corporate manslaughter a very serious one, and organisations should take care to avoid it.