The Union is backing the Culpable Homicide [Scotland] bill - a private members bill introduced by Clydesdale Labour MSP Karen Gillon.

 

Karen Gillon attended last months CWU Scottish Regional Health and Safety Forum to speak to Scottish Safety Reps and Officials about the bill along with the STUC's health and safety officer Ian Tasker who is strongly supporting the bill.

 

National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce said "we commend Karen's bill and we'll be campaigning for a Scottish corporate killing law that includes duties on both companies and their directors." "The Home Office's Corporate Manslaughter Bill which has its second reading in the Commons on 10 October is welcome but is flawed because the offence is focussed on corporate liability and doesn't apply to individual directors or others. The new law will not address the issue of director culpability and it's going to be like prosecuting a company for fraud but not placing any sanctions on the directors who carried out the fraud !  In other words the people who are ultimately responsible for the management failure."

 

The Scottish Executive had moved towards the introduction of a more far-reaching Scottish corporate homicide law, but to the dismay of safety campaigners and Unions, an announcement was recently made that Scotland would now get a version of the Home Office bill for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

 

The CWU has been advocating legislation on corporate manslaughter for many years.  The Union submitted evidence to the Home Office in response to the consultation on the draft bill on corporate manslaughter as well as to the Northern Ireland Office and to the Corporate Homicide Scottish Expert Group in 2005. The CWU also supported the Private Members Bills which were moved in the House of Commons by Andrew Dismore MP and Stephen Hepburn MP.

 

Dave added "The Home Office bill also only provides for the penalty of a fine and unless the fines are so large as to threaten the very existence of the company it's not going to act as a deterrent at all. Financial penalties are too easily shrugged off and contribute to the idea that a death can be “bought off” and that life is only worth a certain amount of money." "Private citizens are not fined for manslaughter so there should be no difference in the sentencing for an individual for manslaughter at work or any other place – the result is the same – it’s the loss of life of someone’s son, daughter, brother, father, mother and the effect this has on the family left behind. The loss is total!  Therefore why should a death at work be considered to be less of a crime and there be such a difference in sentencing." 

 

"On the other hand the ‘draft’ culpable homicide [Scotland] bill introduced by Karen Gillon MSP offers the opportunity for the Scottish Parliament to address the cloak of immunity which has time and again been thrown around directors. The bill will enable Scottish law to reach those managers who abuse the safety laws. If not, work related deaths will not be prevented and justice will still be denied." 

 

The draft Bill also addresses the current legal discrimination whereby under current law individuals in large organisations are highly unlikely to ever be charged or convicted of culpable homicide as opposed to those in small organisations.

 

Dave said "Any reformed law should act as a good deterrent; it should protect workers and members of the public.  The continual annual carnage as a result of work related activity and a series of major rail disasters is evidence enough that the present system is no deterrent.  In particular any reform should deter employers from taking risks with other people’s health and safety.   Life is precious and all reasonable steps should be taken to preserve it.  Lives after all are irreplaceable."

 

"By adopting the “Karen Gillon bill” the Scottish Parliament will ensure that Westminster’s Corporate Manslaughter Bill will not result in many involuntary deaths in Scotland going unpunished, with the real perpetrators continuing to be able to hide behind the corporate veil while innocent people lose their lives. We believe that the Scottish Parliament should legislate on this issue to ensure that those who suffer the loss of loved ones receive justice."

 

Following the close of the consultation, on Friday evening 15 September Scottish MSP Karen Gillon was plesased with the level of response and said "The vast majority of respondents felt that the current law was inadequate and that introducing two new offences of culpable homicide by recklessness and culpable homicide by gross negligence would have a positive impact and that the range of penalties available to the courts should be extended. Overall, the strong message that came through from this consultation was that there is a great deal of support for the changes proposed and the Scottish Parliament is the proper vehicle to deliver that change."

 

CWU Response to the Consultative Document on the "Draft" Corporate Homicide Scotland Bill