Criminal Law: Should there be a crime of corporate manslaughter?

INTRODUCTION. The evolution of corporate criminal liability perhaps reaches its apex in the prosecution of manslaughter. The criminal law, although designed to determine the responsibility of natural persons is remodelled when the employer is not a person. Presumably this predicates the dilemma, which legislators confront in determining the limits of the criminal sanction and whether or not a corporation can be ascribed guilt in manslaughter. Current State of the Law. The current law in Australia …

…position which seems to represent the direction of legal reform which many authorities have imposed or otherwise recommend. This is so despite, the fact that the traditional mens rea of a natural person, is irreconcilable with measures positing collective fault in the crime of industrial manslaughter. To this end, workplace deaths caused by failures in the implementation of safety systems should indeed be a form of involuntary manslaughter for which an employer is criminally responsible.