Corporate manslaughter meaning

Pre-inquest review hearings (PIRs) It is now routine for a pre-inquest review hearing (PIR) to be convened—and, where necessary, more than one—to ensure efficient case management and to address any evidential matters that may emerge. Rule 6 of The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 (CIR 2013) confers on the coroner a statutory power to hold a PIR 'at any time during the course of an investigation'. If the coroner does not take the initiative to arrange one, representatives of the interested persons (IPs) should request that a PIR be listed. The Chief Coroner’s guidance indicates that PIRs should take place in complex investigations. The purpose of a PIR parallels a case management conference in civil litigation or a plea and trial preparation hearing in the Crown Court. For information on preparing for an inquest, see Practice Note: How to prepare for an inquest. PIRs should be held in public, and details should be published in advance on the coroner/local authority website to ensure any member of the...

In this issue A review of key cases in 2025 Decision to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information A review of key cases in 2025 Headline corporate crime matters in 2025 included the UK Supreme Court overturning the convictions of two traders jailed for rate manipulation; the anti-fraud agency deploying a seldom‑used legal power to recover criminal cash; and the first conviction for sanctions breaches. See News Analysis: The biggest financial crime cases of 2025. Decision to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution SFO compliance guide highlights early remediation is key On 26 November 2025, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)...

In this issue: Decision to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeals and judicial review Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Other corporate crime updates LexTalk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Decision to prosecute and alternatives to prosecution Deferred Prosecution Agreements—an ‘expiry date’ or a ‘best before’? (Guralp Systems Ltd v Serious Fraud Office) The statutory framework for Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) requires an expiry date within every DPA, mandates that any breach application is made while the DPA remains in force, and provides that where a DPA lasts until its expiry, the proceedings are to be discontinued. In this case, the DPA’s terms specified effectiveness for...

In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeal and judicial review Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Food safety and hygiene offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering International LexTalk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence Court delays soar as backlogs break records Between April and June 2025, the criminal courts in England and Wales amassed an unprecedented caseload of almost 440,000, with incoming matters exceeding disposals and a system hampered by long-standing funding shortfalls. In response, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), together with The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, confirmed extra resources to accelerate outcomes for...

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA 1974) sets out broad duties to protect the health and safety of employees and others affected by work. Not complying with these duties is a criminal offence, prosecutable in either the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court. For details of the duties under HSWA 1974, ss 2–7, see the following Practice Notes: Failure to carry out health and safety duties under HSWA 1974—offences Safety and the risk to safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Employees' duties to take reasonable care for health and safety at work Directors’ duties for health and safety Health and safety law and the self-employed This Practice Note highlights those HSWA 1974 offences that can only be tried in the magistrates’ courts. Summary only health and safety offences The health and safety offences that are triable only in the magistrates’ court are: Breach of provisions relating...

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. For details on government bills touching corporate crime in 2025, refer to Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2025 [Archived] as signposted. This Practice Note monitored the journey of government bills pertinent to corporate crime as they moved through the UK Parliament across the period 1 January to 31 December 2024. It also included links to additional material on each item of legislation, offering further information for every bill referenced. For insight into notable secondary legislation of interest to corporate crime practitioners in 2024, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2024 [Archived] for context. After the 2024 general election was declared, numerous bills lapsed automatically on the dissolution of Parliament at that time. For further detail, see News Analysis: General election announced for 4 July 2024 and LNB News 24/05/2024 99 for background. The 2024 King’s Speech outlined the government’s priorities nationally and proposed measures for the next parliamentary session, including several bills...

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMCHA 2007) CMCHA 2007 applies throughout the United Kingdom and establishes the offence of corporate manslaughter (referred to in Scotland as corporate homicide). This Practice Note addresses corporate manslaughter rather than corporate homicide, because certain provisions of CMCHA 2007 draw slight distinctions between the two offences. For a primer on the offence, see Practice Note: Corporate manslaughter—an introductory guide. Where the interests of justice so require, a prosecution may advance a charge of corporate manslaughter arising from a particular set of facts alongside, based on some or all of the same facts, an offence under any health and safety legislation. Equally, an organisation already convicted of corporate manslaughter in relation to specified circumstances may, if justice demands, face an additional charge under relevant health and safety legislation grounded on some or all of those circumstances. For further detail on enforcement and prosecution under CMCHA 2007, see Practice Notes: Corporate manslaughter—enforcement and prosecution and Sentencing for corporate manslaughter. For a...