Phil Wright asks what the future holds for the corporate manslaughter Bill

There were 23 new Bills mentioned in the Queen's Speech this year but, yet again, corporate manslaughter was not included among them.

The government had previously proposed a Bill on corporate manslaughter which would include the new offence of corporate killing to deal with situations in which a management failure was one of the causes, or even the sole cause, of a death. It is this latter aspect of the proposed Bill which brought considerable disquiet to boardrooms up and down the country.

But will we ever see this much discussed Bill come before parliament, and, if it does, will it include an offence of corporate killing?

The Home Office has said it is still intent on moving forward with its proposals by publishing draft legislation early in 2004.

When this new offence was first proposed in the government's 1997 manifesto pledge, its aim was seen by most as being both reasonable and attainable. The thinking behind it was that there was a gap in the law which allowed those in the most senior managing positions to escape prosecution following a serious work related accident.

But would the new bill, if it ever comes into being, be the answer?

Employers are liable under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to fines and custodial sentences if they are found guilty in court of a serious breach of the Act. Imprisonment, however, is extremely rare.

Proposals to increase penalties available to the lower courts were published in the Health and Safety at Work (Offences) Bill. For certain offences, the lower courts would be able to impose fines of up to £20,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to six months. Higher courts would be able to impose unlimited fines and/or prison sentences of up to two years.

It is unlikely that these stiffer penalties would do anything to improve the ability of the courts to bring to justice the "controlling minds" of an organisation. But would the new Bill?

The Home Office has confirmed that individual directors will not be targeted and it has yet to be made clear by the government how the Bill would enable the courts to bring individuals, such as directors, to justice.

It should be remembered that the government still wishes to introduce a Bill on corporate manslaughter within which corporate killing would form but a part. The Bill would reform the law on involuntary manslaughter. Among other things, it would re-address the definition of manslaughter and bring in offences of reckless killing with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a lesser offence of killing by gross carelessness or negligence.

For a charge of reckless killing to be upheld, a court would have to be satisfied that a person was aware that his unreasonable conduct carried a risk of causing death or serious injury.

It seems likely that the bigger the organisation, and the higher up the tree the defendant, the lower the probability would be of making this charge stick.

We will have to wait a little longer to see the detailed proposals, but I have my doubts that without being able to target individual directors, the new Bill will not do much to raise pulse rates boardrooms.

The biggest deterrent to a director must be the prospect of a massive personal fine and a custodial sentence. Remove this and the threat is towards the organisation, and this would do nothing more than add a few extra points on to the risk rating matrix.