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1 Irish Bus. L. Rev. 37 (2013-2014)
Corporate Manslaughter - The Need for Reform

handle is hein.journals/iblr1 and id is 141 raw text is: Corporate Manslaughter - The Need for Reform Sana Farooq Khan* Introduction Significant levels of corporate malpractice continue to result in the deaths of skilled and unskilled workers, thus highlighting the need for the Irish government to adopt new legislation concerning the offence of corporate manslaughter.1 Ireland currently lacks robust legislation by which corporations are held accountable under criminal law for deaths caused by their activities. There is an undeniable need to reform Ireland's current approach to corporate manslaughter in order to strengthen the laws around corporate accountability and reduce work related injuries and deaths. Ireland, being a developed nation, experiences relatively less work-related deaths per annum than developing countries, 48 in 20122 and 46 in 2013,3 whereas homi- cide cases amounted to 79 in 2012 and 80 in 2013.4 In cases where corporate man- slaughter occurs, corporations are in a far better position financially to compensate the family of the individual who has been unlawfully killed. By legislating for cor- porate manslaughter as a criminal offence Ireland will follow the approach taken by many developed countries that are either/or civil and common law in nature. Furthermore, this would be a useful proactive measure taken by Ireland to update its legislative regime. The first Irish Corporate Manslaughter Bill was introduced in 2000.5 This was later followed by a consultation paper in 20036 and report in 20057 by the Irish Law Reform Commission (LRC), which also proposed draft legislation for corporate manslaughter. Since then, there has been subsequent attempts by legislators to finally introduce a legally binding Act on the issue, however, no resolution to the matter has been brought as of yet. Attempts have recently been made to provide * BCL, LLM Law Technology & Governance, Dip in Gaeilge, Dip. in International Financial Services, Certificate in Human Rights Florida State University, Barrister-at-Law, Lecturer in law Griffith College Dublin. 1 E., Edwards, Total of 46 killed in workplace incidents in 2013, The Irish Times, 6 January 2014. 2 Available at http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Statistics/FatalInjury/. Last accessed 14 May 2014. 3 ibid. I Available at http://www.cso.ie/Quicktables/GetQuickTables.aspx?FileName-cjaOlcl.asp& TableName-Homicide+Offences&StatisticalProduct-DBCJ. Last accessed 2 May 2014. Corporate Manslaughter Bill 2000. 6 Law Reform Commission Consultation Paper on Corporate Killing, 13 October 2003. 7 The Law Reform Commission Report on Corporate Killing, 2005.

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