Recent Legal Ruling Sets A Precedent
Monday, February 18th, 2008
A recent ruling at the Court of Appeal on the criminal liability of directors will have implications for company directors,as well as those enforcing health and safety law. Michael Atkins from HSE’s Legal Adviser’ Office explains:”We were prosecuting a company director over the death of a six-year-old. Before the trial defence lawyers wanted a definite ruling on what we have to prove for a Section 37 Offence. The trial judge said that for neglect to be proved, the director had to have known what was going on leading up to the accident. HSE appealed the ruling at the Court of APpeal, arguing that it’s what a director knows or should know that’s important. The court ruled in the HSE’s favour.
“From HSE’s viewpoint, we won’t have to prove that a neglectful director actually knew what was going on, just that he or she should have known. Directors who are successfully prosecuted will find they have a criminal record. They’ll no longer be able to shut down their company, take the money and set up somewhere else with a clean slate.”