Unit 24 - Aspects of Criminal Law Relating to Business
All documents for this subject (6)
1
review
By: jabbarh2013 • 6 year ago
Seller
Follow
ismaeel_nagra
Reviews received
Content preview
Scenario
Adam owns a construction company and has just got a contract to rebuild flooring in a block of
flats. The block of flats was still in use during the construction and one day in a rush to finish
early, Adam covers a hole in the floor with some cheap boards. One of the residents walks over
the board not knowing it was weak and falls through the floor 20ft to his death. The police arrest
Adam on a charge of Corporate manslaughter.
M2
The correct law for this scenario is Corporate Manslaughter, the main for this is that the incident
happened in a workplace and that the owner of the construction company had a duty of care to
the residents which he did not act upon. Also, it crosses with gross breach as Adam did have a
duty of care but did not behave at a certain standard, this is shown in his actions of covering a
20ft hole with weak wooden planks just to finish early, which resulted to a resident’s death.
To prove that it is corporate manslaughter, it must cover these points:
1. An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the way in which its
activities are managed or organised
a) causes a person’s death, and
b) amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the
deceased.
This is different to Murder in that there is no direct intention but rather the employer has acted in
a way that has risked the life of another.
Firstly the ways that the activities that the organisation was doing was lawful as the owner was
in a contract to do some work, however one day they went against the contract by covering a
20ft hole with some cheap boards just to finish early. As the block of flats was still in use, they
thought less of how it could impact the residents and whether it would be safe to put cheap
boards to cover a hole. Although it was not their intention to do any harm to the local residents,
they had the mens rea to do something recklessly to benefit themselves. As you can see
Adams’s task of covering a hole was not managed well, which lead to a person’s death.
Secondly, seeing that it was Adam’s responsibility to make sure that their construction does not
affect anybody else in the building, there is a duty of care here. Adam owed his workers and the
local residents an equal level of care which he recklessly failed in, even though companies owe
a high duty of care to their employees and customers than the duty normal people owe to each
other. This is the reason why this has happened, as Adam was making sure that his employees
are safe that he did not think of the local residents within the building. This resulted in him
risking a local resident’s life in pursuit of an early finish.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller ismaeel_nagra. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.86. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.