Expressing Corporate Guilt

Abstract

Corporations and Criminal Responsibility, Celia Wells's important book, is imbued with the conviction that the activities of limited companies inflict too great a cost in terms of injury and death on the workers they employ and the community at large. This concern about what she graphically describes as corporate 'violence'1 is informed by a series of recent disasters, most notably the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise at Zeebrugge, an event given continuing resonance by the more recent sinking of The Estonia. These tragedies have given rise to a number of official enquiries and reports which contain significant criticisms of the attitude to safety of a number of commercial companies2 and public authorities.3 In the light of these events, a recent Law Commission consultation paper has recommended the retention of manslaughter by gross negligence and has made proposals to facilitate the conviction of companies for that offence.4 Wells's book is referred to in the Law Commission's deliberations. It is a work of considerable scholarly interest and appears at a time when its subject-matter features prominently as a topic of public concern.