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Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I am delighted with Lords amendment No. 25, which will be a very powerful tool in shaming organisations convicted of corporate manslaughter. My experience as a prosecutor in health and safety cases is that, much more than fines, adverse publicity has always been the principal anxiety for larger corporations. Although the fine penalties in these cases are likely to be higher than those in health and safety cases, they will remain perfectly bearable. I have noted in the past the care with which corporations try to handle the media at the court when they are convicted, and that shows that adverse publicity is something that really matters to them. The Bill now provides some really inventive possibilities. Requiring large corporations to take out advertisements in national newspapers to publicise their own conviction, and the nature of it, is a very powerful tool. I am wholly comfortable with that, but the courts will ensure that the requirement is proportionate. I welcome the provision very much, and I am glad that the Government have made use of the extensive discussions in this House and the other place to take a very important step forward.