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Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

My Lords, this is my first opportunity to offer my warm congratulations to the noble Baroness on her promotion, which has given great pleasure to her friends and colleagues on all sides of the House. We look forward to her leadership of the House. On this issue, I thank the noble Baroness for having taken so much time and trouble to try to find a way through. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, has said, these amendments go to the heart of a profound and serious responsibility, that of the deprivation of an individual’s liberty. The treatment of those individuals is a test of how a society treats its members; it is a test of its fairness and compassion. We might even say that it is a defining characteristic of the British way of life and the British sense of fair play. I should say to the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, that although I respect his personal judgment on these matters, the vital principle of our position remains that it cannot be argued that, where a public function as profound as holding an individual in custody is negligently and grossly contravened, that should go unpunished. Those we hold in custody are among the most vulnerable in society, and today we are debating whether or not custodial institutions owe a duty of care to their charges. I submit that unequivocally they do. Custodial institutions ought not only to owe a duty of care to their charges, but to stand accountable if they fail in that duty. What is more, access to justice must be access equal to all; all must be equal in the eyes of the law. Those who lose loved ones as a result of grossly negligent treatment by a corporation—be it a prison, a rail company or whatever—must, as the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, has pointed out to us on so many occasions, be entitled to justice. The new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has promised: "““At no point will our British traditions of supporting and defending civil liberties be put at risk””." I agree. I remind him and the Government again of the great civil liberty that all are equal in the eyes of the law. The debate is now quite simple. Let me make it clear to the Government that we on these Benches and my colleagues in the other place will readily agree to any Motion that the Government may bring forward that proposes further time for consideration of the Bill. I recall that the Minister said last time that it was possible for there to be such a Motion. If the Minister tables one, we will agree to it. Therefore the Bill cannot fall through the action of the Opposition. If it falls, it will be as a result of ministerial homicide, because Ministers can provide for further time. The issue is now simply this: if the Government win the vote, deaths in custody may never come within the scope of the Bill. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, hopes that they will not. There is no obligation on the Government to extend the Bill to deaths in custody.