Court pilot will give corporate manslaughter families a voice

The families of corporate manslaughter victims will be allowed to speak in court for the first time under a pilot scheme starting this month.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs has announced that family members of all murder and manslaughter victims will be allowed to speak during a one-year pilot at London’s Old Bailey and crown courts in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Winchester.

Trials in these courts will hear from family members or advocates speaking on their behalf, if they wish to speak. At present, victims’ families can submit a written victim impact statement but cannot speak. Testimonies will be heard after conviction but before sentencing.

TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said: “It is crucial that relatives bereaved by workplace tragedies get a right to address the court. Manslaughter in the workplace should not be considered the single ‘acceptable’ form of killing.”

The proposal may affect 350 to 400 murder and manslaughter cases, but it is not clear how many corporate manslaughter cases will be involved.

The Centre of Corporate Accountability gave the announcement a cautious welcome. Its UK director, Maggie Robbins, said: “Just because a family is silent or absent should not mean a lighter sentence.” She added that the wider issues of sentencing for workplace killing must be looked at.