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22 November 2007 / Richard Harris
Issue: 7298 / Categories: Features , Regulatory
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Time for reform?

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Should punitive health and safety measures be reformed? Richard Harris reports

The government announced plans last month for the implementation of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMCHA 2007) on 6 April 2008. While this has presented a whole new set of punitive measures for failing to comply with health and safety regulations, debate continues within the market place about the suitability of existing punitive measures.

In November 2006, Professor Richard Macrory published his report entitled Regulatory Justice: Making Sanctions Effective. Following upon recommendations made in the Hampton review, Reducing Administrative Burdens: Effective Inspection and Enforcement, covering general business regulation, the Macrory report was commissioned by the government specifically to examine the UK system of regulatory sanctions. Hampton had called for a risk-based sanctions regime in the regulatory sector, that is to say sanctions based on the risk of re-offending. Macrory addressed sanctioning issues in this context.

CURRENT SANCTIONS

There are currently over 60 non-financial regulators operating in the UK. Familiar examples with significant sanctioning powers include the Health & Safety Executive

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Sponsored by
Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
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NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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