Further delay for corporate killing
30 Mar 05
Trade unions and MSP react angrily to delay in legislation
A hold-up in legislation to enable companies to be prosecuted for "corporate killing" was greeted with anger yesterday.
Cathy Jamieson, Justice Minister, came under fire from trade unions and some MSPs after she announced the establishment of an expert study group to consider the matter further.
They had been expecting a full consultation paper leading to a draft bill.
Jack Molloy of the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee, set up after the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988, said that there was a lot of expert opinion already and he didn't see "why we have to put another committee together".
The move was also blasted by campaigners who have called for a new law in the wake of a ruling that there should be no corporate manslaughter charge over the deaths of four people in an explosion in Larkhall, Lanarkshire in 1999.