Ezrel Tabiowo in a dissection of the corporate manslaughter bill recounts the efforts by the Senate to clamp down on corporate bodies whose actions continually lead to the death of employees in the country.
In Nigeria, the activities of corporate organisations has directly and indirectly led to countless number of deaths of employees yearly, a development seemingly spiralling out of control due to the absence of laws to hold such corporate entities responsible for their actions or inaction.
Worried by the trend, and determined to make corporate bodies and agencies in Nigeria answerable for their acts of negligence, dereliction of duty or gross incompetence which results in the death of a person, the Senate on September 23, 2014, passed the corporate manslaughter bill with a view to creating the offence of corporate manslaughter.
The passage of the bill which followed consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, will enlist Nigeria among countries such as Great Britain, Hong Kong etc, in the world running on the Corporate Manslaughter Law if given assent to by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sponsored by Late Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido, who until his death in June 2014 represented Delta Central in the National Assembly, the bill prescribes a jail term of not less than three years or maximum of seven years with an option fine of not less than one hundred thousand naira and not more than one million naira.
It provides also that an organization guilty of corporate manslaughter is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than one million, with no maximum limit, so as to allow courts the privilege of imposing fines on corporations based on the gravity of the offence while putting their economic and social profile into consideration.
The bill prescribes that, “Notwithstanding the culpability of an organization, corporation or agency, any person or group of persons who either jointly or severally in the course of carrying out a legitimate duty, performs same negligently or defaults to perform same, thereby causing the death of a person or directly leading to the occurrence of an event causing the death of a person, shall be guilty of the offence of accessory to corporate manslaughter.”
The corporate manslaughter bill provides that all related offences under the Act may be prosecuted at the instance of the Attorney General of the federation, the Police Force and any private legal practitioner; with the court of jurisdiction being State High Court or Federal High Court of Justice.
According to findings contained in the report of the Senator UmaruDahiru led Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, the Corporate Manslaughter bill contemplates a killing as an action committed, directly or indirectly by a corporation, which sections 308 and 317 of the criminal code failed to cover.
It noted that the provision of a new section to provide for compensation to the deceased victims’ family, will amount to duplication, as such has been taken care of in other laws such as the Employees Compensation Act, Labour Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act etc.
The committee further noted that with the passage of the bill into law, same will not preclude any person or group of persons from instituting civil cases against any corporation as regards compensation.
Also, with its passage into law, the bill creates the offence of Corporate Manslaughter, and as well bridges the lacuna created by the restrictive definition in sections 316 and 317 of the Criminal Code.
Merits and principles of the bill
The Senate committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters in a synopsis of presentation in favour of the bill passage noted that the sponsor of the bill, Late Senator Akpor Ewherido set the tone for deliberation and provided background information on the general merits and principles of the bill.
Senator Ewherido, it stated, described the bill as a public interest bill, which is widely recognized in other jurisdictions to bridge certain lacunae in existing legislations.
He averred that the provisions of the bill, which creates the offence of corporate manslaughter fall within the definition of killing as contemplated in section 308 of the criminal code.
The section reads: “Except as hereinafter set forth, any person who causes the death of another directly or indirectly by any means whatever, is deemed to have killed the other person.”
According to Senator Ewherido, the provisions of section 316 and 317 of the criminal code, which create the offences of murder and manslaughter relevant to section 308, only addresses one ingredient in the definition of the offence of killing.
“Whereas section 308 contemplates that the act of killing can be caused either by direct or indirect means, sections 316 and 317 nevertheless, fail to cover activities of persons who indirectly and or remotely cause the death of another person. Therefore, the restrictive definitions in sections 316 and 317 when viewed against the broad definition of killing in section 308 is what this bill seeks to fill,” Ewherido stated.
The lawmaker added that as at the time of the enactment of the criminal code so many years ago, the primary nature of the Nigerian economy and society with near incidents was responsible for the restrictive nature of both sections 316 and 317.
The committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters while making its position known as to whether a corporation can be sent to prison if found guilty noted that, “the concept of legal personality of a corporation is a fundamental legal fiction in that the corporation has a name, certain rights, privileges and responsibilities under the law similar to those of a legal person and as such, can be deemed to be a personality apart from individual persons comprising it and can be subject to criminal law, exercising rights and committing crimes.”
The committee further stated that, “the human persons who act for the corporation, who are its alter ego, its directing mind and will, can be sent to prison for crimes committed in the course of the corporation’s affairs. Furthermore, in appropriate and serious cases, the court may order the winding-up of the corporation.”
It added that the provision in clause 7(1) of the bill which authorises a court to make remedial orders, directing an organisation to take specific steps to remedy identified defects was a welcome development in improving safety in the systems of organisations and corporations.
But the senate committee however noted that quite often, the artificiality of the legal personality of the corporation has been used by corporate organisations to avoid the legal consequences of acts which for persons constitute crimes.
It said inspite of the fact that corporations enjoy all civil rights including enforcement of their fundamental human rights, they have continued to elude some legislative control and accountability for criminal liability.
According to the Senator Umaru Dahiru led committee on Judiciary, with the bill’s passage by the senate, organisations will be awakened to the reality of the times that the benefit of the corporate personality, which they enjoy, must now be matched with the criminal liability for manslaughter if their actions or inactions result in the unlawful death of a person.
The Corporate Manslaughter law is both a safety and criminal piece of legislation, adopted in some jurisdictions such as Great Britain, Hong Kong, etc to ensure that any company or organisation found to have contributed to a person’s death, either through how it manages its activities and operations or by committing gross breach of its duty of care owed to the deceased, should be held accountable for its actions or inactions.
