INTRODUCING a corporate manslaughter offence in Jersey would provide “clearer legal avenues for investigation and prosecution” after fatal incidents, Island Energy has said.
Chief executive Graeme Millar said the introduction of a corporate manslaughter offence in the Island would strengthen corporate accountability, align Jersey with UK standards and promote a coherent approach to public safety.
“The creation of a new corporate manslaughter offence could ensure clearer legal avenues for investigation and prosecution, following fatal incidents arising from corporate negligence,” he said.
“It could also ensure Islanders benefit from protections comparable to those in neighbouring jurisdictions.”
Mr Millar was writing to the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel ahead of a States debate on the Draft Jersey Gas Company Amendment Law later this month,
If approved, the new law would expand ministers’ powers to demand information from the utility company and introduce prison sentences of up to seven years for certain offences.
The Island Energy chief executive criticised the proposed sentences for the information-sharing offences as “disproportionate and incongruent with equivalent offences”.
“These are not health and safety offences,” wrote Mr Millar, noting that such matters are already covered by existing legislation.
He also raised concerns that the proposed sentences would “substantially affect” Island Energy’s to attract skilled professionals, adding that any regulation “should apply to all companies who operate in Jersey in the business of the supply and storage of hazardous substances”.
Island Energy also said it would be “in the interests of Islanders and all stakeholders” to postpone the debate until after the conclusion of the Haut du Mont criminal proceedings.
“This would minimise the risk of prejudice to those proceedings, and ensure that any legislative changes are appropriately informed by the factual findings when they become available,” explained Mr Millar.
Island Energy and three of its former employees are to be tried in September for charges connected with the Haut du Mont explosion, which killed ten Islanders in December 2022.
Three former utility company staff members – Neil Armstrong (56), Lee Ward (57) and John Wright (59) – pleaded not guilty to ten counts of gross negligence manslaughter.
And Mr Millar denied two charges under the Health and Safety Law on behalf of Island Energy.
Corporate manslaughter laws hold businesses or organisations responsible when their management failures lead to a person’s death.
Instead of prosecuting an individual, the law targets the company itself, typically resulting in fines rather than prison sentences.
Last year, Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat confirmed that work began in 2023 to develop a domestic offence broadly aligned with the UK’s Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.
Initial instructions were developed in September 2023, she explained, but outstanding questions remained – including how to address challenges unique to a small jurisdiction such as Jersey, where offending organisations may be monopoly service providers or branches of larger entities based elsewhere.
According to the minister, work was underway to resolve these issues in early 2024 but resources were then “redirected to meet the commitment of this government to press all recommendations of the task force on violence against women and girls.”
As a result, corporate manslaughter legislation was postponed.
