AFTER 10 YEARS of campaigning by unions and pressure groups, Parliament has finally passed the Coorporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. But while the new law should make it easier to prosecute large and medium-sized organisations for serious health and safety management failures that lead to death, many lobbyists still see it as a "missed opportunity" for real reform. The Bill received Royal Assent on 26 July after months of "ping-ponging" between the House of Lords and House of Commons, as peers defied the government in insisting it include deaths in custody, Parliamentary rules requiring that the Bill pass within 12 months of its introduction meant that it narrowly missed failing altogether. But at the last minute, in its ninth debate, the new secretary of state for justice, Jack Straw, announced seven days' extra time and offered to include custodial deaths on the 'lace" of the Bill. Peers agreed to the concession on 23 July.
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