Common Law Crime: Liability of Non-Natural Person
| Author | Robert Shiels |
| Published date | 01 March 2004 |
| Date | 01 March 2004 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/jcla.68.2.118.29124 |
| Subject Matter | High Court of Justiciary |
High Court of Justiciary
Common Law Crime: Liability of Non-natural Person
Transco plc vHM Advocate 2004 SLT 41
On 22 December 1999 there was a massive explosion in Larkhall,
Lanarkshire that, apart from causing other damage, completely de-
stroyed the dwelling house at 42 Carlyle Road. All four occupants of that
dwelling house, including two children, were killed.
The Crown served on Transco plc an indictment in which the com-
pany was charged, with regard to the explosion and deaths on 22
December 1999, with the common law crime of culpable homicide (a
crime not dissimilar to manslaughter in English law) and, in the alter-
native, a contravention of ss 3 and 33(1) of the Health and Safety at
Work, etc. Act 1974. These charges arose out of circumstances existing at
least since 1986 in which Transco plc, a company incorporated under
the Companies Acts, had certain functions and responsibilities for the
transmission and distribution of gas in an area that included Larkhall.
Transco plc in response challenged the competence and relevance of
the charge of culpable homicide. This challenge follows from the re-
quirement in Scots law that criminal charges must set out in detail the
manner in which the crime is said to have been committed in order to
give the accused fair notice of the case that has to be met. The challenge
to the competence amounted to an assertion that under the existing law
of Scotland a non-natural person such as Transco plc could not in any
circumstances be guilty of the common law crime of culpable homicide;
the challenge to the relevancy of the charge was that the allegations set
out in the charge of culpable homicide as properly interpreted did not
disclose circumstances that (if proved) would amount under the existing
law of Scotland to the commission by the non-natural Transco plc of a
common law crime.
These contentions raised purely legal issues to be decided by the court
on the basis of the existing law. Neither of these contentions nor the
decision of the court about them question the tragic character of the loss
of life on 22 December 1999.
The issues raised were first heard before a single judge of the High
Court of Justiciary at a preliminary diet. After hearing parties, the single
judge refused to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of either compe-
tency or relevancy. Transco plc appealed against the decision at the
preliminary diet and the issues were heard before three judges.
The charge of culpable homicide referred to a period of time extend-
ing from 24 August 1986 to 22 December 1999 and that was followed by
a series of averments of knowledge by Transco plc concerning inter alia
the risks arising from the corrosion of ductile iron pipes used for the
distribution of gas and alleged failures of maintenance and safety. The
charge named four collective bodies. The Crown offered to prove
118
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