Corporate manslaughter laws to be reviewed

The hearing, earmarked for early February, is expected to decide what level of proof is required to successfully charge a negligent company with manslaughter.

The court will look into the decision by Mr Justice Scott Baker who last year cleared Great Western Trains fir its part in the Southall rail smash which killed seven people.

Common law decisions have established that a company can be guilty of manslaughter, many cases are dropped because of the difficulty of pinpointing a "directing mind" in large firms to take the blame