The case of Transco Plc v HMA (No. 1) '' 004S.L.T. 41'' was the first ever prosecution for

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

with regards to a public limited company.Chalmers, J. (2004) ‘Corporate Culpable Homicide: Transco plc v H M Advocate’, The Edinburgh law review, 8(2) The decision is seen as significant in UK corporate manslaughter law and in particular in

Scots law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

, as there are very few cases which address the criminal liability of corporations under Scots law. In the case, a public gas transporter was charged with breaking the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.3 and s.33(1) in respect to a gas explosion, which resulted in the death of four people on 22 December 1999 in

Larkhall Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...

.Shiels, R. (2004) ‘Common Law Crime: Liability of Non-Natural Person’, Journal of criminal law (Hertford), 68(2), pp. 118–121. It was held that Transco had "shown a complete and utter disregard for the public," The court ruled that it was possible to prosecute for ''culpable homicide''; However, it is possible to convict of culpable homicide only if the court could identify an individual or group of individuals being a directing mind in the company; therefore, the charges of culpable homicide were irrelevant and subsequently dismissed. The company was later prosecuted on the charge of health and safety and fined £15m. This case, along with others of this type paved the way for major legislative changes. This is area is now governed by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

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