strategy, but, even for those who have not invested in developing such an image, the climate of the times is such that they cannot afford to acquire a poor reputation for health and safety and environmental protection. A poor public image may result in a fall in the value of a company’s shares on the Stock Exchange; it may cause consumers to refrain from buying its products and it may also deter people from seeking employment with it. Insurance premiums While insurance may cushion wrongdoers from the full impact of compensating for workplace injuries, a poor safety record is likely to result in high insurance premiums. Additionally, research shows that the uninsured costs of accidents far exceed the insured costs. • Breaking either the criminal or the civil law may be costly to the wrongdoer, even though, in civil law, insurance may cushion the wrongdoer from the full cost of the wrongdoing. Distinct roles of the criminal and civil law? : It has been noted that the concept of safe system is found in both the criminal law, which is concerned with accident prevention and the civil law, which is concerned with accident compensation. Prosecutions for operating unsafe systems take place in criminal courts; claims for damages by the victims of workplace injuries are brought in the civil courts. It might be thought,

doi:10.4324/9781843140504-34

Chapter

strategy, but, even for those who have not invested in developing such an image, the climate of the times is such that they cannot afford to acquire a poor reputation for health and safety and environmental protection. A poor public image may result in a fall in the value of a company’s shares on the Stock Exchange; it may cause consumers to refrain from buying its products and it may also deter people from seeking employment with it. Insurance premiums While insurance may cushion wrongdoers from the full impact of compensating for workplace injuries, a poor safety record is likely to result in high insurance premiums. Additionally, research shows that the uninsured costs of accidents far exceed the insured costs. • Breaking either the criminal or the civil law may be costly to the wrongdoer, even though, in civil law, insurance may cushion the wrongdoer from the full cost of the wrongdoing. Distinct roles of the criminal and civil law?

Chapter

strategy, but, even for those who have not invested in developing such an image, the climate of the times is such that they cannot afford to acquire a poor reputation for health and safety and environmental protection. A poor public image may result in a fall in the value of a company’s shares on the Stock Exchange; it may cause consumers to refrain from buying its products and it may also deter people from seeking employment with it. Insurance premiums While insurance may cushion wrongdoers from the full impact of compensating for workplace injuries, a poor safety record is likely to result in high insurance premiums. Additionally, research shows that the uninsured costs of accidents far exceed the insured costs. • Breaking either the criminal or the civil law may be costly to the wrongdoer, even though, in civil law, insurance may cushion the wrongdoer from the full cost of the wrongdoing. Distinct roles of the criminal and civil law?

ABSTRACT

It has been noted that the concept of safe system is found in both the criminal law, which is concerned with accident prevention and the civil law, which is concerned with accident compensation. Prosecutions for operating unsafe systems take place in criminal courts; claims for damages by the victims of workplace injuries are brought in the civil courts. It might be thought, therefore, that there would be a clear separation of the two branches of the law and that each branch would have quite clear and separate objectives. If this were so there would be no relationship between what certain expressions and concepts have come to mean in the criminal courts and what they mean in the civil courts. In practice this is not strictly so because the reports of cases decided in the civil courts may be subsequently cited in the criminal courts and, to a somewhat lesser extent, vice versa.