ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the most disasters that are accompanied by demands for retribution and that something should be done to prevent a recurrence, usually evoking the response that lessons will be learned'. Governments and their ministers have usually wished to be seen to be reacting quickly to public outrage and showing sensitivity to the wishes of victims and their families. The government of the day will normally respond by adopting the recommendations in the form of a change in the law or reorganisation or invention of new regulatory institutions. For example, the poor safety performance of the 1960s led to the recommendations of the Robens Committee, the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and a new national health and safety regulator. After much further consultation and dithering by ministers over issues such as Crown immunity and deaths in custody, a bill was finally passed by Parliament, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMCHA).
