The Partnerships (Prosecution) (Scotland) Bill has had its first reading in the House of Lords.
The Bill takes forward the Scottish Law Commission's proposals to reform the criminal liability of partnerships in Scots law, and is designed to close the legal loophole allowing partnerships to evade prosecution by dissolving, as happened in the Rosepark fire in Uddingston.
The issue came into focus following the death of 14 elderly residents in a fire at the Rosepark nursing home in Lanarkshire in 2004. The Crown Office made three separate attempts to prosecute those alleged to be responsible but the case failed because of the loophole which prevented the prosecution of a partnership once it had been dissolved.
The Law Society of Scotland has welcomed the introduction of the Bill.
Michael Clancy, director of law reform at the Society said:
"Following the tragic case of the fire in Rosepark Nursing Home in 2004 where 14 residents died, the Scottish Law Commission considered options for addressing the anomaly whereby a partnership that had dissolved could not be prosecuted. A Scottish partnership has a legal personality separate from that of its members, and that separate legal person, rather than the individual partners, is the employer. This legislation will ensure that the individual partners to the partnership can be prosecuted for any offence committed by the partnership, even if that partnership has dissolved."
