Soulez Larivière Avocats is a leading law firm specialising in crises and disasters – particularly industrial, aviation and maritime incidents – which in France are most often the subject of prosecutions for manslaughter. This offence also arises in less high-profile prosecutions brought against companies and their directors, or even their staff, following fatal workplace accidents; and more generally whenever a death is likely to have been caused by negligence attributable to a third party, whether a natural or legal person.
Examples:
- Defence of a company and its director prosecuted for manslaughter and causing bodily harm (alleged inadequacy of safety procedures designed to prevent incompatible products from coming into contact).
- Defence of the company and its site manager prosecuted, in particular, for manslaughter and causing bodily harm following the AZF factory explosion.
- Defence of a company and its site manager charged with manslaughter (a machine whose safety features had been deliberately deactivated)
- Defence of an air traffic controller charged with manslaughter (failure to carry out checks, resulting in the pilot’s fraudulent presentation of a professional IFR qualification going undetected).
- Advising a company and its director charged with manslaughter and causing bodily harm by negligence in a case involving exposure to asbestos fibres.
- Defence of an air traffic controller charged with manslaughter (failure to monitor the flight paths of two aircraft on approach). Acquittal secured on appeal.
- Defence of several individuals implicated in a preliminary investigation into manslaughter and causing bodily harm through negligence (failure by the project manager to exercise due supervision; insufficient consideration of the risk of deterioration during the design and subsequent execution phases of a construction project). Case dismissed.
- Defence of DGAC staff charged with manslaughter following the Mont Saint Odile and Concorde air crashes. Acquittal upheld on appeal.
- Defence of the certification body charged following the collapse of the Furiani stand (failure to monitor the structure).
- Defence of an individual charged in a preliminary investigation into manslaughter following a death that occurred during a military operation.