Abstract
This thesis examines the relationship between corporate manslaughter and corporate social responsibility in Nigeria through the lens of legal enforceability.
The law all over the world has been unclear as regards what corporate social responsibility means1 and the level of obligation that a company owes its employees and other stakeholders.
The issue of legal enforceability has been staggered in/ with different jurisdictions. While in some countries the liability for death at the workplace is individual but some countries have moved to organizational liability.
This thesis, therefore, asks whether the absence of a coherent legal framework to legally enforce all aspects of corporate social responsibility affects the legal enforceability of incidences that leads to corporate manslaughter offenses. Whether there is a link between corporate manslaughter and corporate social responsibility through the lens of legal enforcement? What is the attitude of the courts on legal enforceability? Nigeria is one of the countries in the world that is experiencing problems in prosecuting multinational oil companies because the laws in existence are weak.
With regards to enforceability, one consequence of the artificial nature of a company as a legal person (corporate personality) is that inevitably decisions for, and actions by, it must be taken by natural persons. Decisions on its behalf may be taken by shareholders of the company. These shareholders in the event of corporate manslaughter may refuse to ratify the decisions of their senior managers as the acts of the company itself. Secondly, a country with weak laws and a system for the enforcement of the law will have problems prosecuting companies in the event of corporate manslaughter.
In such circumstances, this thesis will look at the culture behind legal enforcement, the attitude of the government and its institutions, the companies, and the people towards the enforcement of corporate manslaughter laws.
This researcher will use a questionnaire and organized interview to measure whether the absence of a coherent legal framework to legally enforce all aspects of corporate social responsibility affects the legal enforceability of incidences that leads to corporate manslaughter offenses.
This researcher intends to use a case study. Using a case study, the researcher will be able to discover that with regards to enforcement have read the duty of care provision in Nigerian law in pari passu with the provision of the law in the United Kingdom, the law in Nigeria is weak and porous.
The significance of the findings in this research is to explain that in Nigeria, the system of enforcement of the law against companies is almost non-existent. This means that for corporate manslaughter cases in Nigeria, there must be a certain system of enforcement involving the government and its institution to legally enforce the law. This is to ensure obedience to the law by the companies and the citizens.