Chapter heading 1

RECOMMENDATION 55 There should be three categories of offences for each type of duty of care, Category 1 for the most serious breaches, where there was a high level of risk of serious harm and the duty holder was reckless or grossly negligent; Category 2 for circumstances where there was a high level of risk of serious harm but without recklessness or gross negligence; and Category 3 for a breach of the duty without the aggravating factors present in the first two categories; with maximum penalties that: relate to the seriousness of the breach in terms of risk and the offender’s culpability; strengthen the deterrent effect of the offences; and allow the courts to impose more meaningful penalties, where that is appropriate.