George Galloway MP, who raised the case in Parliament, said the ruling was "a historic breakthrough in establishing corporate responsibility for the fate of employees to whom they owe a duty of care - a duty too many employers have dodged".

Simon Jones: Killed by a crane

Mr Jones' family wanted Euromin and its UK general manager, Richard Martell, to be prosecuted for manslaughter, but in January 1999 the CPS decided not to take the matter to court.

Two High Court judges ruled that the DPP, David Calvert-Smith, should reconsider the decision.

Lord Justice Buxton, sitting with Mr Justice Moses, said senior CPS official, Stephen O'Doherty, had found Mr Martell "negligent in his failure to set in place a safe system of work", and there was sufficient evidence for a prosecution against him and Euromin under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.

The judges ruled that the CPS had "not properly addressed the law" when they decided there was no realistic prospect of a successful prosecution for manslaughter on the grounds of gross negligence.

Mr Jones's MP, Labour's Ivor Caplin, welcomed the ruling and said: "Corporate entities should be accountable and if that means prosecution then the CPS should be prepared to take action."

Deaths at work

Last year 258 workers were killed in sudden deaths at work Only two workplace deaths have resulted in a manslaughter conviction Only 20% of workplace deaths result in a prosecution for a health and safety offence The average fine is �17,000

Lawyers for Mr Jones' family said that although the crane manufacturers warned against people working near the grab, the new welding arrangement meant any worker doing Mr Jones' work would have had to have put his head close to the grab.

Simon's father Chris, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said of the ruling: "It's wonderful news. We hope that the CPS will look at it again and will go ahead and prosecute.

'Matter of urgency'

"That's all we have ever asked - that this case is brought to trial for a jury to hear the evidence."

A CPS spokesman said: "We will be studying the judgment as a matter of urgency.

"Our decision not to prosecute was taken only after careful review by a senior CPS lawyer and on the advice of leading counsel."

A spokesman for the Centre for Corporate Accountability, which backed the Jones family, said: "This case has serious implications in relation to all decisions made by the CPS not to prosecute directors or senior company officers in relation to workplace deaths."

A spokesman for Euromin told BBC News Online: "We have no comment to make."