It always amazes me that the national aviation authorities (and the international ones, too - re. the JAA) are stuck in the middle ages in this respect. It's quite simply a case of security gone mad and having a potentially very negative impact on flight safety. Surely, three trained brains (and three pairs of eyes) on the flight deck are better than two, specially if an emergency happens. It's all about CRM (remember Sioux City?), pure and simple.
Good to see that in some countries at least, that decision to is still up to the operating captain.
Cheers
