unbelievable
"The “absolutely no doubt whatsoever” test was intended to be capable of practical application, and in the view of the Department required a distinction to be drawn between honest or genuine doubt and implausible conjecture. Thus it was not
permissible to avoid a finding of negligence by recourse to an hypothesis for which there is no evidence and which is revealed as wholly implausible when tested against the known facts."
or in other words the determination of negligence through the requirement of absolutely no doubt whatsoever should not be avoided merely because there may be some doubt
and another thing...
whose version of the facts? Day was specifically criticised by their lordships for being unable to distinguish between fact and unsubstantiated opinion
"5. A sufficiently detailed picture of the circumstances of any particular accident, pointing conclusively towards aircrew responsibility was clearly necessary before a finding of negligence could properly be made. This was so in respect of the Chinook
accident. Even though an investigation into any serious accident will inevitably be unable to answer every technical question with absolute certainty, this does not mean that the established facts when taken together cannot compel a particular conclusion."
so the true test for negligence is revealed - although there is doubt as to whether there were any technical malfunctions, gross negligence is to determined if it can be inferred, imputed and assumed from hypothesis based on opinion. this, the MoD believes, satisfies the requirement of absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
this took 6 months?!
if this is the best the MoD and their woefully substandard legal team can come up with, god help us.
i find it incredibly arrogant that the MoD favours the ruling of 2 legal laymen over 4 distinguished law lords.
brian, chocks et al, assuming this decision is open to judicial review or further action, might it be worth considering establishing a trust on behalf of the families (with their permission of course) in order to finance such a move? I for one would gladly contribute.
If i hadnt pvr'd i'd resign my commission in disgust.
