Immunity.. or impunity?

[Al R]

Either way, the calls for the MoD crown defence to end seem to be getting louder.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7076328.stm

I can understand why the training has to be different, but it seems that for far too long, Crown Immunity has allowed incompetent f:mad:ckwits to get away, literally, with mur.. ok, mansalughter at least.

[John Blakeley]

I suggest that anyone interested takes a look at:

http://www.pcs.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=884239

Whilst invoking a criminal prosecution may not be possible in every case the requirements of HSE legislation, duty of care etc apply to MOD as to any other employer, and if the PCS is correct a civil action is perfectly feasible - presumably you can still ask the police or HSE to investigate as they did for Deepcut and Porton Down (and are doing for the recent Puma crash?)

This extract from the PCS website is of interest:

If an employer fails to take reasonable care to protect an employee from a foreseeable injury, he or she could be found by the courts to have breached the 'duty of care'. This is 'Civil Liability' and in such cases, damages can be awarded against the employer. There is no immunity for the Crown, and PCS takes many successful cases through their legal scheme against Government Departments and Agencies.

I will be interested to see the comments - especially from those better qualified in legal terms as to whether this would be a successful way forward.

JB