Wednesday 21 January 2009

Legal responsibility

Legal responsibility

There is an ongoing case in the High Court about compensation for illnesses possibly caused by radiation on servicemen who took part in Britain’s atomic tests in the 1950s. The Ministry of Defence will contest the claims, saying they refer to events which took place too long ago, but contend that they normally pay damages to servicemen when they have legal responsibility.
Injury and death compensation to servicemen and women is something one would expect since their ‘trade’ is dangerous and the likelihood of something unpleasant happening must be fairly high. Where workers in commercial operations are at risk, compensation for industrial injury is covered by heavy insurance. In the case of the armed services the Ministry of Defence is the insurer and judging by recent cases to do with the Falklands and Irak wars is not very prompt or generous in its compensation.
Surely servicemen and women deserve at least the level of commercial industry compensation should anything happen to them? Without going into an argument about whether they are serving their country or paid mercenaries, it would seem that they deserve better treatment in regard to compensation for ‘accidents’ made while serving in the forces.
As an employer I would have thought that the Ministry of Defence had a moral as well as a legal duty towards looking after its employees. While compensation certainly costs money, considering the pain, anguish and suffering caused in service it should be made with a reasonable attitude towards how difficult it must be for ex-servicefolk to prove everything in detail and make a legal case, not to mention fund the legal battle. Would it not be more just to perhaps err on the side of generosity and be more amenable towards claims?

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