Soldiers' Human Rights Ruling
The UK's most senior judges are to decide whether relatives of soldiers killed fighting Iraq can make damages claims against the Government using human rights legislation.
Latest ITV News reports
Widow of soldier killed in Iraq "every employer has a duty of care, the MoD should be no different"
Debi the widow of Corporal Stephen Allbutt from Stoke-on-Trent who was killed in Iraq learned this morning from the court of appeal that she and others can continue on with their legal battle to sue the Government for the way their relatives were killed.
The families are claiming the Ministry of Defence were negligent in failing to provide equipment that could have saved lives.
The duty of care owed by the Ministry of Defence "has been recognised"
The Ministry of Defence has failed in its attempts to get a negligence claim thrown out of court.
Families of Private Phillip Hewett and Corporal Stephen Allbutt claim that the MoD didn't deliver a duty of care.
In his judgment today, Lord Neuberger described the MoD’s arguments as ‘fatally flawed’ and agreed that the claims should continue.
– Lord Neuberger speaking today“The duty of care owed by the MoD, as employer, to the members of the armed forces, as employees, does exist and has been recognised, without demur, by the courts. It includes a duty to provide safe systems of work and safe equipment, as I have demonstrated. There was no suggestion that the courts were ill-equipped to deal with such issues, or that the resolution of the claims would be detrimental to the troops. The question whether a duty of care owed by the MoD to armed forces should be recognised has long since been answered. There is no basis for asking it in the instant appeals”
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Victory for families of Staffordshire soldiers
The relatives of two Staffordshire soldiers killed in Iraq have secured a victory today after the Court of Appeal said they could pursue damages claims against the Government.
The decision was announced after a hearing in London.
Families await verdict over compensation
The families of Private Phillip Hewett and Corporal Stephen Allbutt, from Staffordshire, are waiting to hear today whether they can sue the Government for compensation over the deaths of the two soldiers.
– ?Shubhaa Srinivasan a Partner with law firm Leigh Day & Co who is representing the family of Cpl Allbutt and the surviving servicemen“We await the verdict having fought for many years to get these claims to Court. We maintain that the MOD’s position has been morally and legally indefensible, as they owe a duty of care to those who fight on behalf of this Country.
“British troops should at the very least have adequate equipment and training, ranging from the very basic such as a GPS devices, to sophisticated satellite tracker systems, which the Americans had available to them."
Decisions on whether families can sue the Government for compensation
Two separate decisions will be made on whether the families of troops killed in battle in Iraq can sue the Government for compensation.
Relatives of Private Phillip Hewett and Corporal Stephen Allbutt, both from Staffordshire, claim that their equipment wasn't right and that the MOD didn't deliver a duty of care.
The MOD, however, says it doesn't owe a duty of care, and that issues around resources should be left to the Government not the courts.
Compensation decision for families of dead soldiers
Today the families of two Midlands soldiers killed in Iraq will find out if they have won their fight to sue the MoD.
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Soldiers' families to return to the Court of Appeal
The families of Midlands soldiers killed in Iraq will return to the Court of Appeal today. They're seeking the right to claim compensation for their deaths, arguing the men were failed by the Ministry of Defence by not being given the correct equipment.
You can read more about the start of this case here: http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2012-06-25/military-compensation/