Wednesday, December 4, 2002
Nurse sues British defense ministry over unmarried couple policy
A story released today by the Independent reports that a British nurse has launched a £100,000 damages action, claiming that her career in the RAF was ended because of Ministry of Defense policy banning unmarried couples living together in armed services' family homes.
Eve Ramage, 34, a mother-of-two, maintains that the Defense Ministry breached the European Convention on Human Rights and that refusing such accommodation to cohabiting couples is unlawful.
The MoD is disputing paying damages to Miss Ramage, but conceded yesterday that a breach of Article 8 of the ECHR, which protects the right to respect for private and family life, had occurred in her case.
Aidan O'Neill, QC, her counsel, told Lord Drummond Young at the Court of Session that in recent talks with MoD lawyers he was told that the ministry would concede there had been breaches of Article 8 of the ECHR and also Article 14, which prohibits discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, political or other opinion.
However, shortly before coming into court he was told the concession offered would apply only to Article 8. Gerry Moynihan, QC, for the MoD, disputed whether damages should be paid and argued that the acknowledgement of the human rights breach provided sufficient "just satisfaction".
