The Army deafness saga may be coming to an end through an agreement being negotiated between the Department of Defence and lawyers representing soldiers, mediated by the Law Society.
The deal, if concluded successfully, would include the speedy payment of some 10,000 outstanding claims. It involves the adjournment of all such cases for four to six weeks to allow negotiations to take place.
Just before Christmas the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, wrote to the Law Society asking it to create a "channel of communication" between himself and the plaintiffs' solicitors in the Army deafness cases.
He proposed the establishment of a scheme to facilitate the speedy payment of compensation in the outstanding claims, based on the Supreme Court decision in the Hanley case.
In the Supreme Court last July, Mr Justice Hamilton ruled that £1,500 was appropriate compensation for one degree of deafness at age 60. A formula was drawn up setting out what figures were applicable at other ages.
Following the Minister's letter, the Law Society met representatives of the 20 law firms handling most of the claims. It nominated four representatives to meet Department officials.
The latest issue of the Law Society Gazette says these discussions were "constructive". They led to agreement in principle on an experiment where the solicitors would agree to adjourn cases in the list for four to six weeks, in return for which the State's representatives would engage in "realistic" settlement negotiations, aimed at disposing of a large number of these cases.
As well as ending years of costly litigation, resulting in the payment of millions of pounds in compensation, this agreement, if it sticks, will bring to an end a war of words between the Department of Defence and solicitors representing the soldiers.
The Gazette says plaintiffs' solicitors have complained in the past that no serious or realistic settlement offers have been made by the State until they are either at or beyond the door of the court, thereby greatly increasing legal costs.
The Gazette also says the State has maintained that it is impossible for it to deal with cases at trial at the same time as it engages in a systematic attempt to settle cases by negotiation. The adjournment of the cases will give a breathing space for negotiation to proceed.
Paul Tanney writes: According to Department of Defence figures, £103 million has been spent on hearing cases, including amounts awarded by the courts, settlements and costs; 4,779 claims have been dealt with and 9,968 are outstanding. Last year 1,017 new claims were made, and there were 82 awards, 2,038 settlements, 16 dismissals and 125 withdrawals. The total expense incurred by the Department in 1999 was £34 million.