AM

In Britain we have an uncodified constitution and an inverted legal system. We look at cases here, establish the principles and apply them to other cases. In other countries with a written constitution and opposite legal system, they establish rules of legal principle, then apply them to the cases.

Unfortunately if you are an instructor and you sell a Rebreather to a mate for example, without selling it as an instructor through a business type of scenario - legally this does not change the fact that a duty of care might be attributed to you because of the relationship between the parties, i.e. you have presumed knowledge whilst the buyer may not. If you have quals to do something professionally but you're doing it as a mate to another mate that does not change the material facts that you are still a "professional" and they are a layperson.

We both know in diving, this ticket=knowledge is bollocks but that's how certain legal rules operate, there is no leeway to get into the level of detail required. To me it is flawed but only because we can go back to this age old argument that qualifications don't necesarrily amount to what they would be assumed to amount to, i.e. competence, legally the position is different.

It is essentially a rebuttable presumption that between a qualified "professional" and a layperson that the layperson is the weaker party. It would be up to you in the Court to show otherwise, i.e. to rebut the legal presumption of knowledge gained through professional working capacity. Professional negligence is a strange beast governed by tangible legal rules which have been established not from Statute but from case law principles.

Status could also be irrelevant. In a negligence action, just the very reselling of a product with no CE marking could be considered negligent in this country, regardless of the position of the person selling it. So a layperson selling to a layperson could be in the shit, even if they were both qualified to use the equipment.

Now THAT's a fundamentally flawed system!! You can become certifed to use and buy but the product is not certified fit for British import/resale!! Nice dichotomy. Many of these such gaps exist in diving.

Even asking for tickets doesn't necessarily protect your ass - as Stuart says none of us would want to be the legal guinea pigs in a negligence action in diving.

Regards

AnneMarie

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