January 21, 2012
In the Media
Costa Concordia: As Hope Fades for More Survivors, Finger-Pointing
Begins
By Stephan Faris
Time
January 21, 2012
Lawyers for civil plaintiffs will be eager to show that
responsibility for the tragedy extends beyond the incompetence of
the captain. "You have an incentive to find the deep pockets," says
Luca Melchionna, a professor at St. John's University School of
Law. Was the Costa Concordia's dangerous approach to the
island part of a pattern that the cruise company had previously
sanctioned or tolerated? To what extent did company policy
contribute to the disarray in the early minutes when lives could
have been saved? How well prepared were the crew for the event of
an emergency?
For now, the cruise company has joined the criminal case against
the captain as a civil party, formally putting itself among the
injured and (not coincidentally) forestalling civil action in Italy
while the criminal trial plays out, something that could take
months of years. "It's a strategic legal move that protects them,
at least for a while," says Melchionna.
Related Story:
Cowardice is no crime -- at least in the U.S.
Thomson Reuters
January 20, 2012