Head of Royal Navy under investigation

The professional head of the Royal Navy, Adm Sir Ben Key KCB CBE is under investigation for an alleged breach of the Values of the Royal Navy involving an extra-marital affair with a junior, female officer. The allegation is unlikely to be dealt with via a Court Martial, which would have probably made him the most senior naval officer to face a Court Martial since Adm Byng, indeed as First Sea Lord he would be senior to Adm Byng. However, instead Key will be dealt with using Major Administrative Action a form of work place discipline administered by the chain of command. Whilst he will be able to instruct a lawyer to write representations on his behalf he will not be able to have legal representation in any hearing/meeting. 

As a single service policy it is hard to see who would form Key's chain of command. The Secretary of State for Defence is likely to be involved but the decision maker is likely to be Key's predecessor as First Sea Lord and now Chief of the Defence Staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC. In that case, Key can expect little mercy as Radakin is an enthusiastic supporter of the Unacceptable Sexual Behaviours policy which mandates termination of service for those found on the balance of probabilities to have displayed unacceptable sexual behaviour: a lewd remark addressed to person A which offends person B will suffice. 

Key's routes of appeal are limited. He may lodge a Service Complaint, an internal complaints process described a neither 'efficient, effective or fair' in a recent parliamentary report. If he believes he was discriminated against (unlikely in the circumstances) he could bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Otherwise his only avenue would be a judicial review. A complicated and expensive process which would see the former professional head of His Majesty's Navy litigating against His Majesty's Secretary of State for Defence. The prohibitive costs and reputational impact of such an action are well known and no doubt relied upon by those who do not wish due process brought into their internal system. 

For an officer like Key whose pension is secure and who will not be reliant on Service accommodation the implications are limited; an ignominious end to a successful career. For more junior ranks though this process can lead to the loss of their home and hundreds of thousands of pounds of lost pay, resettlement and pension. Major Administrative Action is an important tool for the chain of command but those at the top of the chain are beginning to experience the system from the sharp end. It is to be hoped it will lead to some reform. 

ADDENDUM: Meanwhile the BBC alleges Key's likely replacement as First Sea Lord, Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins KCB OBE RM, has been complicit in the covering up of war crimes by the SAS. If true (the allegations are hotly denied) it would unquestionably amount to a breach of the Values of the Royal Navy, not to mention Misconduct of Public Office and conspiracy to Pervert the Course of Justice. Meanwhile, the former Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, Gen (Rtd) Sir Mark Carleton-Smith KCB CBE ADC faces less serious but related allegations of failing to report evidence of the same war crimes. Carleton-Smith denies the allegations.