BOARDS .
41 THE COMMISSION COULD THEREFORE ASK THE SELECTION BOARDS TO HAVE REGARD TO THE APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF POSTS IN THE CAREER BRACKET A7/A6 WHICH IT ANTICIPATED FILLING FROM THE RESERVE FOR FUTURE RECRUITMENT TO BE CONSTITUTED .
42 THE APPLICANTS PUT FORWARD THE FACT THAT, FIRST, THE MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE SELECTION BOARD FOR COMPETITION COM/A/268 SHOW THAT THE MEMBERS OF THIS SELECTION BOARD REFUSED TO FOLLOW A SUGGESTION BY THE CHAIRMAN TO REDUCE EN BLOC ALL THE MARKS LESS THAN 53 TO LESS THAN 48 POINTS - THE LIMIT FOR ENTRY ON THE LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES - AND THAT, SECONDLY, THE PROPORTION OF CANDIDATES ENTERED ON THE LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES FROM THIS COMPETITION IS MUCH HIGHER THAN IN THE OTHERS .
43 THEY INFER THAT THE SELECTION BOARDS IN THE OTHER COMPETITIONS AND IN PARTICULAR THOSE IN THE COMPETITIONS IN WHICH THEY PARTICIPATED, COMPLYING WITH THE DIRECTIONS, ALTERED THE MARKS .
44 IN SUPPORT OF THIS ALLEGATION THE THIRD APPLICANT STATED THAT A MEMBER OF THE SELECTION BOARD COM/A/264 TOLD A THIRD PERSON THAT THE APPLICANT HAD BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN THE COMPETITION, WHEREAS IT APPEARED SUBSEQUENTLY THAT HER MARK WAS 47 .
45 THE FIRST APPLICANT STATES FOR HER PART THAT HER MARKS WERE REDUCED FROM 52 TO 47 BY THE SELECTION BOARD COM/A/264 .
46 THE APPLICANTS INDICATE ORAL TESTIMONY OF THE FACTS WHICH THEY STATE .
47 IT APPEARS FROM A COMPARATIVE EXAMINATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE DIFFERENT COMPETITIONS THAT THE PROPORTION OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES MAY BE SET OUT IN A DECREASING ORDER AS FOLLOWS : 55 PER CENT ( COM/A/268 : 28 OUT OF 51 ); 30.9 PER CENT ( COM/A/264 : 17 OUT OF 55 ); 21.2 PER CENT ( COM/A/266 : 12 OUT OF 44 ); 20.5 PER CENT ( COM/A/267 : 8 OUT OF 39 ) AND 15.7 PER CENT ( COM/A/265 : 10 OUT OF 64 ).
48 ALTHOUGH THESE FIGURES CERTAINLY REVEAL MARKED DIFFERENCES CAPABLE OF BEING EXPLAINED EITHER BY THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SUBJECTS, OR BY THE SEVERITY OF THE SELECTION BOARDS OR THE STATE OF PREPARATION OF THE CANDIDATES, THEY DO NOT IN ANY WAY SHOW A SHARP DIVISION BETWEEN THE COMPETITION COM/A/268 ON THE ONE HAND AND ALL THE OTHER COMPETITIONS ON THE OTHER, AND DO NOT IN ANY WAY SUPPORT THE PRESUMPTION THAT THE SELECTION BOARDS OF THE OTHER COMPETITIONS HAD YIELDED TO PRESSURE OR CONSIDERATIONS ALIEN TO THEIR TASK, WHICH THE SELECTION BOARD COM/A/268 HAS RESISTED .
49 FURTHER IT APPEARS FROM THE FILE THAT IN THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE DEPARTMENT ENTRUSTED WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPETITIONS, THE SELECTION BOARDS DID NOT CEASE TO ASSERT THEIR INDEPENDENCE TO REJECT THE SUGGESTIONS WHICH THE COMMISSION HAD MADE .
50 FINALLY IT APPEARS FROM THE LETTER WRITTEN, IN TEMPORE NON SUSPECTO, BY MR KRAUSS, CHAIRMAN OF THE SELECTION BOARD COM/A/268, THAT 'WHEN THERE WERE SIGNS THAT THE SELECTION BOARDS WERE NOT HAVING REGARD TO THE FIGURES ASSESSED BY MR COPPE,