The Second Reader
Article by Ayman Fouad Abdelgawad
A second signature appears beneath a decision. It reassures the reader that somebody else has looked.
What matters is the kind of looking that occurred. Did the second reader examine the underlying material, or only the summary? Could they disagree without first having to overcome an expectation of agreement? Did they know what question they were supposed to test?
A review can be diligent and still inherit the first account's assumptions. If the initial description calls an event a refusal, the reviewer may ask whether the refusal was reasonable before considering whether refusal is the right word.
Useful independence begins with permission to restate the problem. The second reader should be able to notice that the first question was badly framed.
Otherwise a review may multiply signatures while leaving the original judgement effectively alone.