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The Civil Code (Amendment) Act (Act No. Vi Of 2004)

AN ACT to amend the Civil Code, Cap. 16

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows>-
1. The short title of this Act is the Civil Code (Amendment) Act,
2004. This Act shall be read and construed as one with the Civil Code, hereinafter referred to as “the Code”, and shall come into force on such date as the Minister responsible for justice may by notice in the Gazette establish.
2. For subarticle (2) of article 1045 of the Code there shall be substituted the following>
“(2) The sum to be awarded in respect of permanent incapacity shall in the case of total permanent incapacity be assessed in accordance with regulations made in accordance with article
1046A of this Code.
(3) Where the permanent incapacity is not total, the sum to be awarded shall be such percentage of the sum arrived at in accordance with subarticle (2) as corresponds to the incapacity in question in accordance with regulations made in accordance with article 1046A of this Code.
(4) The total sum payable to a person in respect of total permanent disability shall not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand liri or such higher sum as the Minister for justice with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for finance may by notice from time to time establish.”.

Short title and commencement.

Cap. 16.

Amendment

of article 1045 of the Code.

A 404

Substitution

of article 1046 of the Code.

3. For article 1046 of the Code, there shall be substituted the following new articles 1046 and 1046A

“Damages where death ensues.

1046. (1) Where in consequence of the act giving rise to damages death ensues, the court may, in addition to any actual loss and expenses incurred by the deceased which may be payable to the heirs of the deceased, award to the dependants of the deceased and to his close relatives damages to be assessed as is provided in the following subarticles of this article, and the heirs of the deceased shall have no claim for damages based on the loss of future earnings of the deceased.
(2) For the purposes of this article a dependant is a spouse, descendant or ascendant of the deceased and the brothers and sisters of the deceased who at the time of the deceased person’s death were being maintained by the person whose death has been caused. The total sum to be awarded to all dependants under this subarticle shall not exceed the sum that would have been payable to the deceased had he not died but remained alive with total permanent disability after deducting thirty percent in consideration of what the deceased person would have required for own consumption. In assessing such sum the court shall take into account the amount of maintenance that the deceased person would have been liable to pay had he remained alive as well as the time after which the dependant person would have been able to maintain himself and no longer be dependant on maintenance from the deceased. Where at the time of death any person referred to in this subarticle is not in receipt of maintenance but there is a strong likelihood that had the deceased remained alive such person would in the future require maintenance from the deceased, the court shall grant damages accordingly.
(3) For the purposes of this article a close relative of the deceased is a spouse, descendant, ascendant or a brother or sister of the deceased living in the same household of the deceased. The total amount of damages that may be awarded under this subarticle shall be twenty thousand liri or such higher sum as the Minister responsible for justice with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for finance may by notice from time to time establish. Where more than one persons claims or may claim under this subarticle, the court shall assess the sum payable to each such person on the basis of the pain and suffering caused to the person who has a claim

Power to make regulations.

and of the relative closeness of such person to the deceased and may award such damages to one or more of such persons to the exclusion of all others.
1046A The Minister responsible for Justice may make regulations for the purpose of article 1045 and 1046 and may by such regulations establish rules to be taken into consideration by the courts in establishing the damages due for loss earnings in case of incapacity or death, and may in particular by such rules>
(a) establish the earnings or potential earnings that are to be taken as a basis for computing such damages<
(b) establish the formulae that are to be used in computing such damages<
(c) establish the factors that are or may be taken into consideration by the court in computing such damages, taking into account the employment history or prospects of the victim before the accident as well as his state of health at the time, his potential for retraining and rehabilitation and other like factors and the weight to be given to each<
(d) establish a percentage scale of partial incapacity in respect of particular injuries suffered by the victim where total incapacity has not occurred<
(e) after consulting the Rule Making Board established under article 29 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, to establish rules of procedures to ensure that where a claim is made by any person under subarticle (2) or (3) of article 1046, notice may be given to other persons having a similar claim arising out of the same act and to give an opportunity to such persons to join the plaintiff in the case.”.
A 405
4. In paragraph (c) of article 2125 of the Code, the full stop (“.”) at the end of the said paragraph shall be replaced by a semi-colon (“<”) and immediately after the said paragraph (c) there shall be added the following new paragraph as follows>
“(d) in regard to an action for damages, during the time before the commencement of the cause when negotiations are

Amendment of article 2125 of the Code.

A 406

Amendment of article 2153 of the Code.

Amendment of article 2154 of the Code.

taking place between all or any of the parties or their insurers having opposing interests in the claim.”.
5. In article 2153 of the Code, the word “two” shall be substituted with the word “three”.
6. In subarticle (1) of article 2154 of the Code, the words “the prescription of criminal actions shall be observed” shall be substituted with the words “the prescription of criminal actions shall be observed unless the said rules lead to a period of prescription shorter than that applicable according to article 2153, in which case the said period of prescription shall apply.”.
Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 151 of 14th July, 2004.
ANTON TABONE

Speaker

RICHARD J. CAUCHI

Clerk to the House of Representatives