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>-

I assent.

E DWARD F ENECH A DAMI

(L.S.)

President

20th July, 2004

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>-

The short title of this Act is the Civil Code (Amendment) Act, Short

commencement.

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 Cap. 16.

as the Minister responsible for justice may by notice in the Gazette establish.

For subarticle (2) of article 1045 of the Code there shall be Amendment

of article 1045

substituted the following>

of the Code.

“(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.”.

For article 1046 of the Code, there shall be substituted the

following new articles 1046 and 1046A

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

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.”.

In paragraph (c) of article 2125 of the Code, the full stop (“.”) Amendment of

article 2125 of the

at the end of the said paragraph shall be replaced by a semi-colon (“<”) Code.

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

taking place between all or any of the parties or their insurers having

opposing interests in the claim.”.

In article 2153 of the Code, the word “two” shall be substituted

with the word “three”.

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.

A NTON T ABONE

Speaker

R ICHARD J. C AUCHI

Clerk to the House of Representatives