Compensation proposals open to consultation

A two-month consultation process was launched yesterday aimed at refining fresh government proposals to amend compensation law, a subject that has been discussed on and off since 2002 but never taken further.

One of the major decisions still to be taken is whether the new regulations should also affect cases pending in court or whether they would only apply to cases occurring after the changes are approved in Parliament.

"Personally, I think they should come into force immediately but we did not come to a conclusion because there are a lot of other issues that need to be looked into," Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said yesterday, adding that lawyers could probably use the proposal document in court before the law was approved.

"Now is the time to take decisions," he told a press conference, adding that the legal changes would establish important new criteria whereas today they were open to unnecessary interpretation and uncertainty. This would reduce the number of cases ending up in court and would also make court hearings more efficient.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said it was painful to hear of people who were permanently disabled because of things like traffic accidents but being denied compensation due to lengthy court proceedings.

He said compensation for permanent disability would be capped at €600,000 but the law empowered the Justice Minister to raise the cap if deemed appropriate. A €600,000 initial capping would make it easier on insurance companies to deal with the "shock" they would incur with the introduction of the law.

Non-pecuniary damages (compensation that is not quantifiable), known in other jurisdictions as damages for pain and suffering or moral damages such as for the loss of a parent or sibling, will be introduced and capped at €250,000.

The minister pointed out that this was the third and "strongest" bid at getting such legal amendments approved in Parliament, after two other attempts were put on hold during the two previous legislatures.

The final document was drawn up following three years of hard work by a team of expert lawyers.

The consultation process is to be led by former parliamentary secretary George Hyzler.

In a nutshell

The proposals establish guidelines for compensation awarded for specific disabilities, such as loss of limbs and organs or even the triggering of conditions such as epilepsy.

In the long and very detailed schedule attached to the proposed draft law, loss of sight from one eye, for instance, is valued as 25 per cent disability and if the person is blinded it goes up to 85 per cent.

Similarly, the loss of an arm below the elbow is considered to be equal to a 45-50 per cent disability. But if the entire arm is lost, shoulder included, that would rise to 65 per cent.

The loss of one ovary will constitute a six per cent disability, going up to 12 per cent if both are lost. The loss of a single testicle is also considered to be equal to a six per cent disability but if both are lost, this rises to 15 per cent. In both cases, if the loss leads to infertility of a previously healthy person, the compensation will be equivalent to a 25 per cent disability.

The amount due by way of damages is calculated on the basis of a formula that takes into account the percentage of disability that will be determined according to the new regulations, the income of the person in question, his age and other factors.

Details of the amendments will be uploaded in the coming days on www.justice.gov.mt.