Civil Law Act to be amended regarding dependency claims

On 31 May 2019, the Civil Law (Amendment) Act 2019 (“CLAA 2019”) was gazetted. The CLAA 2019 amends the Civil Law Act 1956 (“Civil Law Act”) to:

• extend the categories of persons who can claim damages for loss of dependency;
• extend the age limit for the purposes of assessing loss of earnings in claims for damages for loss of dependency and for personal injury;
• amend the provisions for determining the multiplier in assessing the loss of earnings and loss of future earnings;
• increase the amount of damages for bereavement, and
• extend the categories of persons entitled to claim damages for bereavement.The CLAA 2019 has yet to come into force.

Key amendments

The CLAA 2019 introduces the following key amendments:

• The CLAA 2019 introduces a definition of the term “person with disabilities”, which has the same meaning as that assigned to it in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008.

Dependency claim and bereavement

• The categories of persons who can claim damages for loss of dependency are extended to persons with disabilities under the care of a deceased person. The previous provision only entitled the wife, husband, parent and child of the deceased person to claim damages for loss of dependency.
• Pursuant to the extension of the minimum retirement age to 60 years for both employees and employers under the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2011 and Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012, the age limit for the purposes of assessing the loss of earnings in dependency claims is extended from the present age limit of 55 years to 60 years. Accordingly, the computation of the multiplier for assessment of loss of earnings is also amended.
• It is no longer a requirement to prove good health prior to the deceased’s death to claim for loss of earnings in respect of any period after the death of the deceased.
• The amount of damages for bereavement is increased from the present MYR10,000 to MYR30,000.
• The child of the deceased person is also now entitled to claim for damages for bereavement. Prior to the amendment, only the spouse of the deceased and parents of the deceased who was a minor and was never married may make a claim for bereavement.

Amendment consequential to the introduction of section 6A Limitation Act 1953

• A consequential amendment is made to section 11 of the Civil Law Act pursuant to the introduction of section 6A in the Limitation Act 1953 (“Limitation Act”) which allows a person to take action on negligence involving latent damage in construction cases which was discovered outside the limitation period of six years from the date the cause of action accrued. The amendment provides that any interest given by the court for recovery of damages under the new section 6A of the Limitation Act shall be for the whole or any part of the period between the discovery of the damage and the date of judgment, and not from the date the cause of action accrued.

Personal injury claim

• Pursuant to the extension of the minimum retirement age to 60 years for both employees and employers under the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2011 and Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012, the age limit for the purposes of assessing the loss of future earnings in personal injury claims is extended from the present age limit of 55 years to 60 years. Accordingly, the computation of the multiplier for assessment of loss of future earnings is also amended.
• It is no longer a requirement to prove good health prior to the plaintiff’s injury to claim for loss of future earnings in respect of personal injury claims.

Reference materials

The CLAA 2019 is available on the Federal Gazette website www.federalgazette.agc.gov.my or by clicking here .

Publications