Civil Law (Amendment) Bill - Singapore Statutes Online

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Civil Law (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 1/1987

Read the first time on 26th January 1987.

An Act to amend the Civil Law Act (Chapter 30 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Civil Law (Amendment) Act 1987 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 8

2. Section 8(2) of the Civil Law Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(a)

shall not include —

(i)	any exemplary damages; and
(ii)	any damages for loss of income in respect of any period after that person’s death;”.

New section 8A

3. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 8, the following section:

“Abolition of right to damages for loss of expectation of life

8A.—(1) In any action for damages for personal injuries, no damages shall be recoverable in respect of any loss of expectation of life caused to the injured person by the injuries, except that if the injured person’s expectation of life has been reduced by the injuries, the court, in assessing damages in respect of pain and suffering caused by the injuries, shall take into account any suffering caused or likely to be caused to him by awareness that his expectation of life has been so reduced.

(2) In subsection (1), any reference to damages in respect of loss of expectation of life does not include damages in respect of loss of income.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 12 and new sections 12A and 12B

4. Section 12 of the principal Act is repealed and the following sections substituted therefor:

“Right of action for wrongful act causing death

12.—(1) If death is caused by any wrongful act, neglect or default which is such as would (if death had not ensued) have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured.

(2) Subject to section 12A(2), every such action shall be for the benefit of the dependants of the person (referred to as the deceased) whose death has been so caused.

(3) Every action brought under this section shall be brought by and in the name of the executor or administrator of the deceased.

(4) If —

(a)	there is no executor or administrator of the deceased; or
(b)	no action is brought within 6 months after the death by and in the name of an executor or administrator of the deceased,

the action may be brought by and in the name of all or any of the persons for whose benefit an executor or administrator could have brought it.

(5) Not more than one action shall lie for or in respect of the same subject-matter of complaint and every such action shall be brought within 3 years after the death of such deceased person.

(6) The plaintiff in every such action brought under this section shall be required to deliver to the defendant or his solicitor full particulars of the persons for whom and on whose behalf the action is brought and of the nature of the claim in respect of which damages are sought to be recovered.

(7) In any action brought under this section, the executor of the deceased may insert a claim for and recover any pecuniary loss to the estate of the deceased occasioned by such wrongful act, neglect or default, which sum when recovered shall be deemed part of the assets of the estate of the deceased.

(8) In this section, “dependant” means —

(a)	the wife or husband of the deceased;
(b)	any parent, grandparent or great-grandparent of the deceased;
(c)	any child, grandchild or great-grandchild of the deceased;
(d)	any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage;
(e)	any person who is, or is the issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased.

(9) In deducing any relationship for the purposes of subsection (8) —

(a)	an adopted person shall be treated as the child of the person or persons by whom he was adopted and not as the child of any other person; and
(b)	subject to paragraph (a), any relationship by affinity shall be treated as a relationship by consanguinity, any relationship of the half blood as a relationship of the whole blood, and the stepchild of any person as his child and an illegitimate person shall be treated as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.

(10) In subsection (9)(a), “adopted” means adopted in pursuance of an adoption order made under the Adoption of Children Act (Cap. 43) or of any adoption recognised as valid by the law of Singapore.

(11) Any reference in this section to injury includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition.

Bereavement

12A.—(1) An action under section 12 may consist of or include a claim for damages for bereavement.

(2) A claim for damages for bereavement shall only be for the benefit of such of the following persons as survive the deceased:

(a)	the wife or husband of the deceased;
(b)	where there is no spouse by or for whom a claim can be made under paragraph (a), the children of the deceased;
(c)	where there is no person by or for whom a claim can be made under paragraph (a) or (b), the parents of the deceased or, if the deceased was illegitimate, his mother;
(d)	where there is no person by or for whom a claim can be made under paragraph (a), (b) or (c), but the deceased was at the date of his death a minor, any person who during any marriage to which that person was a party treated the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage; or
(e)	where there is no other person by or for whom a claim can be made under this subsection, any brother or sister of the deceased.

(3) The right of a person to claim under this section for damages for bereavement shall not survive for the benefit of his estate.

(4) Subject to subsection (6), the sum to be awarded as damages under this section shall be $10,000.

(5) Where there is a claim for damages under this section for the benefit of two or more persons, the sum awarded shall be divided equally between them (subject to any deduction falling to be made in respect of costs not recovered from the defendant).

(6) The President may by order published in the Gazette vary the sum specified in subsection (4).

Assessment of damages

12B.—(1) In every action brought under section 12, the court may award such damages as are proportioned to the losses resulting from the death to the dependants respectively except that in assessing the damages there shall not be taken into account —

(a)	any sum paid or payable on the death of the deceased under any contract of assurance or insurance;
(b)	any sum payable as a result of the death under the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap. 121); or
(c)	any pension or gratuity which has been or will or may be paid as a result of the death.

(2) Where damages are awarded under subsection (1), any costs not recovered from the defendant shall be deducted from those damages and thereafter those damages shall be divided among the dependants in such proportions as has been decided under that subsection.

(3) In an action brought under section 12 where there fall to be assessed damages payable to a widow in respect of the death of her husband, there shall not be taken into account the re-marriage of the widow or her prospects of re-marriage.

(4) If the dependants have incurred funeral expenses in respect of the deceased, damages may be awarded in respect of those expenses.

(5) Money paid into court in satisfaction of a cause of action under this Act may be in one sum without specifying any person’s share.”.

Consequential amendments

5.—(1) Section 3(4) of the Contributory Negligence and Personal Injuries Act (Cap. 31) is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “section 12 of the Civil Law Act”, the words “or any damages recoverable in an action brought for the benefit of any person under section 12A of the Civil Law Act,”.

(2) Section 6(5) of the Adoption of Children Act (Cap. 43) is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “section 12”, the words “or 12A”.

Transitional provisions

6. Nothing in this Act shall apply to any cause of action which accrued before the commencement of this Act.

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