The Scottish Government has recently published it response to the consultation on Civil law of Damages: Issues in Personal Injury.
The consultation ran from 15th December 2012 to 15th March 2013 and sought views on what the Scottish Government’s approach should be on aspects of the Scottish Law Commission’s recommendations for reform of the law on damages for psychiatric injury, prescription and limitation for actions for personal injury and other related issues.
In its consultation response, the Government has said that it intends to take forward a number of actions through the Damages Bill, including:
- amending the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 (the 1973 Act) to increase the limitation period for raising an action for damages for personal injury from three years to five years;
- updating the reference in the 1973 Act to 'unsoundness of mind' in relation to the circumstances in which the limitation period does not run;
- providing a list of factors to assist the courts with the exercise of their existing discretion under the 1973 Act to allow an action to proceed when raised after the expiry of the limitation period;
- replacing the current assessment under the 1973 Act of 'reasonably practicable' in relation to the date of knowledge test for determining the start of the limitation period, with a more subjective awareness assessment;
- clarifying that it should not be possible for a bereaved relative to secure damages for psychiatric injury under the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011;
- providing that courts should have the power to impose periodical payments in relation to awards of damages for personal injury.
The Government says that the combination of these measures is intended to address some of the practical difficulties inherent in pursuing claims for personal injuries.
For example, extending the limitation period will be particularly helpful in more complex cases, such as industrial disease cases, where a higher degree of investigatory work and more expert reports may be required before an action can be raised. Replacing reasonable practicability with awareness in relation to the date of knowledge test will enable the courts to shift the emphasis from what it is practicable for a pursuer to have knowledge of to what that particular pursuer is aware of.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.
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