Enclosure No. 4
A BILL
To
Amend the Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) Ordinance in relation to damages recoverable in tort by and on behalf of persons who substain personal injuries, and to make other related and consequential changes to the law.
Enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof.
1. (1) This Ordinance may be cited as the Law Amendment and Reform Short title and (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance 1986.
(2) This Ordinance shall come into operation on the day appointed for the commencement of the Fatal Accidents Ordinance 1986 but shall not apply to any ( cause of action that accrues before then.
2.
Section 20 of the principal Ordinance is amended (a) by inserting after subsection (1) the following—
(
of 1986.)
"(IA) The right of a person to claim under section 4 of the Fatal Accidents Ordinance 1986 (for bereavement) or under section 20C(1) of this Ordinance (for loss of society) shall not survive for the benefit of his estate on his death.";
(b) in subsection (2) by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following-
"(a) shall not include-
(i) any exemplary damages;
(ii) any damages in respect of the loss of any property that would or might have vested in the deceased if he had not died when he did;
(iii) any damages in respect of loss of ability to render services after his death;
(iv) any damages for loss of income in respect of any period after his death, except where before the date on which the cause of action accrued he had established a pattern of making savings from income, in which case the damages shall include an amount calculated on the basis of that pattern, subject to such deduction as the court thinks fit on account of the accelerated payment of any such lost income for which damages are awarded;"; and
(c) by inserting after subsection (6) the following—
"(7) In this section "savings".
(a) includes expenditure which has increased, maintained or protected
the deceased's wealth;
(b) excludes--
(i) sums saved for expenditure on leisure for the deceased or his dependants;
(ii) sums expended on premia for the deceased's own life assurance.".
commencement.
of 1986.)
Amendment of section 20.
(Cap. 23.)
3. The principal Ordinance is amended by adding after section 20 the Addition of new following-
"Abolition of
rights to damages for loss of
expectation of life. 1982 c. 53, s. 1.
20A. (1) In an action for damages for personal injuries-
(a) no damages shall be recoverable in respect of any loss of expectation of life caused to the injured person by the injuries; but
sections 20A, 20B
and 20C.