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Contributory Negligence Act 1964

CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE ACT 1964

Arrangement of Provisions

1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Apportionment of liability in case of contributory negligence
4. Provisions as to workers and employers
5. Saving for past cases

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THE CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE ACT 1964
1964 No.6

AN ACT to amend the law relating to contributory negligence.

(31 July 1964)
(Commencement date: 31 July 1964)

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Contributory Negligence Act 1964.

2. Interpretation - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Court" in relation to any claim, means the Court or arbitrator by or before whom the claim falls to be determined.

"Damage" includes loss of life and personal injury.

"Dependant" means any person for whose benefit an action could be brought under the Fatal Accidents Act 1974.

"Employer" and "worker" have the same meaning as in the Accident Compensation Act 1989.

"Fault" means negligence, breach of statutory duty, or other act or omission which gives rise to a liability in tort or would, apart from this Act, give rise to the defence of contributory negligence.

3. Apportionment of liability in case of contributory negligence - (1) Where any person suffers damage as the result partly of his or her own fault and partly of the fault of any other person or persons, a claim in respect of that damage shall not be defeated by reason of the fault of the person suffering the damage, but the damages recoverable in respect thereof shall be reduced to such extent as the Court thinks just and equitable having regard to the claimant's share in the responsibility for the damages:

PROVIDED THAT:

(a) This subsection shall not operate to defeat any defence arising under a contract;

(b) Where any contract or enactment providing for the limitation of liability is applicable to the claim, the amount of damages recoverable by the claimant by virtue of this subsection shall not exceed the maximum limit so applicable.

(2) Where damages are recoverable by any person by virtue of subsection (1) subject to such reduction as is therein mentioned, the Court shall find and record the total damages which would have been recoverable if the claimant had not been at fault.

(3) Section 8 of the Law Reform Act 1964 (which relates to proceedings against, and contribution between, joint and several tortfeasors) shall apply in any case where 2 or more persons are liable or would, if they had all been sued, be liable by virtue of subsection (1) in respect of the damage suffered by any person.

(4) Where any person dies as the result partly of his or her own fault and partly of the fault of any other person or persons, and accordingly if an action were brought for the benefit of the estate under Part I of the Law Reform Act 1964 the damages recoverable would be reduced under subsection (1), any damages recoverable in an action brought for the benefit of the dependants of that person under the Fatal Accidents Act 1974 shall be reduced to a proportionate extent.

(5) Where, in any case to which subsection (1) applies, one of the persons at fault avoids liability to any other such person or his or her personal representative by pleading any enactment limiting the time within which proceedings may be taken, he or she shall not be entitled to recover any damages or contributions from that other person or representative by virtue of that subsection.

4. Provisions as to workers and employers - (1) Where, within the time limited for the taking of proceedings under the Accident Compensation Act 1989, an action is brought to recover damages independently of that Act in respect of an injury or disease giving rise to a claim for compensation under that Act, and it is determined in that action that:

(a) Damages are recoverable independently of that Act subject to such reduction as is mentioned in section 3(1); and

(b) The employer would have been liable to pay compensation under the section 21 of the Accident Compensation Act 1989 (which enables the Court, on the dismissal of an action to recover damages independently of that Act, to assess and award compensation under that Act) shall apply in all respects as if the action had been dismissed, and, if the claimant chooses to have compensation assessed and awarded in accordance with the said section 21, no damages shall be recoverable in the action.

(2) Where a worker or his personal representative or dependant has recovered compensation under the Accident Compensation Act 1989 in respect of an injury caused under circumstances which would give a right to recover reduced damages in respect thereof by virtue of section 3 of this Act from some person other than the employer (hereinafter referred to as the third party), any right conferred by Accident Compensation Act 1989 on the person by whom the compensation was paid to be indemnified by the third party shall be limited to a right to be indemnified in respect of such part only of the sum paid or payable by the said person as bears to the total sum so paid or payable the same proportion as the said reduced damages bear to the total damages which would have been recoverable if the worker had not been at fault.

5. Saving for past cases - This Act shall not apply to any case where the acts or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred before the passing of this Act.

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b) All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.

(c) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(d) Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.

(e) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2007. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by Graham Bruce Powell
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

Section 4 (general powers of the Attorney General) of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 is used to insert the commencement date. By virtue of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1974, in the absence of an expressed commencement date, the date of assent is the commencement date.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2008. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel).

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Contributory Negligence Act 1964 is administered in the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration.