4.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1961” means the Civil Liability Act 1961;

F3[“Act of 2022” means the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022;]

F4["Athens Convention" means the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, as amended by the Protocol of 2002 (the Athens Convention) and as amended from time to time;]

“Board” shall be construed in accordance with section 53;

“civil action” means an action intended to be pursued for the purpose of recovering damages, in respect of a wrong, for—

(a) personal injuries, or

(b) both such injuries and damage to property (but only if both have been caused by the same wrong),

but does not include—

(i) an action intended to be pursued in which, in addition to damages for the foregoing matters, it is bona fide intended, and not for the purpose of circumventing the operation of section 3, to claim damages or other relief in respect of any other cause of action,

(ii) F5[…]

(iii) an action intended to be pursued in respect of an alleged breach by the State or any other person of a provision of the Constitution,

(iv) an action intended to be pursued under section 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003;

F6[“claimant” means a person who would, subject to this Act, be entitled to pursue a civil action to which this Act applies and includes—

(a) other than in a civil action referred to in paragraph (e), a personal representative in whom a cause of action comprising a civil action is vested by virtue of the Act of 1961,

(b) other than in a civil action referred to in paragraph (e), a person specified in subsection (3) of section 48 of the Act of 1961 who would, subject to this Act, be entitled to pursue an action for damages under that section,

(c) a person who would be entitled to act as a next friend of a minor or a person of unsound mind were a civil action to which this Act applies to be pursued on his or her behalf,

(d) the committee of a person of unsound mind acting on his or her behalf in relation to a civil action to which this Act applies that is proposed to be pursued, and

(e) for the purposes of a civil action referred to in section 3(aa), an applicant within the meaning of the Act of 2022 in relation to whom an application to the Board referred to in section 19 of that Act was made;]

F4["Council Regulation (EC) No. 2027/97" means Council Regulation (EC) No. 2027/97 on air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage by air, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002¹ and as amended from time to time;]

F3[“damages” includes compensation for the purposes of civil actions referred to in section 3(aa);]

“employee” means a person of any age, who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment; and, for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956) shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, and an employee, officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001 or of a harbour authority F7[or health board, or a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F8[or board], as the case may be;

“employer” means, in relation to an employee, the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

“health board” includes the Eastern Regional Health Authority and an area health board established under the Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act 1999;

“Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

F4["Montreal Convention" means the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, signed at Montreal on 28 May 1999 and as amended from time to time;]

“personal injury” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1961;

“proceedings” means proceedings in court;

F4["Regulation (EC) No. 392/2009"² means Regulation (EC) No. 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents, as amended from time to time; ]

F4["Warsaw Convention" means the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929, or the Warsaw Convention as amended—

(a) at The Hague on 28 September 1955,

(b) by the Convention supplementary to the Warsaw Convention done at Guadalajara on 18 September 1961, and

(c) as amended from time to time; ]

“wrong” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1961.

(2) For the purposes of the definition of “civil action” in subsection (1) “action”—

(a) includes an action the cause of action comprising which accrued before the passing of this Act, and

(b) shall be deemed to include an action intended to be pursued for damages under section 48 of the Act of 1961.

(3) In this Act “respondent”, where used without qualification, does not, unless expressly provided otherwise, include a non-participating respondent (within the meaning of section 15) or a nonaccepting respondent (within the meaning of section 34).

(4) References in subsequent provisions of this Act to a next friend or, as appropriate, a guardian, in relation to a claimant or a respondent, shall be construed as references to a person who would be entitled to act as a next friend or guardian of the claimant or respondent, as the case may be, were the relevant claim concerned to be the subject of proceedings.

(5) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section or Part is a reference to a section or Part of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a Chapter is a reference to the Chapter of the Part in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(d) a reference to any other enactment is a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment.