Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004

Matter to be taken into account by the court when assessing damages.

22

22.F14[(1) Subject to section 100 of the Act of 2019 and subsection (1A)(b), the court shall, in assessing damages in a personal injuries action commenced on or after the date on which section 99 of that Act comes into operation—

(a) have regard to the personal injuries guidelines (within the meaning of that Act) in force, and

(b) where it departs from those guidelines, state the reasons for such departure in giving its decision.]

F15[(1A) The court shall have regard to the Book of Quantum in assessing damages in a personal injuries action where the action is commenced—

(a) before the date on which section 99 of the Act of 2019 comes into operation, or

(b) on or after the date on which that section comes into operation in relation to a relevant claim where—

(i) an assessment was made under section 20 of the Act of 2003 in relation to that claim before the date of such coming into operation, and

(ii) that assessment was not, or was deemed not to have been, accepted in accordance with that Act.]

(2) F14[Subsection (1A)] shall not operate to prohibit a court from having regard to matters other than the Book of Quantum when assessing damages F14[in a personal injuries action to which that subsection applies].

F14[(3) In this section—

"Act of 2019" means the Judicial Council Act 2019;

"assessment" has the same meaning as it has in section 20(1) of the Act of 2003;

"Book of Quantum" means the Book of Quantum that, immediately before the coming into operation of section 99 of the Act of 2019, stands published by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board under the Act of 2003;

"relevant claim" has the same meaning as it has in section 9 of the Act of 2003.]

Annotations:

Amendments:

F14

Substituted (24.04.2021) by Judicial Council Act 2019 (33/2019), s. 99(a), (c)(i), (ii), (d), as substituted (24.04.2021) by Children (Amendment) Act 2021 (4/2021), s. 30(a), S.I. No. 180 of 2021.

F15

Inserted (24.04.2021) by Judicial Council Act 2019 (33/2019), s. 99(b), as substituted (24.04.2021) by Children (Amendment) Act 2021 (4/2021), s. 30(a), S.I. No. 180 of 2021.

Modifications (not altering text):

C10

For purposes of certain proceedings, section to be read as if deleted as provided (10.04.2023) by Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022 (33/2022), s. 24(2)(f), S.I. No. 163 of 2023.

Additional provisions regarding proceedings

24. (1) The proceedings referred to in section 23 shall, subject to this Act and the Act of 2003 as applied by section 19 and with any necessary modifications, be deemed to be a personal injuries action for the purposes of any enactments relating in whole or in part to personal injuries actions (including the Act of 2004) and shall be treated as if they were a personal injuries action within the meaning of those enactments, including for the purposes of costs.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Act of 2004 shall apply to the proceedings referred to in section 23 with the following modifications: ...

(f) it shall be read as if section 22 of the Act of 2004 were deleted;

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