THE LAW OF DAMAGES IN MALAYSIA: HAS THE LAW ON THE MULTIPLIER FOR THE LOSS OF DEPENDENCY BEEN SETTLED?

Abstract

The law applicable in a claim for loss of support by the dependants of a deceased victim in Malaysia is found in the relevant provisions contained in the Civil Law Act 1956, amended in 1984. It would have been thought that with the passing of these statutory amendments, the legislature had removed the judicial discretion, if any, with finality in the law being established. However, that was not how the courts interpreted these amendments to be and the resulting conflicting judicial approaches that evolved was observed to have created confusion in the application of these enacted provisions. The article examines the position of the law in Malaysia and in particular, the appropriate multiplier to be adopted when calculating the loss of support and how the law evolved through the exercise of judicial discretion observed from the number of reported judgments since the amendments. The article concludes that the recent judgments of the Federal Court may not have resolved these concerns observed in this area of the law.