Product Liability 2009 - Arnold & Porter LLP

Malta
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Muscat Azzopardi & Associates Malta
running against him but shall only start running when the buyer was
in a situation wherein he could have identified the defect.
6 Remedies
6.1 What remedies are available e.g. monetary compensation,
injunctive/declaratory relief?
Remedies available to successful claimants include monetary
compensation.
6.2 What types of damage are recoverable e.g. damage to the
product itself, bodily injury, mental damage, damage to
property?
Other than compensation for the defective product itself, damages
that may be recovered include all damages caused by death or by
personal injury, and loss of, damage to, or destruction of any item of
property. Personal injury includes any disease and any impairment of
the physical or mental condition of a person. There is therefore no
upper limit on the damages which can be claimed and these will have
to be computed according to the normal rules of civil law.
6.3 Can damages be recovered in respect of the cost of
medical monitoring (e.g. covering the cost of investigations
or tests) in circumstances where the product has not yet
malfunctioned and caused injury, but it may do so in
future?
Under Maltese Law damages that may be recovered must be
damages that have actually been suffered.
6.4 Are punitive damages recoverable? If so, are there any
restrictions?
Our courts grant only real or material damages and thus punitive
damages are not considered.
6.5 Is there a maximum limit on the damages recoverable
from one manufacturer e.g. for a series of claims arising
from one incident or accident?
There is no such limitation imposed by the Law.
6.6 Do special rules apply to the settlement of
claims/proceedings e.g. is court approval required for the
settlement of group/class actions, or claims by infants, or
otherwise?
No such rules have as yet been developed under Maltese Laws.
6.7 Can Government authorities concerned with health and
social security matters claim from any damages awarded
or settlements paid to the Claimant without admission of
liability reimbursement of treatment costs, unemployment
benefits or other costs paid by the authorities to the
Claimant in respect of the injury allegedly caused by the
product. If so, who has responsibility for the repayment of
such sums?
Government Authorities can in no way claim from damages
awarded or settlements paid to the Claimant.
7 Costs / Funding
7.1 Can the successful party recover: (a) court fees or other
incidental expenses; (b) their own legal costs of bringing
the proceedings, from the losing party?
In relation to proceedings within the Consumer Claims Tribunal the
Arbiter shall determine the costs that any of the parties is to pay to
the other and unless special circumstances so warrant, the losing
party shall be ordered to pay the costs of the party in whose favour
the decision is awarded. In this regard costs shall be limited to
expenses made directly in connection with the case by the party in
whose favour the payment of costs is awarded but shall not include
any form of legal fees or fees paid out to persons assisting the
parties before the tribunal. Furthermore where the Arbiter is
satisfied that a claim presented before the Tribunal or any defence
offered in respect thereof is vexatious or frivolous, he may order the
claimant or the defendant to pay to the other party a penalty of not
more than €116.47.
In a Court of Magistrates and in a Court of Appeal, further to the
same expenses that can be recovered under the Consumer Claims
Tribunal, legal fees can also be recovered.
7.2 Is public funding e.g. legal aid, available?
Legal aid is available to parties both in the superior courts and in the
inferior courts but such legal aid is not available to parties for
proceedings being held under the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
7.3 If so, are there any restrictions on the availability of public
funding?
Not Applicable.
7.4 Is funding allowed through conditional or contingency fees
and, if so, on what conditions?
Not Applicable.
7.5 Is third party funding of claims permitted and, if so, on
what basis may funding be provided?
Not Applicable.
8 Updates
8.1 Please provide, in no more than 300 words, a summary of
any new cases, trends and developments in Product
Liability Law in Malta.
It was in 2001 when Malta started introducing various laws to align
local legislation with the mandatory EU Acquis. Product Liability
rules were first added to the Consumer Affairs Act way back in
2002. This meant that for the first time ever Maltese Law
specifically provided for the civil responsibility of manufacturers
and distributors who placed on the market unsafe or dangerous
products which could cause damage to persons or property. The
new provisions, the first of their kind and modelled on EU Directive
85/374 EEC, were brought into force on the 28th January, 2003 by
virtue of Legal Notice 46 of 2003.
Throughout the more recent years the Consumer Affairs Act has
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