WENT TOO FAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 62, 15 March 1938, Page 10

WENT TOO FAR.

DEATH BY ACCIDENT. SOURCES OF INJUSTICE. STATUTES AMENDMENT. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. That Parliament went too far in 1936 when it passed an Act to remove many sources of injustice which had arisen through the deathe of parties to actions was the admission of the AttorneyGeneral, Mr. Mason, in the House of Representatives, yesterday afternoon. He was explaining two new clauses proposed to be included in the Statutes Amendment Bill. One of them, an amendment to the Deaths by Accident Compensation Act, limits the causes for which damages may be awarded in the following terms: "Damages may be awarded in respect of the amount of actiial pecuniary benefit which the person or persons for whose benerit the action is brought might reasonably have expected to enjoy if the deceased person had not been killed, notwithstanding that any such person or persons may not have been either wholly or partially dependent upon the deceased person prior to his death." Another amending clause submitted by the Minister sets out that where a cause of action survives for the benefit of the estate of a deceased person, the damages recoverable shall not include any damages, for his pain and suffering, or for any bodily or mental harm suffered by him, or for the curtailment of his expectation of life. Limited Action. "The point about the Deaths by Accidents Compensation Act is that any damages in such cases are now limited to people who may be described as near relatives, and which are based on the necessities of the claimants, and not upon the condition of the deceased person—a more Tational arrangement," added Mr. Mason.

The amendments submitted by the Minister are to apply whether the. cause of action arises before or after the date of passing of the amending Act, but shall not affect the rights of any person under any final judgment given by any Court before that date.