PART V

Amendments of the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955

52. —In this Part—

“the Act of 1934” means the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 ;

“the Act of 1953” means the Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Act, 1953 ;

“employer” and “workman” have the same meaning as in the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955.

53. —(1) In this section “section 60” means section 60 of the Act of 1934.

(2) Section 60 is hereby amended by the insertion therein, after subsection (3), of the following new subsection—

“(3A) Where—

(a) within the time limited by this Act for taking proceedings under this Act, an action is instituted to recover damages independently of this Act in respect of an injury or disease or a death giving rise to a claim for compensation under this Act, and

(b) it is determined in the action that—

(i) damages are recoverable independently of this Act subject to such reduction as is mentioned in subsection (1) of section 34 of the Civil Liability Act, 1961, and

(ii) the employer would have been liable to pay compensation under this Act,

the plaintiff may apply to the court in which the action is tried or, if the determination is the determination (on appeal by either party) of an appellate tribunal, to that appellate tribunal to assess and award such compensation, and if he does so the following provisions shall apply—

(I) that court or appellate tribunal (as the case may be) shall proceed to assess such compensation, but may deduct therefrom all or any of the costs which in its judgment have been caused by the plaintiff bringing the action instead of proceedings under this Act,

(II) no damages shall be recovered in the action.”

(3) In subsection (4) of section 60, “subsection (3) or subsection (3A) of this section” shall be substituted for “the foregoing subsection”.

(4) In subsection (5) of section 60, “or (3A)” shall be inserted after “subsection (3)”.

(5) Section 60 is hereby amended by the insertion therein after subsection (5) of the following new subsection—

“(5A) Subsection (3A) of this section shall apply with the necessary adaptations in any case where compensation is recoverable under a scheme certified or made under this Act, if the scheme applies this section or contains any provision similar thereto.”

(6) In subsection (6) of section 60 (being the subsection added to that section by section 6 of the Act of 1953) the reference to damages shall be construed as including a reference to damages subject to such reduction as is mentioned in subsection (1) of section 34.

(7) The amendments effected by the preceding subsections of this section shall not apply to any case where the accident giving rise to the claim happened before the date of the passing of this Act.

54. —(1) Where a workman or his personal representative or his dependant or other person has recovered compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955, or under any scheme certified under the Act of 1934 in respect of an injury caused in circumstances which would give a right to recover reduced damages in respect thereof by virtue of subsection (1) of section 34 from some person other than the employer (in this subsection referred to as the third party), any right conferred by section 61 of the Act of 1934, on the person by whom the compensation was paid or on any person called upon to pay an indemnity under section 19 of the Act of 1934, to be indemnified by the third party shall be limited to a right to be indemnified in respect of such part only of the sum so paid or payable by the said person as bears to the total of the sum so paid or payable the same proportion as the said reduced damages bears to the total damages which would have been recoverable if the workman had not been negligent.

(2) In subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (aa) of section 61 of the Act of 1934 (being the paragraph added to that section by section 7 of the Act of 1953), the reference to damages shall be construed as including a reference to damages subject to such reduction as is mentioned in subsection (1) of section 34.

(3) The amendments effected by the preceding subsections of this section shall not apply to any case where the accident happened before the date of the passing of this Act.