Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 (asp 7)

14 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires––

• “personal injuries” means––

  (a)

  any disease, and

  (b)

  any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition, and

• “relative”, in relation to a person who has died, means a person who––

  (a)

  immediately before the death is the deceased’s spouse or civil partner or is living with the deceased as if married to, or in civil partnership with, the deceased,

  (b)

  is a parent or child of the deceased, accepted the deceased as a child of the person’s family or was accepted by the deceased as a child of the deceased’s family,

  (c)

  is the brother or sister of the deceased or was brought up in the same household as the deceased and accepted as a child of the family in which the deceased was a child,

  (d)

  is a grandparent or grandchild of the deceased, accepted the deceased as a grandchild of the person or was accepted by the deceased as a grandchild of the deceased,

  (e)

  is an ascendant or descendant of the deceased (other than a parent or grandparent or a child or grandchild of the deceased),

  (f)

  is an uncle or aunt of the deceased,

  (g)

  is a child or other issue of—

  (i)

  a brother or sister of the deceased, or

  (ii)

  an uncle or aunt of the deceased, or

  (h)

  is a former spouse or civil partner of the deceased having become so by virtue of divorce or (as the case may be) dissolution of the partnership.

(2) In deducing a relationship for the purposes of the definition of “relative” in subsection (1)––

(a) any relationship––

(i) by affinity is to be treated as a relationship by consanguinity,

(ii) of the half blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood,

(b) a stepchild of a person is to be treated as the person’s child.

(3) In any enactment passed or made before this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to––

(a) solatium in respect of the death of any person (however expressed), or

(b) a loss of society award,

is to be construed as a reference to an award under paragraph (b) of section 4(3).