Damages (Scotland) Act 2011

4. Where a person suffers injury or disease as a result of the wrongful actions or omissions of another, the victim has a right, under the common law of delict, to claim damages from the wrongdoer. The Damages (Scotland) Act 1976 (“the 1976 Act”), as amended––

(a)

regulated who can claim damages and the kind of damages that could be claimed where the victim dies as a result of such injury or disease;

(b)

provided that the victim’s right to claim damages may, in certain circumstances, pass to the victim’s executor;(2)

(c)

provided that the victim’s relatives may also have a separate claim for the loss of support and grief and distress that they suffered because of the death; and

(d)

made provision regarding the damages that could be claimed by the victim whose expectation of life is diminished by the injury or disease.(3)

2

1976 Act, section 2

3

1976 Act, sections 9 and 9A