1. ) KRISHNAN A/L K.PARASURAMAN 2. ) PARAMAS BARY A/P MUTHYAH v 1. ) MOHD AFANDI BIN ABDUL AZIS 2. ) M/s SOON LEE TRANSPORT SDN BHD

Case Significance

Illustrates appellate reassessment of liability apportionment and of dependency and special damages under sections 7 and 8 of the Civil Law Act 1956 in a fatal motorcycle-lorry collision, including a measured approach to strictly-proved funeral expenses.

This High Court decision at Johor Bahru is an appeal from a Sessions Court in a fatal road accident claim brought under sections 7 and 8 of the Civil Law Act 1956. The appellants, the parents of the deceased, sued both on their own behalf and on behalf of the deceased's estate, after their son died when the motorcycle he was riding collided with the rear of a lorry driven by the first defendant, the second defendant being the transport company Soon Lee Transport Sdn Bhd. The Sessions Court had dismissed the claim, and the parents appealed against the entirety of that decision on both liability and quantum. The High Court, per Dr Noradura binti Hamzah JC, reassessed the evidence and found both the deceased and the first defendant negligent, apportioning liability equally between them at 50:50. On damages, the court allowed the dependency claim under section 7, dismissed the bereavement claim, and revised the special damages: while accepting that special damages must be strictly proved, the court considered the Sessions Court's award for funeral-related expenses overly restrictive and, guided by authorities including Pang Ah Chee v Chong Kwee Sang, varied the total funeral-related award upward to a modest figure before applying the contributory-negligence deduction. The court also rejected part of the claim on the footing that a statute creating new substantive rights cannot operate retrospectively. Applying the 50% reduction for contributory negligence, the court awarded the appellants RM85,285.50 in total, comprising RM82,848.00 for dependency and RM2,437.50 for special damages, with interest at 5% per annum from the date of filing of the writ until full satisfaction and costs of RM8,000. The appeal was accordingly allowed in part. The judgment is a useful illustration of the appellate reassessment of liability apportionment and of dependency and special damages in a fatal motorcycle-lorry collision.