LAW REFORM (CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE AND TORTFEASORS' CONTRIBUTION) ACT 1947 - SECT 7
LAW REFORM (CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE AND TORTFEASORS' CONTRIBUTION) ACT 1947 - SECT 7
7 . Rules applicable if there are 2 or more tortfeasors
(1) Subject to Part 1F
of the Civil Liability Act 2002 , where damage is suffered by any person as
the result of a tort —
(a)
judgment recovered against any tortfeasor liable in respect of that damage
shall not be a bar to an action against any other person who would, if sued,
have been liable as a joint tortfeasor in respect of the same damage;
(b) if
more than one action is brought in respect of that damage by or on behalf of
the person by whom it was suffered, or for the benefit of the estate, or of
the wife, husband, parent or child of that person, against tortfeasors liable
in respect of the damage (whether as joint tortfeasors or otherwise) the sums
recoverable under the judgments given in those actions by way of damages shall
not in the aggregate exceed the amount of the damages awarded by the judgment
first given: and in any of those actions, other than that in which judgment is
first given, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to costs unless the court is
of opinion that there was reasonable ground for bringing the action;
(c) any
tortfeasor liable in respect of that damage may recover contribution from any
other tortfeasor who is or would if sued have been liable in respect of the
same damage whether as a joint tortfeasor or otherwise but so that no person
shall be entitled to recover contribution under this section from any person
entitled to be indemnified by him in respect of the liability for which
contribution is sought.
(1A) A person shall be
entitled to be indemnified within the meaning of subsection (1)(c) —
(a) if
his complicity in the tort arose from fraud or misrepresentation practised on
him by the person from whom the indemnity is sought so that he honestly
believed and had no reasonable cause to suspect the truth of the matters
represented to him and would not have been liable in tort if such matters had
been true;
(b)
where the act was not clearly illegal or tortious in itself and the person
seeking indemnity had no knowledge when the tort was committed of the true
legal character of the act;
(c)
where he is responsible on grounds of vicarious liability as for example in
the case of master and servant or as a member of a partnership where the act
was done without his connivance, knowledge or express authority.
(1B) Except in the
case of an indictable offence arising out of some negligent act or omission,
no contribution may be claimed by a person who is responsible for damages in
tort if in the circumstances of the case he is or might be found guilty of any
indictable offence (including an indictable offence punishable on summary
conviction).
(2) In any proceedings
for contribution under this section the amount of the contribution recoverable
from any person shall be such as may be found by the court to be just and
equitable; and the court shall have power to exempt any person from liability
to make contribution, or to direct that the contribution to be recovered from
any person shall amount to a complete indemnity.
(3) For the purposes
of this section —
(a) the
expressions parent and child have the same meanings respectively as they have
for the purposes of the Fatal Accidents Act;
(b) the
reference in this section to the judgment first given shall, in a case where
that judgment is reversed on appeal, be construed as a reference to the
judgment first given which is not so reversed and, in a case where a judgment
is varied on appeal, be construed as a reference to that judgment as so
varied.
[Section 7 amended: No. 58 of 2003 s. 14; No. 19
of 2010 s. 51.]
[Heading inserted: No. 19 of 2010 s. 46(3).]