MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Antoine Cremona, Clement Mifsud-Bonnici and Chiara Frendo, Ganado Advocates
9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant The damages available to the successful litigant are: • actual losses already suffered; • future losses; • legal interest; and • moral damage, available only in limited instances. Apart from compensatory or monetary relief, declara- tory and injunctive awards are also possible at the full trial stage. With some notable exceptions, damages in Malta are restorative in nature and therefore generally As mentioned in 9.1 Awards Available to the Suc- cessful Litigant , damages under Maltese law are restorative in nature, and, therefore, are aimed at restoring the injured party to the position held prior to the damaging event. There is no punitive element in the quantification of damages. no punitive damages are granted. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages For damages to be awarded, there must be a direct causal link between the damaging event and the loss suffered by the plaintiff. The damaging event must be a result of the defendant’s conduct, and cannot be due to a force majeure or due to contributory negli- gence by the plaintiff or third party. In terms of contractual damages, the successful liti- gant is only entitled to damages that could have been foreseen at the time of the agreement. In personal injury claims, a specific formula is largely followed by the Maltese courts in calculating future losses, namely: yearly projected income multiplied by a multiplier based on the projected working life expectancy and further multiplied by the certified percentage disability. A cash deduction (using largely discounted cash flow) is then applied. 9.3 Pre-Judgment and Post-Judgment Interest Generally, judgments given on civil pecuniary claims also include the award of interest at the rate of 8%
nesses, the court may give all such orders and direc- tives it may think fit in chambers. The court may also, by way of a decree, demand the parties to answer any questions it might have or else demand the parties to clarify any issues that are deemed necessary for the court before handing down its judgment. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings Once the application is filed in court, the defendant has 20 days within which to file a reply, whether sworn or otherwise. The same time limit will apply for the filing of any counterclaim. Following the trial proceed- ings as explained previously, the court will generally deliver judgment within four to six months. On the other hand, the process before the Inferior Courts from start to finish is likely to take two to three years. 8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval Court approval is not required in order to settle a law- suit. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality The terms of settlement agreements cannot be dis- closed without the consent of all parties to the set- tlement, and, therefore, settlements of lawsuits are entirely confidential and privileged. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements Settlement agreements would be enforced in the same way as any other contract. They will invariably contain their own dispute resolution mechanism and method of enforcement, including by recourse to court or arbitration. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements Adherence, enforcement, and the setting aside of a settlement agreement would take place in the same way as for any other contract and they are thus regu- lated by the law of contracts.
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