The heirs of a dockyard worker who died of cancer after being exposed to asbestos at his place of work have been awarded €18,000 as moral damages by a court for breach of his right to life.
The case was instituted in the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction by James and Dorothy Fenech against the Chief Government Medical Officer and the Attorney General.
The Fenech siblings successfully argued that their father's fundamental right to life was breached when he had to retire early and died aged 55 in 1997 after having suffered malignant mesothelioma because of exposure to asbestos at his place of work. They pleaded that the authorities had failed to protect their father and warn him of the dangers of asbestos.
The AG and the CGMO denied the charges against them. They argued that as soon as the Maltese government became aware of the consequences of exposure to asbestos it took the appropriate measures, including legislative changes to protect dockyard workers and also householders who used asbestos as an insulation material in their properties.
The court heard how Joseph Fenech's widow and her two children had sued the dockyard for compensation. The court had found the...
