Public entities must exercise the same level of care to protect people from dangerous conditions as any private party is expected to do. When the government fails to exercise that care, it must be held responsible for injuries suffered by anyone with a legitimate right not to be exposed to unnecessary risk.
The court has awarded a motorcyclist €101,000 after he suffered a permanent injury while riding his bike and getting involved in an accident when he clipped inconspicuous bollards placed on Salina Road. The Naxxar local council will use taxpayers’ money to compensate the victim for their negligence. Judge Toni Abela denounced the “endemic disease” of the local authorities that failed to maintain sufficiently public roads.
The lack of maintenance of public facilities exposes people to unnecessary risks. It took eight years for this case to be concluded, as injured parties have to go through the maze of legal and bureaucratic hurdles to assert their rights.
There are other examples where public entities do not give much importance to their duty of care towards people. The proliferation of potholes in our roads is a serious risk to pedestrians and drivers.
Poorly designed pavements prioritise the convenience of semi-basement garage owners by allowing steep ramps that pose a risk to pedestrians, especially older adults, who need to move around in their localities.
The undisciplined management of road works is another frustrating hazard that citizens have to face. Similarly, the lack of consistent enforcement of health-and-safety regulations on building sites is often leading to construction workers’ injuries and deaths.
Unfortunately, there have also been tragic cases where the police failed to act speedily when victims of domestic violence alerted them that they faced immediate risk from a family member or an estranged partner. The long wait to get emergency treatment in our public hospitals can often expose vulnerable people to risks that can and should be avoided.
Put simply, citizens have to put up with the incompetence, mismanagement and negligence of public entities and their political masters and officials.
Most democratic countries prioritising the protection of people have enacted legislation that defines the processes that people injured by the negligence of public entities must follow to get compensation. Government claims acts are constantly being updated to minimise the effect of the concept of “sovereign immunity” that shields public entities from negligence liability.
Admittedly, many statutes often contain exceptions that enable public entities to dodge sanctions. Still, courts often discard the unjust claims of sovereign immunity made by public entities sued for negligence by injured citizens.
Lawmakers like to introduce sovereign immunity clauses in statutes that can impact citizens’ safety due to negligence by public entities. A typical clause is, “except as otherwise provided by statute, a public entity is not liable for injury, whether such injury arises out of an act or omission of the public entity, or a public employee, or any other person.”
This mindset must change. It is time for our lawmakers to commission a review of all legislation that could impact citizens’ rights. People should not suffer due to the negligence, mismanagement and incompetence of public entities and their officials. The concept of self-regulation in public-services management is dangerous as it encourages shoddy standards of care.
Changes in legislation must include an efficient and effective process through which people injured by the negligence of public entities can claim compensation without waiting for years until the civil courts decide on their claims.
It is time to put people’s interests first, as the state’s primary responsibility will always be protecting all citizens from unnecessary and avoidable risks.