May 24th, 2006

The victims of asbestos exposure and their families have urged the Scottish Parliament to step in after the House of Lords recently imposed new legislation with regards to shared responsibility in asbestos cases, which could dramatically cut the level of compensation that victims or their families receive.

Many families and victims have stated that they feel let down by the law after the recent rulings, and the Scottish Parliament has been asked to step in to help with thousands of cases that could now be affected by this ruling, leaving victims and families with a fraction of the money they might otherwise have been entitled to.

In the past many people went from one company to another in their line of work, and many of those suffering with asbestos related disease today had worked for number of companies. This ruling means that each of the companies would have to be sued in order for the claimant to stand a chance of getting full compensation.

One solicitor stated: "Let's take an example to illustrate it, if two people murder somebody the law doesn't say that you half murdered them, the law says that you murdered them and that person murdered them. You both did it, and you're both liable for the full sentence."