INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE STUDIES AND REPORTS Series M (Social Insurance) No. 2 COMPENSATION FOR INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Comparative Analysis of National Laws GENEVA 1925 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION § 1 . — Legal Basis of the Right to Compensation European Systems . . ' Common law or quasi-delictual liability System of contractual liability System of legal liability or occupational risk Anglo-Saxon Systems § 2 . — Main Features of Existing Legislation . . . . Page 1 1 1 3 4 5 6 PART I SCOPE OF LAWS ON INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS INTRODUCTION: The Growth of Modern Legislation CHAPTER I : Undertakings and Services Covered § 1. — Laws applying to persons bound by a contract of employment and employed in the undertakings defined by the law Industrial undertakings Commercial undertakings Agricultural undertakings Maritime navigation and fisheries Domestic service Disadvantages of the method of enumeration . . . . Provisions in the laws for the extension of their scope § 2. — Laws applying to all persons bound by a contract of employment Analyses of legislation in various countries (Argentina, Australia (Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia), Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Chile, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Esthonia, Finland, Prance, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Irish Free State, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, South Africa, vpain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay.) 11 14 14 15 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 27 VI Page Comparative table of principal undertakings and employments excluded from the provisions of workmen's compensation legislation 68 CHAPTER I I : Classes of Workers Covered 82 § 1. — Introduction 82 § 2. — Conditions to be fulfilled by beneficiaries under the law . 83 Sex 83 Nationality 83 Age 83 Nature of the occupation ' 84 Existence or absence of remuneration 85 Wage or income limit, and the exclusion of highly paid workers 91 Period of employment (casual employment) 95 Work in a public or private undertaking 97 The place of work 99 The position of independent workers 100 Comparative table of the principal classes of persons not covered by workmen's compensation legislation 104 PART II RISK COVERED INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I: § 1. — § 2. — § 3. — § 4. — Notion of Accident General definitions of accident Accident considered in its cause Accident considered in its effect Distinction between accident and disease 113 . 115 115 117 121 122 CHAPTER I I : Notion of Industrial Accident § 1. — General definitions of industrial accident § 2. — Relation of accident to course of work § 3. — Relation of accident to place of work § 4. — Causal relation between accident and work § 5. — Risk of work connected with common risks 126 126 130 133 136 139 CHAPTER III: Notion of Fault in Workmen's Compensation § 1. — General relation of the notion of fault to the principle of occupational risk § 2. — Fault of the worker § 3. — Fault of the employer § 4 . — Fault of fellow worker ; fault of third party Comparative table showing the risks covered by, and excluded from, workmen's compensation legislation 142 142 143 149 153 156 VII PART III COMPENSATION Page 181 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I: The Basic Wage § 1. :— The elements composing the basic wage § 2 . — The mode of computing the basic wage Computation in countries where period over which earnings are averaged is normally one year . . . Computation in countries where period for which earnings are averaged is other than one year . . . . Basic wage for temporary incapacity § 3. — Limits of the basic wage Maximum limit of the basic wage Minimum limit of the basic wage Basis for the determination of the limits of the basic wage . § 4. — Basic wage of apprentices Comparative table showing provisions relating to computation of the basic wage CHAPTER I I : The Form of Compensation § 1. — The conditions which should be fulfilled by the form of compensation The form of compensation in case of death The form of compensation in case of temporary incapacity The form of compensation in case of permanent incapacity § 2. — Provisions of the laws concerning the form of compensation First group: The employer or insurance institution pays a lump sum which is delivered directly to the beneficiaries Second group: The employer or insurance institution pays a lump sum to a judicial authority or a fund, whose duty it is to make the payment to the beneficiaries Third group: The employer or insurance institution pays a pension to the beneficiaries CHAPTER I I I : Compensation in Case of Death § 1. — The categories of relatives entitled to compensation . . § 2. — The total amount of compensation : . The relation between the-total amount of compensation and the basic wage The maximum and minimum limits of total compensation § 3. — The distribution of compensation among the relatives . . § 4. — Allowances for funeral expenses 182 183 185 186 190 191 192 192 193 193 194 196 216 216 216 217 217 218 218 218 219 221 221 224 224 228 230 233 Vili Page Comparative table showing provisions relating to compensation in case of death CHAPTER IV: Compensation in Case of Incapacity for Work . . . . § Í . — The classification of incapacity § 2. — The evaluation of incapacity The bases of evaluation The methods of evaluation Classification of countries according to method of evaluation adopted § 3. — The waiting period § 4. — The amount of compensation The amount of compensation for permanent total incapacity The amount of compensation for permanent partial incapacity The amount of compensation in case of temporary incapacity The amount of compensation for very seriously injured workmen requiring the constant attendance of another person § 5. — The review of compensation Comparative table showing provisions relating to compensation in case of incapacity for work CHAPTER V: Medical Aid 234 254 254 257 257 258 261 262 265 265 267 269 270 273 276 306 § 1. — The elements of medical aid Medical aid proper Artificial limbs and vocational rehabilitation . . . . (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States.) § 2. — The limits of medical aid § 3. — The organisation of medical aid Comparative table showing provisions relating to medical aid . 307 307 309 317 318 321 PART IV GUARANTEES CHAPTER I : Introductory Remarks 329 CHAPTER II: General Notions of Industrial Accident Insurance . . . § 1 . — The nature of industrial accident insurance .' § 2. •— Types of industrial accident insurance institutions . . . Fixed premium companies Employers' mutual insurance societies Independent public institutions and State Funds '. . 335 335 336 338 338 339 — IX Page § 3. — Taking the risk and self-insurance § 4. — Financial systems of industrial accident insurance.. . . . . Distribution systems Fixed premium systems Systems of distribution of capital § 5. — Financial working of an industrial accident insurance. institution Distribution systems Fixed premium systems § 6 . — Reserves , Distribution systems Fixed premium systems § 7. — Peculiarities in the administration of industrial accident insurance institution Selection of risks Administrative and accessory expenses . . . . . . . § 8. — Social efficiency of an industrial accident insurance institution CHAPTER I I I : Legislation A. — Voluntary insurance legislation Group I: Voluntary insurance legislation without special security funds 1. Summary of one legislative system: Great Britain 2. Similar legislation Group II : Voluntary systems of insurance legislation with special security funds . 1. Summary of one legislative system: France . . 2. Similar legislation ' B. — Compulsory insurance legislation Group I I I : Compulsory insurance with liberty to choose the insurer 1. Summary of one legislative system: Italy . . . 2. Similar legislation Groups IV and V: Compulsory insurance with a specified insurer Group IV. Insurance by trade associations 1. Summary of one legislative system : Germany . . 2. Similar legislation Group V: Compulsory assurance with a specified assurer . consisting of a special institution (of a non-industrial character) . - . . . . . ' 1. Summary of one legislative system : Switzerland 2. Similar legislation 340 341 341 342 344 347 347 354 355 356 357 359 359 361 363 366 366 366 367 375 378 378 394 404 406 406 416 423 424 424 430 434 435 440 X PART V PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING COMPENSATION AND SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES CHAPTER I: Uncontentious Procedure § 1 . — Notification of the accident Object of notification Cases to be notified The persons required to notify The authorities -to be notified Form and contents of the notice § 2. — Enquiries Cases for enquiry Authorities competent to open an enquiry Form and scope of the enquiry I 3. 1 — Medical certificates and supervision Certificates accompanying notice of the accident. . . Certificate submitted after notice of the accident . . Medical supervision Laws making no provision for medical certificates or supervision CHAPTER II: Litigation Page 448 448 448 450 454 466 473 481 481 486 489 499 499 502 505 509 511 § 1 . — Competence of ordinary judicial authorities Actions Competent authorities Review of compensation § 2. — Competence of special judicial authorities Special and ordinary authorities combined Special authorities Conclusion . . . . , 512 512 519 521 524 525 539 557 PART VI THE POSITION OF FOREIGNERS IKTRODUCTION CHAPTER I: Conditions for Compensation in Case of Incapacity . . . The victim of the accident is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident. . . . • The victim of the accident ceases to reside in the country . . . . The victim of the accident was not resident in the country at the time of the accident 563 572 574 575 584 XI Page CHAPTER I I : Conditions for Compensation in Case o] Death The representative is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident . The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident Tabulated summary of the conditions for the compensation of foreign victims of accidents or representatives of such . . . . APPENDIX: List of Legal Texts chiefly used in the Report 587 590 590 59"4 598 613 INTRODUCTION There can be no doubt that preventive and precautionary measures, applied with intelligence and attention to detail, result in a considerable reduction in the number of industrial accidents; but even an ideal preventive organisation will not altogether remove the risk of accident. Industrial accidents can never be wholly eliminated from the scheme of things. It will always be necessary to determine what are the rights of the victims and what are the liabilities of employers, and this is the whole object of legislation dealing with compensation for industrial accidents. § 1. — Legal Basis of the Right to Compensation EUROPEAN SYSTEMS It may be well briefly to recall the chief landmarks in the development of the legal conceptions which have predominated in the determination of the rights of workers and the liabilities of employers in the matter of industrial accidents: namely, common law, contractual liability, and what is known as legal liability or occupational risk. Common Law, or Qiiasi-Delictual Liability The basis of the right to compensation for industrial accidents was at the outset sought in the classical conception of liability which is contained in civil codes founded on Roman law. According to the principles of common law, liability only exists if some blame attaches the employer individually; the victim of an industrial accident can only obtain compensation if he can show the employer to have been at fault. Under this system, therefore, the employer is not liable to pay compensation for damage due either solely to the fault of the worker or to chance, or to force majeure, or to some risk inherent in the work itself, and unconnected with any defect either in the installation or the working of the undertaking, or in the selection of the worker. In such cases the worker is not entitled to any compensation. i _ 2— On the other hand, the employer is liable in the event of any defect either in the installation or equipment of the undertaking or in the organisation, management or supervision of the staff, or in the choice of means for carrying on the work, or in the selection of the worker, due account being taken of the difficulties of the work to which he is put. In such cases the employer is required to pay to the victim or to his assigns full pecuniary compensation . for the damage inflicted, always provided that the claimant can prove that the employer is to blame. A system of this nature would appear to be to the advantage neither of the employer nor of the worker. It is often difficult, and sometimes even impossible, for the worker or his assigns to adduce the requisite proof of the employer's responsibility either because the state of health of the victim or of those persons whose evidence is indispensable makes such proof impossible, or because conditions on the scene of the accident cannot be reproduced, since they have been modified by the accident itself. The process of proof will give rise to disputes, and will lead to litigation which will delay the assessment of the compensation to be granted. In view of the fact that, in almost all cases, the victim is urgently in need of compensation, the natural result will be to embitter relations between workers and employers. Further, when he is shown to be at fault, the employer is liable, in the event of serious accidents, to pay heavy compensation, the amount of which he cannot foresee. Finally, a large number of accidents cannot be attributed to the fault either of the employer or the worker. Statistics dealing with the distribution of industrial accidents according to their causes and to the liabilities to which they may give rise, are somewhat rare and out of date, and their scientific value is questionable, if only because of the difficulty of exactly determining the causes. of an accident. The spectators of a sudden accident seldom agree in their estimate of the conditions under which it occurred. In Europe there are only the German, Dutch, and Norwegian statistics. The German statistics of 1887, 1897 and 1907 were prepared by the Imperial Insurance Office on information furnished by the employers. The Norwegian statistics of 1899, 1903 and 1906 were drawn up by the State Insurance Office on information supplied to its agents by the employers or by factory inspectors. The Dutch statistics were collected by the State Insurance Bank. These statistics give the following distribution of accidents according to their causes: — 3 — DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS ACCORDING TO CAUSES (Percentages) Germany > Norway Causes 1S87 1897 1907 18951899 19001903 % s 19041906 % 1.49 Fault of employer 20.47 16.81 12.06 0.70 0.43 26.56 29.89 41.26 7.24 4.82 6.47 Fault of worker Fault of both employer and worker 4.61 4.66 0.90 Fault of fellow worker or third party 5.94 2.17 1.39 1.01 3.40 5.28 Occupational risk (involving no considerations of blame) 44.96 42.05 37.65 89.89 93.36 91.03 2.19 Miscellaneous 1.31 Number of accidents covered — — 81,248 9,320 Netherlands 3 19031906 9,493 10.46 6.33 1.84 75.59 5.77 6,991 i R E I C H S - V E R S I C H E R U N G S A M T : Gewerbe-Unfallstatistik für das Jahr 1397 und Vol. II, Table 2. 2 RIKSFORSIKRINGSANSTALTEN: Ulykkesforsikringen, 1904-1906, Table 2. s RIJKSVERZEKERINGSBANK : Onfferoilenstalisiieft, 1903-1906, Table 6. — 1907, The above table is inconclusive as to the proportionate liability of workers and employers, in view of the fact that available statistics on the subject vary too considerably. One important fact, however, may be noted, namely, that the number of accidents which cannot be attributed to the fault either of the worker or of the employer is very large. It varies between 37 per cent, and 45 per cent, in Germany, and in Norway is as high as 90 per cent. These percentages are a striking proof of the inadequacy of the principles of common law, which confer no right to compensation except in cases where the employer is at fault, that is to say, in 20 per cent, at most of the total number of cases. Hence the need for finding other notions and other principles. Two systems have received attention: in the first place, that of contractual liability, and secondly that of legal liability, better known in its wider form as the principle of occupational risk. System of Contractual Liability Under the system of contractual liability the worker's right to compensation arises not from the fault of the employer, but out of the contract for the hire of the worker's services, which entails for the employer an obligation not only to pay the agreed wage, but also to see to the safety of his workers, and consequently to _ 4 — ensure that they leave his undertaking at the expiration of their work in a sound state of health. Any accident which occurs in the course of work is presumed to be attributable to the conditions of the work and, in principle, entitles the victim of it to compensation. If the employer wishes to clear himself of liability to compensation, he must rebut the presumption of liability by proving that the accident was due to the fault of the victim, to chance, or to force majeure. Thus, not only is the onus of proof removed from the worker, but the employer is made responsible for accidents due to unknown causes. This is clearly a considerable advantage for the worker. But accidents which are due to the fault, however inconsiderable, of the worker, to chance, or to force majeure, debar the victim from compensation. Further, there is still a possibility of litigation since, in many cases, the employer endeavours to rebut the presumption of his own liability. The attempt therefore to solve the question on these lines has been unsuccessful and has found no favour with legislators. We thus arrive at a further solution, namely, that of legal liability. System of Legal Liability for Occupational Risk The system of legal liability is a generalisation of the principles of Roman law dealing with the de facto responsibility arising out of ownership or control: that is to say, the principle that, apart from any idea of responsibility, compensation for damage caused by a given object must be paid by the owner thereof. Liability ceases to be referable to the actual fault of the person who acts or possesses, i.e. to the fact that he is individually to blame. The mere damage caused by a thing or by an action involves what is known as objective responsibility and thus entails liability. The obligation to pay compensation is thus rooted in legal theory. It is sufficient if the claimant proves the existence of a chain of causation between the thing or the action and the resulting injury. As applied to industrial accidents, the theory of objective responsibility or of legal liability culminates in the system which is known as the system of occupational risk. An employer who sets on foot certain activities and who surrounds himself with workers and machines, creates ipso facto an organisation, the working of which may cause, and does in practice cause, injuries, the compensation for which, apart from any idea of fault, falls upon the employer himself. The inherent risks of — 5 — labour are consequent upon the normal development of human activity, and the sum of these risks constitutes that occupational risk which covers all industrial accidents. The pecuniary burdens arising out of industrial accidents are one of the normal liabilities of the undertaking, like repair or amortisation of plant, upkeep of premises, and the wages and salaries of workers and managers. Compensation should therefore be one of the overhead charges of the undertaking, and it naturally falls upon the employer. ANGLO-SAXON SYSTEMS In Anglo-Saxon countries the development of the principles and legal theories on the subject leading up to the principle of legal liability has proceeded on appreciably different lines. Common law in Anglo-Saxon countries, although it is rooted not in Roman law but in legal practice, is not substantially different from the European common law as contained in the various civil codes from the beginning of the nineteenth century. According to Anglo-Saxon common law, each individual must himself bear the consequences of accidents of which he is the victim, unless such accidents are attributable to the fault of a second party who. in the case of industrial accidents, is the employer. The employer is only liable in the case of accidents which are the result of torts or negligence, provided always that the claimant can furnish proof of the tort or negligence in question. Common law makes the employer liable for faults committed by persons in his employ, but this liability only extends to injury caused to outside parties and does not cover workers in the undertaking itself. According to the theory of "common employment", the worker who agrees to work with other workers is regarded as accepting the risk of any accident of which he might be the victim as the result of any action on the part of his fellow workers. The development of machinery and of large industrial undertakings, and the increasing number of accidents made it necessary to seek wider principles better adapted to modern labour conditions. The law stepped in and superseded the principles of common law and "common employment", by extending to the case of injuries inflicted on fellow workers the employer's liability for faults committed by his workers as established in common law in respect of injuries to outside parties. This is the object of the Employers' Liability Act of 1880. _ 6— The final stage in this development was reached in the British Act of 1897. This Act was inspired by the principle of legal liability for occupational risk and made provision accordingly for the payment of compensation quite irrespective of the question whether or not the acc'dent was due to any negligence on the part of the employer. In the Dominions, the development of legal theory on the subject has proceeded on virtually the same lines as in Great Britain. § 2. — Main Features of Existing Legislation During the last 40 or 50 years the principle of occupational risk has been successively adopted by the legislative systems of almost all countries. It has had a considerable influence on the development of the various national legislative systems of compensation for industrial accidents, and has been mainly instrumental in shaping them on lines which it will be well now briefly to describe. It is clear that the unrestricted application of the principle of occupational risk determines immediately the scope of the various systems of legislation concerning industrial accidents as regards the questions, what undertakings should be subjected to the system, what workers should benefit thereby and what risks should be covered. In principle, when some injury occurs which is attributable to the work, the legal basis of the worker's right to compensation and of the employer's liability to pay compensation is the same, whether the undertaking be large or small, whether the work carried on therein be considered as dangerous or as involving only an insignificant risk, whether the undertaking be industrial, commercial or agricultural, whether the worker's pay is low or high, whether or no he is a manual worker, and finally, whether he is the victim of an industrial accident or of an occupational disease. In modern practice, the principle of occupational risk has not been followed out to its logical conclusions, and the various systems of national legislation contain important limitations and exceptions to the principle, which limitations and exceptions vary not a little as between different countries. The various legislative systems began with occupations involving particularly serious risks such as mining, navigation, railways, manufacture of explosives, etc. They were then progressively extended to cover industrial and commercial undertakings using mechanical power of one kind or another. They are now tending more and more to include all industrial, commercial — 7 — and agricultural undertakings, whatever their size and whatever the nature of the plant which they employ. At the outset, the beneficiaries were mainly manual workers whose wages did not exceed a certain figure. At the present day, the distinction between manual and non-manual workers is tending to disappear and the wage limit is either rising or has been abolished. Earlier systems of legislation covered only the risk of accident properly so called. Risk of occupational disease was either omitted or, in many cases, explicitly excluded. Nevertheless, the principle of occupational risk demands that compensation should be paid on account of occupational diseases, and practised physicians are with increasing certainty determining the occupational origin of a larger and larger number of diseases due to labour. Thus, under the twofold influence of the progress of medical science and of the principle of occupational risk, legislation is tending to guarantee compensation for occupational diseases in an ever growing number of the systems which deal with industrial accidents. The consequence of all systems based on the principle of occupational risk is to make the employer liable not only for accidents due to his own fault, but also those which are due to the unintentional fault of the worker, to chance, to force majeure or to unknown causes. This system naturally leads to a compromise. The employer relinquishes the protection afforded him by common law in the event of an accident which is not attributable to his own fault, and the worker relinquishes his right to some portion of the total compensation which he can claim in the event of the demonstrable fault of the employer, in order to obtain the benefits of compensation in cases where accidents are due to his own unintentional fault, to chance, to force majeure or to unknown causes. Occupational risk, therefore, necessarily involves the assessment of fixed compensation. Hence the existence in the various legislations of scales based on the wages of the victim and drawn up with due regard to the seriousness of the accident or, 'n the event of death, to the number and circumstances of the deceased's assigns. A natural result of the all-round application of the principle of occupational risk is that the number of disputes concerning the responsibility either of the worker or of the employer is considerably diminished. The introduction into legislation of fixed scales of compensation has done away with most of the disputes which formerly took place over the amount of compensation due. Disputes, however, still occur, and they are generally concerned with the — 8— estímate to be made of the degree and duration of disablement. They give rise to questions which are medical and occupational rather than legal. The realisation of this fact has resulted in a simplification of legislative procedure, the creation of arbitration councils and special courts of a technical and occupational nature, which more and more tend to be influenced or even dominated by doctors, workers and employers who act thereon as experts, or even as judges. Mention should finally be made of a characteristic which, although not a direct outcome of the principle of occupational risk, is none the less exceptionally important and is perhaps the outstanding feature of recent developments in industrial accident legislation :— namely, the predominant part played by the organisation of security for the payment of compensation. It is not sufficient to assert the principle of occupational risk and to determine what undertakings are subject to it, what workers benefit, what risks are covered by it, or what compensation should be fixed. Workers must also be given a guarantee that they will receive the compensation due to them. The first and simplest of the methods discovered by legislation to give such security to the victims of industrial accidents or occupational diseases, or their assigns, consisted in making compensation a first charge on the property of the debtor. But it is clearly possible that this guarantee might be inadequate in many cases. It does not guarantee the creditor against the risk of the debtor's bankruptcy, and such risk may be particularly serious in the case of a small employer whose whole fortune is sometimes inferior to the capitalised value of a pension payable as the result of an accident followed either by death or by total and permanent incapacity. Many attempts have been made to discover systems affording greater security, either by means of thé constitution of a national guarantee fund covering the risk of bankruptcy on the part of the employer who is liable or, more generally, by compelling employers to insure with institutions the operations of which are controlled by the State, or to become members of district or national mutual insurance societies. The organisation of security for payment as supplementary to the system of compensation is continually gaining ground, and insurance in its various forms tends yearly to bulk more largely in the whole system. The object of insurance (and it has succeeded in its aim) is to distribute the risk over a large number of undertakings and a large number of workers, and — 9 — consequently to obtain a more or less constant average of compensable accidents, according to number and seriousness, and to fix in a comparatively stable manner the charges which fall upon employers in the form of contributions to the guarantee funds, premiums to insurance companies or contributions to mutual insurance societies; secondly, to substitute for the individual liability of each employer the collective liability of all employers in the same occupation or district, or throughout the nation. * * * We may now proceed, on the following plan, to a comparative analysis of the various systems of legislation 1 . First Part. Scope of the various Legislative Systems : Undertakings covered and Workers benefiting. Second Part. Risks covered: Industrial Accidents. Third Part. Benefits due to Injured Workmen and to their Dependants. Fourth Part. Guarantee Systems. Fifth Part. Notification of Accidents and Contested Cases. Sixth Part. Position of Foreigners. 1 The present report contains no comparative analysis of the legislative systems in force in the United States or in Mexico. In view of their extent (i.e. more than 60 legislative systems) it has been thought desirable to deal with them in a special report, which will be published later. PART I SCOPE OF LAWS O N | I N D U S T R I A L ACCIDENTS INTRODUCTION THE GROWTH OF MODERN LEGISLATION A first measure of the value of the protection afforded to the workers by any law on compensation for industrial accidents is given by its scope, in other words, by the number of workers to whom it secures such compensation. However wide it may be with respect to the risks covered, the rates of compensation allowed, and the systems of guaranteed payment set up, the law cannot be considered satisfactory to the workers if the benefits it confers are limited to a small proportion of those liable to become the victims of accidents. The determination of the scope of the law is therefore of great interest, both to the wage earner on whom it confers rights and to the employer on whom it imposes burdens. Important as the scope of these laws may be from the national point of view, it is no less so from the international point of view to men and institutions engaged in an endeavour to standardise the burdens of employers as much as possible, in order to secure fair play for the competition between national industries and acceptable conditions of employment for the workers, while taking into account the actual development of the legislation of the different countries. — 12 — In its inception half a century ago the law regarded the paid worker from the point of view of the undertaking in which he was employed, and covered only workers in certain classes of undertakings considered as presenting particularly serious risks of accident. By degrees and at a rate varying from country to country, the scope of the law was extended, and tended more and more to secure the benefit of compensation for industrial accidents on the principle of occupational risk for all paid workers. This extension took place by one of two methods. The first, oldest, and most widely adopted method was simply a development of the original system of determining the scope of the law. The worker was still considered from the point of view of the undertaking in which he was employed, but the classes of undertakings enumerated became more and more numerous, the lists longer and longer. Classes of undertakings not enumerated in the list were excluded. Such has been the line taken by legislation in the following countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canadian Provinces, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Roumania, Salvador, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay. Under the second method the worker is considered from the point of view of carrying on an occupation in the service of an employer and receiving remuneration, but no account is taken of the undertaking in which he is employed. There is no enumeration of undertakings, and workers who are not explicitly excluded are subject to the law. The chief countries in which compensation legislation has developed in this direction are : the Australian States, Bulgaria, Denmark, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden. Ultimately all these laws apply to individual persons, but they do so on different systems; some take into account both the fact of employment and the undertaking, others simply the fact of employment irrespective of the undertaking. It therefore becomes necessary to consider the scope of the law, first with respect to undertakings and secondly with respect to persons. There is all the more need for doing this, as the law has generally not developed along the lines of either system exclusively. Laws which enumerate a limitative list of undertakings do not always confer the advantages of compensation on all the workers employed in — 13 — these undertakings. Similarly, laws, the scope of which is defined by a general formula covering the different occupations of wage earners, may make exceptions for certain classes of undertakings or persons. Consequently, this first part must be divided into two chapters, the first dealing with the undertakings and services subject to legislation on the compensation for industrial accidents, and the second with the beneficiaries properly so called under such legislation. CHAPTER I UNDERTAKINGS AND SERVICES COVERED §1. — Laws applying to Persons bound by a Contract of Employment and Employed in the Undertakings defined by the Law It has already been explained that the principle of occupational risk, which, when compensation laws were inaugurated, applied only to dangerous occupations, has gradually been extended in several states to all undertakings and services. In many countries the law has not yet reached this stage of universality, and its scope is defined by an enumeration of general classes of undertakings or branches of occupation, an enumeration which may be either strictly limitative or more widely descriptive. This was the method followed by the French legislature in 1898, who decided to include only industry because it alone exposed the workers to a serious and constant risk of accident, and to leave commerce and agriculture subject to the provisions of the Civil Code. It was also the method which had previously been adopted in 1885 by the German legislature, and has since been followed in the laws of several other countries. The method of enumeration permits of the exclusion of any given branch of industry or occupation for reasons of expediency. But with this method it is not sufficient for establishing the right to compensation that the relation between the person applying for compensation and the person applied to should be that of worker to employer. In addition, the nature of the work or the importance of the undertaking must be expressly defined by the law. Therefore the right to compensation cannot arise unless the law expressly or tacitly provides that a given undertaking is covered by special legislation on accident compensation. For this purpose use may be made either of the limitative method of enumeration or of the mixed method, which, besides naming specified undertakings, includes a broadly descriptive enumeration of undertakings or occupations. — 15 — The limitative method of enumeration has been adopted in the laws of most of the Canadian Provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario) ; the descriptive method by the following States among others : Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Poland, Roumania, Saskatchewan, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, Yukon. The analyses of these national Acts in the second part of this chapter give the enumerations in detail, which vary considerably from country to country. These analyses show better than a comparative study, which in this respect cannot be other than fragmentary, what the limits are for each of the national laws. Nevertheless, the chief kinds of activity subject to regulation will be briefly reviewed: namely, industry, commerce, agriculture, shipping, fishery, and domestic service, followed by a consideration of the chief disadvantages of the method, and the measures adopted in the different laws for extending their scope. INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS The laws in this group apply very generally to industrial undertakings, which, owing to the risk of accident, were the first to attract the attention of the legislator. The most important are mining (mines, surface mines, quarries) and manufacture (mills, factories, work-yards, building) as well as undertakings which, although they cannot properly be described as industrial undertakings, are similar to them in the risks run by the workers, such as undertakings in which explosives are used. Yet in certain countries there are sometimes important limitations to the liability of industrial undertakings under special compensation legislation, whether because a smaller risk of accident would seem to justify such limitation, or because the practical administration of the Act is difficult in undertakings of secondary .importance. These limitations relate in particular to the number of paid workers employed in the undertakings, the importance of the risk (use of machinery), the purpose of the undertaking, the permanent or occasional nature of certain undertakings, etc. Number of Workers Under certain laws industrial undertakings are not subject unless they employ a minimum number of workers and employees. The — 16 — legal minimum has been fixed at 100 in China, 20 in Austria and India, 15 1 in Japan, 10 in Germany, 5 in Poland2, Chile, Esthonia, Latvia, and Yukon. Certain countries exclude specific kinds of employment unless a minimum number of workers is employed. Thus the Italian law excludes certain building, repair, transport, etc. undertakings enumerated in Section 1 (2) of the Act, if less than six workers are employed, and the Finnish Act excludes the building and maintenance of roads and bridges if less than five workers are employed at the same time. The object of all these limitations is to exclude from the benefits conferred by compensation legislation undertakings in which the practical administration of the law would meet with difficulty. Certain laws exclude small undertakings defined in a rather different way. Thus the Finnish Act does not apply to undertakings in which only the employer, his wife and their children are employed. The Austrian and Czechoslovak Acts exclude the erection of certain buildings in rural districts, provided that the work is executed by only the builder, the members of his household, or other inhabitants of the same commune who are not building workers by trade. Minimum Risk Several laws exclude industrial undertakings in which there is no serious risk of accident, especially if they make no use of mechanical power. This condition of exclusion is to be found in the laws of the following countries among others: Argentina: Factories, workshops and undertakings in which only human power is used; Austria and Czechoslovakia: Industrial undertakings employing neither steam boilers nor machinery driven by natural power or by animals, and undertakings employing merely temporary machinery not forming part of the permanent plant; Belgium: Industrial undertakings not specially enumerated in the Act, and in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is used only temporarily; Brazil : Industrial undertakings in which no use is made of mechanical power; Cuba: Manufacture of articles in which no use is made of machinery driven by mechanical or other power; 1 2 Reduced to 10 by the Act of 29 March 1923. Former Russian Territory. — 17 — Finland: Factories, trades, and other industrial undertakings in which there are no machine tools driven by other than human motive power, or in which there is no technical plant ; France: Undertakings in which explosives are not manufactured, or in which mechanical power is not used : Germany: Undertakings regularly employing less than 10 paid workers, not making use of explosives or electricity, or of steam boilers, or machinery driven by natural or animal power; Hungary: Industries not enumerated in the Act in which no use is made of machinery run by mechanical power, or steam boilers requiring an official licence; Italy: Industrial undertakings in which machinery is actuated directly by the workers using it and those not enumerated in the Act; Japan : The Order of 2 August 1916 excludes a certain number of undertakings provided that machinery is not used; Norway: Undertakings not using mechanical power or steam boilers, not being factories or run as factories, not being enumerated in the Act; Poland : Undertakings not employing closed steam boilers or not specially mentioned in the Act 1 ; Roumania: Industries and trades in which no use is made of machinery driven by mechanical power (steam, gas, electricity, combustion or water)2 ; Uruguay: Undertakings, industries and workshops in which only human power is used. Side by side with these general groups of undertakings, specific undertakings'in which the risk of accident is small may also be excluded. Thus, in Finland, administrative orders have been issued excluding watch factories, scientific instrument factories, boot and shoe factories, etc. The procedure adopted in Japan was similar (Order of 2 August 1916). In Luxemburg, certain industrial undertakings and trades in which the risk of accident is slight are exempt from the liability to insurance, including undertakings for the manufacture of clothing, toilet articles, and foodstuffs. The limitations arising out of the size of the undertaking and the use of machinery are not only often found in the same laws; they 1 2 Former Russian territory. Former Kingdom and Bessarabia. — 18 — are sometimes complementary, that is to say, undertakings are excluded in which the number of workers employed falls below a certain minimum and in which certain machinery or motive power is not used. Detailed information will be found in the second part of this chapter and the appended table. Object of the Undertaking The third limitation arises when the object of the undertaking is taken into account. This condition is to be found for instance in the province of Saskatchewan, where factories, mines, quarries or engineering works on a farm and used for the purpose of the farm are excluded from the scope of the Act. Permanent or Occasional Nature of the Undertaking The law may also take into consideration the permanent or occasional nature of the undertaking, and exclude those which cannot be made subject to the law owing to their temporary nature. Thus, in Switzerland, undertakings employing less than five persons for less than one month are excluded if the work requires less than 100 days per year. Parts of Undertakings Finally, the object has often been to exclude certain parts of undertakings in which the workers are not exposed to the same risks as those run by the other workers employed. The Swiss Act contains provisions of this kind. COMMERCIAL UNDERTAKINGS Although several laws, for instance the French Act of 1898, included certain commercial undertakings in which the risks were as great as in industrial undertakings, as a rule the extension of the principle of occupational risk to commerce did not take place until the adoption of a special system of compensation for industry. "Industry transforms the articles with which it deals, unlike commerce, in which there is only exchange", according to a statement of the French Supreme Court 1 . Now, in many countries exchange operations are not considered to justify special legislation on industrial accident compensation. Thus, whereas in certain States all commercial undertakings are subject to compensation legislation (France, Spain, except banking), in others thay are excluded often with important exceptions, 1 Civ. 3 August 1903; 26 October 1903, D. P. 1904. 1.45; 5 July 1903 (three decisions). — 19 — in particular transport, loading, unloading and warehousing undertakings (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Esthonia, Finland, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Peru, Poland (former Russian Poland 1 ), Roumania, Uruguay). Some countries include only commercial undertakings of a certain • importance. Thus, in Germany, undertakings are excluded if the persons engaged by the employer work less than 300 days a year. Austria and Czechoslovakia exclude small commercial undertakings in which motive power is not used; Belgium, commercial warehouses employing less than three workers; Switzerland, commercial undertakings in which heavy goods are not warehoused and which make no use of mechanical plant for their transport; the Province of Alberta, commercial undertakings in which there is no risk of accident. AGRICULTURAL UNDERTAKINGS Agriculture was included only by degrees among the undertakings subject to accident legislation. The legal position of agricultural workers, as far as their right to compensation is concerned, still differs widely in many countries from t h a t of industrial workers, b u t the growing use of mechanical power in agriculture and the consequent increase in the number of accidents have led in many States to a steady diminution of the inequality. Moreover, this inequality has already been given consideration b y the International Labour Organisation, and the International Labour Conference of 1921 adopted a Draft Convention concerning the extension to agricultural wage earners of workmen's compensation legislation. In the report prepared by the International Labour Office on "Special Measures for the Protection of Agricultural Workers", the Office drew attention to the unfavourable condition of agricultural workers as compared with industrial workers. The following passage in the report illustrates how deplorable this inequality may be: it is inadmissible that the farm worker who drives a wagon-load of beets to the sugar refinery should not receive any compensation if he is run over by his wagon while the worker in the refinery who does the same work and sustains an identical accident on the same day receives a half-pay indemnity or a permanent disability benefit2. 1 Undertakings are subject to the Act if they use mechanical power or steam boilers and employ more than 5 workers, or if they use neither mechanical power nor steam boilers but employ more than 15 workers. 2 INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE: Special Measures for the Protection of Agricultural Workers. International Labour Conference. Third Session, Geneva, October 1921, p. 99. — 20 — Some States have extended the privileges of workmen's compensation legislation to agricultural undertakings either by enacting special legislation for this class of undertaking, or by making them subject to the regulations for industry (British Columbia, Esthonia 1 , France, Germany, Italy). Other countries have included only undertakings in which the risk of accident is as great as in industry, that is to say, in which mechanical power is used (Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Norway, Roumania, Spain, Uruguay). Small agricultural undertakings are excluded in Belgium, for the Belgian Act relates only to undertakings employing regularly at least three workers; in Spain, where the law applies only to agricultural, forestry, and stock-breeding undertakings employing regularly six workers (and using agricultural machinery driven by mechanical power) ; and in Luxemburg, where agricultural undertakings are not subject to the Act unless they are at least 10 ares in size. Finally, in several States, both European and non-European, agricultural undertakings are subject in respect of workmen's compensation to the common law only, e.g. China, Canada (except British Columbia), India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (former Russian territory). MARITIME NAVIGATION AND FISHERIES In several countries the special risks run by persons employed in the shipping or fishing industries have led either to their inclusion in general accident legislation, or to the establishment of a special scheme. The principle of occupational risk has been extended to shipping in Argentina, Chile, France2, Germany, Italy, Norway, Roumania, and Spain. Sea fishery is covered in such countries as Argentina, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Spain. Other countries require the undertaking to be of a certain importance before it can be subject to accident legislation. Thus, in Finland, fishery is included only if it is carried on as a business employing simultaneously more than three paid workers. Belgium, Japan, and the Baltic States have not extended the principle of occupational risk to the employment of seamen and fishermen. 1 2 Act of 2 June 1903. Act of 25 April 1898 amended by Act of 29 December 1905. — 21 — DOMESTIC SERVICE . At first sight it would seem that the problem of extending the principle of occupational risk to domestic service should be dealt with as one of the "classes of workers covered". The case is on the border line, for the provisions of the different laws and regulations on this point relate on the one hand to a given occupation in the same way as to agriculture, shipping, or fishery, and, on the other, directly to individual persons working outside an undertaking subject to the law, but entitled to compensation in the event of accident. It has nevertheless been thought desirable for the sake of clearness in exposition to discuss it first in the chapter on the undertakings and services subject to the law. Although the risk of accident run by persons employed in domestic service is small compared with that in industry, the desire to extend the principle of occupational risk by degrees to all paid workers has led in several countries to the inclusion of domestic servants, caretakers, etc., in compensation legislation. It should be observed here t h a t some national laws, while excluding domestic service in general, expressly include domestic service performed by workers principally engaged in industrial, agricultural, or other work in undertakings subject to the law. The German law, for instance, contains a clause under which insurance is compulsory in respect of domestic and other employment carried out by the insured on the instructions of the head of the undertaking or his representative, side by side with their principal employment in the undertaking, whether the undertaking is in industry, agriculture or shipping. A similar provision is enforced in Finland, where domestic service as such does not entitle the worker to benefit by the law, but only if he is employed by a person employing other workers. The group of laws covering domestic service in general includes the French Act of 2 August 1923, extending industrial accident legislation to domestic servants and other persons employed for wages or salary in the household of the employer and to caretakers. In other countries, such as Hungary, only voluntary insurance is open to domestic workers. The majority of countries, on the other hand, exclude domestic service either explicitly or implicitly, domestic servants being deemed to be paid workers employed outside the undertakings covered by the law. In this respect the Belgian Act is typical, for it is based on the idea t h a t domestic workers cannot be considered — 22 — to be bound by a contract of employment as defined by the Act of 10 March 1900, and they are therefore excluded from the Accident Insurance Act of 24 December 1903. Domestic service is similarly excluded by the laws of the following European countries among others: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Switzerland. Outside Europe, a similar exclusion is to be found in Canada (explicitly in the following States: British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario; implicitly in Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), India, Japan, and the Central and South American States. DISADVANTAGES OF THE METHOD OF ENUMERATION . This rapid review of some of the chief aspects of different national laws which define their scope by the method of enumeration, whether it be widely descriptive or even limitative, brings out the sometimes serious disadvantages of this method of procedure. There are, in the first place, the difficulties inherent in the actual interpretation of the terms of the law. Often the decision whether an undertaking is liable or not cannot easily be deduced from the terms employed in the law, and this may lead to disputes that cannot fail to be detrimental to the interests of the persons the law is intended to protect. Thus, in the Netherlands, when the Act of 1901 enumerating the industries covered came into force continual disputes between employers, workers, and the bodies responsible for administering the Act arose out of the question whether a given industry was liable or not to compulsory insurance 1. Moreover, even the descriptive method of enumeration may leave important undertakings outside the scope of the Act. The line between included and excluded industries may be drawn in an arbitrary manner, and this difficulty is particularly met with in distinguishing between dangerous industries and those in which the risk of accident is only slight. According to the statement made by Mr. Poirrier, who reported to the Senate on the French Bill of 1898, "although in theory a line of demarcation between dangerous and safe industries may be conceived, in practice this distinction has seemed almost impossible" 2 . 1 TEMPEL, J. V. D., and BOEKMAN, E.: De Sociale Verzekering in Nederland, p. 223. Amsterdam. Senate, 11 June 1895, Journal officiel, p. 724. Quoted by LOUBAT, Traité sur le risque professionnel, p. 51. Paris, 1907. — 23 — Finally, the rapid growth of new branches of industry — a growth which could not be foreseen by the legislator — may exclude the workers employed in such industries from the scope of the law. Thus the laws enacted at the end of the nineteenth century could not include aerial navigation undertakings or cinematograph undertakings, which are now of such importance and so dangerous, and which employ so many workers. PROVISIONS IN THE LAWS FOR THE EXTENSION OF THEIR SCOPS Mainly with a view to counteracting these disadvantages, the various national laws contain provisions for extending their scope. In the first place, many laws provide for voluntary submission to compensation legislation by allowing either specified undertakings, or groups of employers and workers t h a t are not covered to benefit by the law. Provisions of this kind are to be found in the laws of the following countries among others: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Uruguay. The scope of the law may be extended not only by voluntary submission, but also by the amendments which the legislative authorities may at any time introduce in the list of undertakings covered. With a view to facilitating this extension of scope some countries have entrusted it either to the executive or to the administrative authorities. Thus, in Austria the Minister of Social Administration and in Czechoslovakia the Minister of Social Welfare may extend the liability to insurance to undertakings not covered in which there is a risk of accident and especially of fire. In Argentina the executive authorities, after consulting the Department of Labour, may apply the law to industries similar to those it enumerated. In the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario the Workmen's Compensation Board* is empowered to amend the list of undertakings covered. In Chile the list must be revised and supplemented periodically at least once every two years. In Esthonia, the extension of the scope of the law is in the hands of the Workers' Insurance Council, in Latvia, of the Ministry of Labour. Similar provisions are also in force in India and Uruguay. 1 The Commission responsible for the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and for the determination of all questions and disputes arising under it. — 24 — § 2. — Laws applying to all Persons bound by a Contract of Employment As already explained, several countries determine the scope of their laws by making them applicable to individual persons carrying on an occupation in the service of an employer, irrespective of the undertaking in which they are employed. On this system, to create a right to compensation it is enough that the relation between the person applying for compensation and the person applied to should be that of worker to employer. Incidentally it should be observed t h a t this is not always the relation when one person is in the service of another *. The scope of laws based on this principle is therefore of the widest, and embraces all undertakings and services in the country where this system is in force. The British law is founded on the principle which was introduced by the Act of 1906, amended in 1923. There are, in fact, no exceptions to the scope of this Act as far as classes of workers are concerned, for it covers the whole of industry •— large, medium, and small — commerce, agriculture, fishery, inland navigation and sea service, domestic service, etc. Mr. C. M. Knowles, Secretary of the Departmental Committee on Workmen's Compensation, stated in 1919: "Our own Act is the most generous 1 have yet come across with regard to the scope of its application." 2 The British Act has served as a model for some of the British Dominions, e.g. South Africa, the Australian States (South Australia, Western Australia, New South W'ales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand), where all industrial, commercial, and agricultural undertakings are covered by the Act. A similar formula is used in the Australian Commonwealth Act for all persons employed in the service of the Commonwealth. By the end of the war, a similar system had been introduced in certain North European States. The Danish Act of 6 July 1916 on accident insurance, amended by the Act of 28 June 1920, extended compulsory insurance to all undertakings (State, communal and private undertakings). With one exception, t h a t of jS!1 The relation is not one of worker to employerfbetween a music Jteacher and his pupil, although the former is under a contract for services with the latter. * Departmental Committee on Workmen's Compensation; Minutes of Evidence, Volume 1, Q. 937 (Cmd. 908). — 25 — occasional or temporary domestic servants in the employment of a person not employing workers liable to insurance, any person who runs an undertaking of any nature, whether industrial or not, or who employs in his service manual workers, officials, office clerks or shop assistants, domestic servants or other persons, is liable to insure the persons he employs against the risk of accident. Here, too, liability under the Act is determined by the legal relation of employer to worker. The Swedish Act of 17 June 1916, amended in 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1922, similarly contains no limitative definition of the industries liable to insurance. It is even as wide in scope, only home work being excluded. Fishermen who are not deemed to be independent workers within the meaning of the Act may insure voluntarily. The Dutch law, modelled on the system in force in Great Britain, also applies to all undertakings except those expressly excluded. Since, however, there are special regulations under the Act of 20 May 1922 for the excluded undertakings (agriculture, stockbreeding, horticulture and forestry), and compensation is payable for accidents in shipping and sea fishery under the Act of 27 June 1919, the Dutch law ultimately covers all undertakings in the country, although by somewhat different methods. The Serb-Croat-Slovene Act of 14 May 1922 and the Bulgarian Act of 6 March 1924 may also be classified in this group. Whether the formula used is the "all manual or intellectual work " of the Serb-Croat-Slovene Act or the "all public and private establishments and undertakings " of the Bulgarian Act, in theory it is the same as that employed in the British Act, which speaks of "any employment. " The theoretical scope of the law is as wide in Soviet Russia and Portugal. In spite of the tendency to limit the scope x of the legislation of Soviet Russia, all undertakings and services in the Russian Republic are covered by it. Quite recently, however, a circular of 23 April 1924 exempted small, self-supporting agricultural undertakings, i.e. not working for the market. The Portuguese Decree No. 5637 of 10 May 1919, instituting compulsory insurance against industrial accidents, applies to all industrial, commercial, and agricultural undertakings. It relates to the different branches of manual and non-manual work, whether carried out collectively or individually. 1 Cf. for instance, the Circular of the Commissariat of Labour No. 259/53 of 21 June 1923. — 26 — The laws reviewed above, which apply in practice to all persons bound by a contract of employment, may therefore be considered from the theoretical point of view the wider in scope. * * * A study of the undertakings and services subject to the different laws on compensation for industrial accidents would be incomplete if the brief general survey were not supplemented by an analysis of the provisions of each of the laws in force relating to its scope. For this reason, and in view of the fact that many laws often contain extremely complex and mutually incomparable lists, it has been thought advisable to complete the comparative survey by a series of short analyses, in alphabetical order of countries, as the only .means of giving for each country considered an accurate view of the undertakings and services subject to compensation legislation ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES ARGENTINA The industries and undertakings enumerated below are subject to the Act of 11 October 1915 on industrial accident compensation: (1) Factories, workshops and industrial establishments in which other than human motive power is used for the work. (2) The construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, railways, harbours, quays, canals and similar works. (3) Mines and quarries. (4) Transport, loading and unloading. (5) Manufacture and use of explosive and inflammable materials, as also electrical materials. (6) Transport and working of machines in forestry and agriculture. (7) The installation, repair and removal of telephone equipment and lightning conductors. (8) All industries or undertakings similar to those enumerated above, if they have been brought under the Act by the executive authorities, after consulting the Department of Labour, thirty days before the date of the accident (Section 7). The more detailed list of undertakings given in Section 7 of the Regulations of 14 January 1916 is not limitative, for the executive authorities may subsequently bring other industries under these regulations. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth The Commonwealth Workmen's Compensation Act of 1912 covers employment in the service of the Commonwealth (Section 4, subs. 1). The Seamen's Compensation Act of 1911 covers employment on: (a) Ships in the service of the Commonwealth; (¿>) Ships trading with Australia or engaging in any occupation in Australian waters, and being in the territorial waters of any Territory which is part of the Commonwealth; (c) Ships engaged in trade and commerce with other countries or among the Australian states. In the case of ships not registered in Australia, the Act as regards classes (b) and (c) above applies only in relation to seamen shipped under articles of agreement entered into in Australia, and then only while the ships are subject to the law of the Commonwealth (Section 4). In addition to home work, the 1912 Act expressly excludes active service with the naval and military forces (Section 3). The 1911 Act does not apply (a) to vessels ordinarily propelled with oars (Section 3), (6) to ships in the naval and military service of the Commonwealth (Section 4, subs. 1 (a)). New South Wales The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1916, amended in 1920, covers "any employment" (Section 5, subs. 1), including employment by local or other public authorities (Section 4) or by the Government, in so far as the Act would — 28 — apply if the employer were a private person (Section 13), and employment on a New South Wales ship whose first port of clearance and whose destination are in that state (Section 11). In addition to home work, the following industries and employments are expressly excluded from the scope of the Act: (1) The police force. (2) Share fishing (Section 11, subs. 4), Queensland The Workers' Compensation Acts, 1916 to 1921, amended in 1923, cover the work of all classes of workers not specifically excluded (Section 9, subs. 1); specifically including Government employment, in so far as the Act would apply if the employer were a private person (Section 10); employment on a Queensland ship in respect of accidents happening while the ship is in any port in Queensland or within the territorial waters of that state (Section 11), domestic service (Section 3, subs. 1), and in general employment by any institution or corporation employing workers (Section 3). The following workers are expressly excluded from the scope of the Act; (1) Members of the police force (Section 3, subs. 1) ; (2) Employees in the public services for whom provision is made by the Public Service Superannuation Act of 1912. The Act defines the "place of employment" as "the premises, works, plant, or place for the time being occupied by or under the control or management of the employer." It follows that home workers are excluded from the scope of the Act. South Australia The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1911, amended in 1920 and 1925, covers "any employment" (Section 6, subs. 1), including Government employment other than naval or military service (Section 5, subs. 1) employment by a municipality (Section 4), and employment on South Australian ships in respect of accidents happening within South Australia or within the jurisdiction of that state (Section 13). In addition to home work, the following employments are expressly excluded from the scope of the Act. (1) Naval and military service (Section 5, subs. 1). (2) Share fishing (Section 13, subs. 4). Tasmania The Workers' Compensation Act of 1918, amended in 1920 and 1921, covers "any employment," apart from specific exceptions (Section 7, subs. 1), including Government service (Section 6), employment by a local or other public body or authority (Section 5), and employment on any ship registered in Tasmania and engaged in the state coasting trade or in trade within the state (Section 21). In addition to home work, the following industries and employments are specifically excluded from the scope of the Act : (1) Domestic service in a private family, where the servant is under 16 years of age, or is employed less than eight hours daily, or has at the date of the injury been in the employment of the same employer for less than 60 days continuously (Section 4). (2) Share fishing (Section 21, subs. 4). Victoria The Workers' Compensation Act of 1915 covers "any employment" (Section 5, subs. 1), specifically including Government employment, in so far as the — 29 — Act would apply if the employer were a private person (Section 4, subs. 1), employment by a municipality (Section 4, subs. 4), employment on'Victorian ships in respect of accidents happening within Victoria or within the jurisdiction of that state (Section 17), and domestic service (Section 3). In addition to home work, the Act expressly excludes the police force as regards members appointed before 25 November 1902 (Section 3). Western Australia The Workers' Compensation Act of 1912, amended in 1920, covers "any employment" (Section 6, subs. 1), including Government employment other than naval or military service (Section 5, subs. 1), employment by a municipality (Section 4), and employment on Western Australian ships in respect of accidents happening within Western Australia or within the jurisdiction of that state (Section 12). In addition to home work, the following industries and employments are expressly excluded from the scope of the Act: (1) The police force (Section 4). (2) Naval and military service (Section 5, subs. 1). (3) Share fishing (Section 12, subs. 4). AUSTRIA Under the Workers' Accident Insurance Act of 28 December 1887 insurance is compulsory for: (1) Factories, mills, foundries, mining of reserved minerals 1 , workyards, quarries and subsidiary establishments of the above undertakings. (2) Industrial construction and works connected with the construction of buildings (Section 1, subs. 2). (3) Undertakings in which explosives are manufactured or used (Section 1, subs. 3,i). (4) Undertakings in industry, agriculture and forestry in which steam boilers and machinery driven by natural (wind, water, steam, gas, hot air, electricity) or animal power are used (Section 1, subs. 3, ii). The Act of 1894 amended by the Act of 12 April 1924 extended the scope of the original act to include: (5) All railway undertakings whatever the motive power employed, and all other undertakings for the transport of passengers and goods by land, sea or river (Section 1, subs. 1 and 2 of the 1894 Act). ' (6) Dredging (Section 1, subs. 3). (7) Industrial undertakings for the cleaning of streets and buildings (subsection 4), canals and chimneys (subsections 8 and 9). (8) Industrial undertakings for cellarage and storage; wood and coal depots (subsection 5). (9) Permanently established theatres (subsection 6). (10) Professional fire brigades (subsection 7). (11) Stone-cutting, well sinking and metal forging (subsection 10). (12) The felling, dressing and transport of timber (Act of 1924). (13) Hunting (Act of 1924). The Minister of Social Administration is empowered to make insurance compulsory for the undertakings not. specified in Section 1 of the Act in which there is a risk of accident and especially of fire (Section 3, subs. 2). i. The Act applied to mines which could be worked without a licence. Section 1 of the Act of 30 December 1917 extended the liability to insurance to all mining undertakings subject to inspection by the mining authorities (Bergbehörden), their auxiliary departments, and undertakings for the production of the timber needed in mining, mineral wax and asphalt, as also to the smelting of non-reserved ores. — 30 — The Act does not apply to undertakings in which machinery not forming part of the permanent plant is used only temporarily (Section 1, subs. 3, ii), nor to the erection of one-storey dwellings and other agricultural buildings in rural districts, provided that the work is executed by only the builder, the members of his household or other inhabitants of the same district who are not building workers by trade (Section 1, subs. 2). Section 4 of the Act excludes persons employed in State, communal or other public undertakings if they or their survivors are entitled in the event of an industrial accident to a pension not less in amount than that provided under sections 6 and 7 of the Act. The Minister of Social Administration is empowered to exempt certain undertakings covered by section 1, if there is no risk of accident for the persons employed (Section 3, subs. 1). Employers in undertakings not liable to insurance may join the scheme voluntarily for all the workers and employees in the undertaking and for themselves. In this event they are deemed to have accepted all the provisions relating to undertakings liable to insurance (Section 6 of the Act of 20 July 1894). Further, employers in undertakings liable to insurance have the right to insure themselves, their representatives and any other persons who, without being liable, are nevertheless exposed to the risk ol accident (Section 5). BELGIUM The Belgian Act of 24 December 1903, amended by the Act of 27 August 1919, and the Act of 7 August 1921 amending the Acts of 24 December 1903 and 27 August 1919 on compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents divide the undertakings covered into three groups. (1) The first group includes the following private and public undertakings irrespective of the number of workers ordinarily employed in them : (a) Mines, surface mines, quarries ; coke furnaces, manufacture of coalbriquettes; furnaces and workshops for the preparation and treatment of ores and quarry products ; (b) Blast furnaces, steel works, works in which iron and other metals are produced and worked up; foundries; (c) Mechanical engineering, forges; smithies, locksmiths' and stove workshops, metal working; manufacture of bolts, nails, screws, chains, wire, cables, fire-arms, knives and other metal utensils or articles; (d) Plate-glass works, glassworks, crystal glassworks, hollow glass works; manufacture of pottery; (e) Manufacture of chemical products, gas and its by-products, explosives, matches, oils, candles, soaps, paints and varnishes, rubber, and paper; (/) Tanneries and currying establishments. (g) Flour-mills ; breweries, malt-houses, distilleries ; the manufacture of mineral waters; sugar factories; (h) Masonry, carpentry, painting and all other building trades; chimney sweeping; earth-works, the sinking of wells, paving, road-making and other civil engineering work ; (i) Forestry undertakings; (/) Transport by land of persons or goods ; undertakings for inland navigation, haulage, towage and dredging, storage,packing,loading and unloading; the operation of telegraphs and telephones; (k) Undertakings in which steam, air or gas is used, or electricity the power of which exceeds a limit to be fixed by Royal Decree ; (/) And, in general, all undertakings in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is used otherwise than temporarily. — 31 — (2) The second group includes the following undertakings in which a minimum number of paid workers is employed : (a) industrial establishments which are not included in the groups enumerated above and in which at least five workers are habitually employed ; (¿>) agricultural undertakings in which at least three workers are habitually employed ; (c) commercial houses where at least three workers are habitually employed. (3) The third group includes the undertakings not enumerated above and scheduled as dangerous by Royal Decree upon the advice of the Industrial Accident Commission. Moreover, heads of undertakings or of branches of undertakings not enumerated in the Act have the right voluntarily to adopt its provisions. BRAZIL Under Section 3 of Decree No. 3724 of 15 January 1919 the following undertakings are subject to the law: construction, repair or demolition of any kind, e.g. buildings, bridges, roads or railroads, electric tramway lines, telegraphs and telephones and the maintenance of all such works; transport, loading and unloading; industrial establishments and agricultural undertakings in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is used. Section 6 of the Decree of 12 March 1919 confirming the administrative regulations of the above Act gives a list of the industries and occupations covered, but this list is not limitative, and does not exclude other industrial or agricultural undertakings in which mechanical power is used, nor any work of construction, maintenance, repair or demolition, nor any other kind of transport, loading and unloading. By Section 4 of the Decree of 15 January 1919, the Federal Government, individual states and municipalities are liable under the Act in respect of the specified undertakings and occupations. BULGARIA Under the Social Insurance Act of 6 March 1924, insurance is compulsory for all public or private establishments and undertakings. Section 7 of the Regulations of 25 June 1924 classifies the undertakings liable to compulsory accident insurance under the following heads : (1) Mines, quarries and other natural resources, mineral water springs and the installation of mechanical power. (2) Industries, crafts, and similar undertakings. (3) Commerce. (4) The transport of goods and passengers, including loading, unloading and warehousing of goods. (5) Construction, maintenance and demolition of buildings of all kinds; streets, railways and means of communication. (6) Agriculture and all special branches of agriculture; forestry and fishery. (7) Sanatoria, hospitals, dispensaries, artistic and photographic workshops, cinematographs, theatres, technical bureaux, and other liberal professions. (8) Public or private hostels, orphanages, charitable institutions, sports clubs, political and economic societies, scientific societies. (9) Households employing men and women servants, chauffeurs, grooms or coachmen. By Section 4, home-work must also be considered liable to insurance. Note II to Section 1 of the Act states that insurance is not compulsory for certain kinds of casual work, namely, seasonal work performed by mowers, reapers, vineyard workers, rose pickers, woodcutters, and diggers (Section 13 of the Regulations). — 32 — CAKADA Alberta The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1918 as amended in 1919, 1920, and 1921 covers the industries (establishments, undertakings, etc.) enumerated in the Schedules of the Act 1 . The list includes employment in or about coal or other mines, coke ovens or briquetting plant ; any trade or business connected with lumbering, fishing, manufacturing, building, construction, engineering, transportation, navigation, operation of boats and ships, operation of warehouses, public utilities, employment by the Dominion or Provincial Governments and municipal corporations, moving pictures and theatres, etc., and any occupation incidental to or connected with any of these. The Act expressly excludes the following industries: (1) Farming and ranching (1920 Act, Section 16, subs. 4). (2) Employment in specified capacities on certain railways (1919 Act, Section 15). The Workmen's Compensation Board 2 is empowered to add to, withdraw, or re-arrange any industries scheduled as coming within the scope of the Act. It is also open to any employer engaged in an industry not covered by the Act, upon application to the Board, to have all his workers brought within the scope of the Act "subject to the approval of the Board and subject to the Board being satisfied that the majority of the employees are aware of the application and have not objected to being brought within the scope of the Act" (Section 16). Neither of these provisions applies, however, in the case of classes of workers or industries which are expressly excluded from the scope of the Act (1920 Act, Section 1). Whether or not any industry or any part, branch or department of an industry is within the scope of the Act, is to be determined exclusively by the Board (1919 Act, Section 2). British Columbia The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1916, as amended in 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1922 is divided into two parts; the first deals with the compensation of workers for personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment in the chief industries, certain industries and classes of workers being expressly excluded. An Accident Fund is set up for the payment of such compensation, derived from compulsory contributions levied upon all employers covered by this part of the Act, and administered by a Workmen's Compensation Board. Part II applies to the industries and workers not covered by Part I, excepting domestic service. It is in the nature of an "employers' liability" enactment, and empowers an injured workman or his dependants to sue the employer for damages, if the injury is caused by the negligence of the employer or of the workers in the undertaking or by any defect in the condition or arrangement of the plant or works. Apart from travelling salesmen who are not exposed to the risks incident to the nature of the work carried on in the industry, casual workers and home workers, Part I applies to the persons employed in the principal industries and classes of occupation, excepting domestic service. 1 Labour Legislation in Canada as existing 31 December 1920. Published by the Department of Labour. Ottawa, 1921. 2 The Commission responsible for the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and for the determination of all questions and disputes arising under it. — 33 — Industries covered by Pari I The list of industries covered by the Act includes the following: lumbering, mining, quarrying, fishing, construction, building, transportation; operation of telegraph or telephone systems, metal works, power plants, gasworks, sewers, municipal police, municipal fire departments, theatres, cinematographs, ' power laundries, warehouses, ships; painting etc. The provisions of Part I apply also to employment in the service of the Provincial Government or a municipal corporation as far as the industries within the scope of Part I are concerned. Under certain conditions the Board may add to the list of undertakings. An Amendment Act of 16 December 1922 extended the provisions of the Act to persons engaged in office or other clerical work, who had been excluded in the 1916 Act as not exposed to the risk of accident, and to agricultural workers. Industries excluded from Part I Domestic service is expressly excluded from the scope of both Parts of the Act (Section 74) and travelling salesmen who are not exposed to the risks incident to the nature of the work carried on in the industry (Section 4 (a)) are excluded from Part I. On the application of any worker in an industry not within the scope of Part I, or of any employer in the case of any industry or worker not within the scope of this Part, the Board may admit the industry or worker within the scope of this Part (Section 5, subs. 1). Industries covered by Part II Part II applies to industries not covered by Part I (Section 70). Industries excluded from Part II Domestic service is expressly excluded from the scope of Part II (Section 74). Manitoba The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1920, like the Act of British Columbia analysed above, consists of two parts. Part I applies to all workers (except casual workers, home workers, and clerical workers engaged in non-hazardous occupations) in the principal industries and classes of employment except agriculture and domestic service. Workers in any of the excluded industries may be included, either on the application of their employer or at the discretion of the Workmen's Compensation Board. ef. Workers not covered by the provisions for compensation (except agricultural workers and domestic servants) may secure damages in any case where the employer's liability can be proved. No kind of provision is made for the majority of agricultural and domestic -workers. Industries covered by Part I The industries covered by Part I, i.e., establishments, undertakings, trades and businesses (Section 2, subs. 1) are enumerated in Section 55 of Schedule 1 1 . They include employment by the provincial Government or any municipal corporation in respect of industries within the scope of the Act (Section 2, •subs. 2), lumbering, mining, quarrying, fishing, manufacturing, building, construction, engineering, transportation by road, rail or water, public •utilities, etc. i Cf. op. cit., note 1, p. 32 3 — 34 — Industries excluded from Part I Part I expressly does not apply to agricultural work and domestic service (Section 85), though any worker in these classes of employment may, on the application of the employer and with the approval of the Workmen's Compensation Board, be brought within its scope. The entertainment industry is not included among those scheduled as covered by Part I. The operation of aircraft is expressly excluded (Schedule 1, head 46). Whether or not any industry or any part, branch, or department of an industry is .within the scope of Part I, is a matter to be determined exclusively by the Board (Section 46, subs. 2). Industries covered by Part II Part II applies to industries not covered by Part I (Section 81). Industries excluded from Part II Agricultural work and domestic service are expressly excluded from Part II (Section 85). New Brunswick The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1918, like the Act of British Columbia, consists of two parts. Part I applies to all workers except travelling salesmen, clerical workers in non-hazardous employment, casual workers, home workers and members of the family of the employer residing with him, in all the principal industries and classes of employment other than agriculture, domestic service, a police force, or a fire department. Workers excluded from the provisions of the Act, with the exception of agricultural workers, domestic servants and fishermen, may secure damages in any case where the employer's liability can be proved. No kind of provision is made for the majority of agricultural and domestic workers Industries covered by Part I The industries (operations, undertakings, employments (Section 2)) covered by Part I are enumerated in Section 3 l . They include lumbering, mining, quarrying, manufacturing, building, construction, engineering, operation of railways and tramways, navigation, public utilities, warehouses, theatres and places of public amusement, etc., "and any employment incidental thereto or connected therewith." Employment by the Dominion or Provincial Governments "in so far as they or either of them may, in their capacity as employers. submit" to the operation of the Act, asalso employment by a municipal corporation, may be included in respect of an industry within the scope of Part I. Industries excluded from Part I Part I expressly does not apply to employment in the police force or fire department of a city, town or municipal corporation, agricultural labour, domestic service, or employment in the woods in logging and other forms of timber work. Any industry not within the scope of Part I may, on the recommendation of the Workmen's Compensation Board, be brought within its scope by Order in Council (Section 4). Moreover, any industry not included may, on the application of the employer, be admitted by the Board "on such terms and conditions and for such period as the Board may prescribe" (Section 5). The Board may by regulation exclude (or re-admit) any industry or industries 1 Cf. op. cil., note 1, p. 32. — 35 — in which not more than a stated number (to be fixed by regulation) of workers is usually employed (Section 6). Industries covered by Part II Part II applies to industries not covered by Part I (Section 80). Industries excluded from Part II Part II specifically does not apply to agricultural work, domestic service, and fishing (Section 84). Nova Scotia The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1915, amended in 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1922, like the Act of British Columbia, consists of two parts. Provision is made for compensation for all workers except travelling salesmen, casual workers, home workers, and members of the employer's family living with him, in the principal industries and classes of employment other than agriculture, domestic service, a police force or a fire department. Workers in any of the excluded industries may be included on the application of their employer, and subject to the approval of the Workmen's Compensation Board. Workers excluded from the provisions for compensation with the exception of agricultural workers and domestic servants, may secure damages in any case where the employer's liability can be proved. No kind of provision is made for the majority of agricultural and domestic workers. Industries covered by Part I The industries (establishments, undertakings, works, operations, trades, businesses (1917 Act, Section 2)) covered by Part I are enumerated in Section 3 of the amended Act of 1915 1. They include any operations carried on in a factory, and manufacturing, lumbering, mining, quarrying, fishing, building, construction, engineering, transportation, navigation, railways, public utilities, warehouses, theatres, etc., and "any occupation incidental to or immediately connected with any of these" ; wholesale and retail trade appear to be covered though they are not specifically mentioned. "Fishing" includes share-fishing (1919 Act, Section 5). Employment by municipal corporations or the Provincial Government in respect of any industry within the scope of Part I is included. Similar employment by the Dominion Government may be included in so far as that Government may in its capacity of employer submit to the .operation of the Act (1917 Act, Section 1). Industries excluded from Part I The following industries and classes of employment are expressly excluded from Part I: employment in the police force or fire department of a city, town, or municipal corporation (1917 Act, Section 5), agricultural labour and domestic service (1915 Act, Section 83). Upon the application of an employer, the Workmen's Compensation Board may however admit the industry in which workers in either of the two last named classes are employed, upon such terms and conditions as the Board may impose (1922 Act, Section 11). Any industry not within the scope of this Part, except agricultural work and domestic service, may, on the application of the employer, be admitted by the Workmen's Compensation Board on such terms and conditions, and for such period as the Board may prescribe (1915 Act, Section 5). The Board may by regulation exclude (or re-admit) any industry or industries in which not more than a stated number (fixed by regulation) of workers, or i Cf. op. cit., note 1, p. 32. — 36 — workers other than temporary workers are employed, the definition of the term "temporary workers" being left to the Board (1919 Act, Section 4). Industries covered by Part II Part II applies to industries not covered by Part I (1915 Act, Section 84). Industries excluded from Part II Part II does not apply to agricultural labour or domestic service (1915 Act, Section 88). Ontario The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1914 as amended in 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920 and 1922, like the Act of British Columbia, consists of two parts. Apart from home workers and executive officers of a corporation, Part I of the Act applies to the persons employed in the principal industries and classes of employment except agriculture and domestic service (Section 109). Industries covered by Part I Schedule 1 1 gives a list of the industries for which insurance is compulsory, that is to say, the employers in which are liable to contribute to the Accident Fund. The list specifies various kinds of employment in mines, quarries, the lumbering industry, metal works, chemical works, the manufacture of foodstuffs, the hide and leather industry, tobacco factories, the clothing industry, building and construction, etc. By an order of the Workmen's Compensation Board, theatres and cinematographs have been added to the list. The industries enumerated in Schedule I I 1 of the Act are subject only to its provisions on compensation. The employers in these industries are not liable to contribute to the Accident Fund. The industries in question are considered to be sufficiently important to have no need of collective liability and to be able to cover their own risks. They include the business of municipal corporations, public utilities commissions, or any other commission having the management and conduct of any work or service owned by or operated for a municipal corporation, etc., railways and tramways (but not the construction of such railways or tramways if it is carried out by any person other than the company which owns or operates the railway or tramway) ; the construction or operation of works for the purposes of any such railway, etc. (subject to the same reservation) ; the construction or operation of telephone and telegraph lines, steam vessels and works for the business of a navigation company, of sleeping, parlour or dining cars; the construction of bridges connecting the Province with an adjacent province or state. Industries excluded from Part I Besides home workers and executive officers of a corporation, and casual workers, Part I expressly does not apply to agricultural workers and domestic servants. Industries covered by Part II P a r t i i applies to workers, other than home workers and casual workers, in the industries excluded from Part I (Section 105). Industries excluded from Part II Part II does not apply to agricultural work or domestic service (Section 109). Quebec The Workmen's Compensation Act of 29 May 1909, amended by the Acts of 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920 and 1922, applies to the following undertakings and i Cf. op. cit., note 1, p. 32. — 37 — classes of work: building; factories, manufactories, workshops; stone, wood and coal yards; transportation by land or water; loading and unloading; any gas or electrical business: the building, repairing or maintenance of railways or tramways, waterworks, drains, sewers, dams, wharves, elevators or bridges ; mines or quarries; or any industrial enterprise in which explosives are manufactured or prepared or in which machinery is used, moved by power other than that of man or of animals (Statute of Quebec, Section 7, 321). Saskatchewan The Workmen's Compensation Act of 23 March 1911, amended by the Act of 1920, applies to the following undertakings: railways, factories, mines, quarries, engineering work, and the construction, repair or demolition of buildings (Section 2). These terms are defined in the Act as follows: (1) Railways. This term refers to roads whether owned or operated by a private person, public company, or municipal corporation, on which carriages run over metal rails, and includes railways or tramways worked by steam, electricity, compressed air, or by mechanical power or any combination of such powers (Section 3, subs. 10). (2) Factories. This term refers to buildings, workshops or places where machinery driven by steam, water or other mechanical power is used, and includes mills where manufactures of wood, flour, meal, pulp or other substances are being carried on; foundries where metals are sorted, extracted or worked up; laundries worked by steam, water or other mechanical power; and docks, wharves, quays, warehouses and shipbuilding yards where goods or materials are stored, handled, transported or manufactured (Section 3, subs. 5). (3) Mines. This term means any kind of mine, and includes every shaft in the course of being sunk, and every level and inclined plane in the course of being driven for commencing or opening any mine or for searching for or proving minerals, and all the shafts, levels, planes, works, machinery, tramways, railways and sidings, both below ground and above ground in and adjacent to a mine, and any such shaft, level and inclined plane of and belonging to the mine (Section 3, subs. 7). (4) Quarries. This term refers to open cuts from which rock is cut or taken (Section 3, subs. 9). (5) Engineering works. This term refers to any work of construction or alteration or repair of a railway, harbour, dock, canal, sewer or system of waterworks; and includes any work for the construction, alteration or repair of which machinery driven by steam, water or other mechanical power is used (Section 3, subs. 4). (6) Construction, repair and demolition of buildings. The Act gives no definition of this term. By Section 14, subs. 5, in spite of the exclusion of all agricultural work, the Act applies to the repair or demolition of any building upon a farm carried out under contract with the owner or occupant of the farm. The Act further applies to any undertakings and works coming within its scope which belong to the Provincial Government or a municipality. The 1911 Act does not apply to agricultural work, nor to any work performed or machinery used on or about a farm or homestead or for the purpose of improving such farm or homestead, nor to any of the following employments on a farm (without restricting in any degree the generality of the foregoing provisions) : (a) Threshing, gleaning, crushing, grinding or otherwise treating grain, sawing wood, posts, lumber or other wooden material, or otherwise treating the same; pressing hay by any kind of machinery or motive power whether such machinery or motive power is portable or stationary, and whether it is owned and operated by the farmer or farmers for whose purpose it is being used, or by any other farmer or other person for gain, profit or award. — 38 — (b) The construction, repair or demolition of any farm building, windmill, derrick or other structure (Section 14, subs. 1). The Act expressly excludes : (1) Buildings, workshops, places or mills on a farm used for the purposes of the farm. (2) Mines or quarries on a farm used for the purposes only of the farm. (3) Ditches, drains, wells, or other excavations on a farm being constructed or repaired for the purpose of the farm or any adjoining farm (Section 14, subs. 2, 3, and 4). Yukon The Workmen's Compensation Ordinance of 1917 applies to any industry (establishment, undertaking, trade or business) where not less than five workers are employed in the same general employment (Sections 2 and 3), including the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of a municipal corporation, and also the building, repairing, and maintenance of roads, bridges or other public works carried out by the Government of the Territory (Section 2, subs. 2). The Ordinance expressly excludes all industries where less than five workers are employed in the same general employment (Section 3). The definition of "industry" appears to be such as to exclude agriculture, fishing and domestic service. CHILE The Act of 8 September 1924 applies to the following industries or occupations provided that not less than five workers are employed: (1) Nitrate works, salt works, quarries and mines of all kinds; also factories foundries and workshops. (2) Undertakings or parts of undertakings in which explosive, inflammable, noxious or poisonous materials are manufactured or handled. (3) Transport undertakings whether by land, air, sea, river, lake or canal, and loading and unloading undertakings. (4) The construction, repair, maintenance and running of railways, buildings, harbours, roads, bridges, canals, dams, jetties, aqueducts, sewers, and all similar kinds of work. (5) The installation, repair and maintenance of electrical equipment and of telegraph and telephone systems. (6) River and sea fishing. (7) Agriculture, forestry and stock breeding. (8) In general, all factories, undertakings, and workshops (Section 6). The Act applies also to the State and to municipalities (Section 9). CHINA The provisions for the compensation of industrial accidents in China are given in the Provisional Factory Regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce on 29 March 1923 (Decree No. 225). The compensation specified in Section 19 is payable by factories which usually employ not less than 100 workers, or which are dangerous or unhealthy. Other factories to which these provisional Regulations do not apply are to be specified by ministerial decrees. Section 2 states that foreign factories established on Chinese territory are also covered by the Regulations. CUBA The Act of 12 June 1916 applies to the following undertakings and services: (1) Undertakings or industries engaged in the construction repair and main- — 39 — tenance of buildings, including masonry and related trades; carpentry, locksmiths' work, stone cutting, painting and similar work. (2) Mines, workyards, salt works, loading and unloading of raw materials extracted from mines, and transport by river, sea or land. (3) Fishery; construction of harbours, canals, dams, lighthouses, aqueducts, sewers, deflecting of water courses, exploitation of water-falls, and all other similar works. (4) Generation of gas and electricity, operation of telephone and telegraph systems, installation of electric wiring and lightning conductors. (5) Production or use for industrial purposes of explosive, inflammable, noxious or poisonous materials; street cleaning and sewerage works. (6) Manufacture of manufactured goods for which machinery driven by mechanical or any other kind of power is used. (7) Construction, repair, maintenance and operation of railways and tramways, roads and streets belonging to the State, a province, a municipality or a private person. (8) Working up of agricultural or forestry products; depots for coal, wood, inflammable materials, and building timber. (9) Theatres and public entertainments. (10) In general, any similar industry or work not included in the above list (Section 2). The provisions of the Act apply to the State arsenals, munition factories and n dustrial undertakings, as also to provincial councils and municipalities S ection 10). CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1 Under the Czechoslovak Act (former Austrian Act of 28 December 1887) insurance is compulsory for: (1) Factories, mills, foundries and mining of "reserved" 2 minerals, workyards, quarries, establishments subsidiary to the above undertakings, and the smelting of non-reserved ores and undertakings for the production of mineral gas and asphalt (Section 1, subs. 1 of the Act of 1887 amended by the Act of 10 April 1919). (2) Industrial construction and works connected with the construction of buildings (Section 1, subs. 2). (3) Undertakings in which explosives are manufactured or used (Section 1, subs. 3, i). (4) Undertakings in industry, agriculture and forestry in which steam boilers and machinery driven by natural (wind, water, steam, gas, hot air, electricity) or animal power are used (Section 1, subs. 3, ti). The Act of 1894 extended the scope of the former Austrian Act to include: (5) All railway undertakings whatever the motive power employed, and all other undertakings for the transport of passengers and goods by land, sea or river (Section 1, subs. 1 and 2 of the 1894 Act). (6) Dredging (Section 1, subs. 3). (7) Industrial undertakings for the cleaning of streets and buildings (subsection 4), canals and chimneys (subsections 8 and 9). (8) Industrial undertakings for cellarage and storage; wood and coal depots (subsection 5). (9) Permanently established theatres (subsection 6). (10) Professional fire brigades (subsection 7). (11) Stone-cutting, well sinking and metal forging (subsection 10). i In that part or Czechoslovak territory which before 1918 belonged to the former Kingt dorn of Hungary (Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia) the legal situation with respecto ä accident insurance is similar to that at present obtaining in Hungary. Cf. pp. 49, 50. The reserved minerals are those extracted by regular underground operations. — 40 — Under Section 3, subs. 2, of the Act the Minister of Social Welfare is empowered to make insurance compulsory for the undertakings not specified in Section 1 of the Act in which there is a risk of accident and especially of fire. The Act does not apply to undertakings in which machinery not forming part of the permanent plant is used only temporarily (Section 1, subs. 3, ü), nor to the erection of one-storey dwellings and other agricultural buildings in rural districts, provided that the work is executed by only the builder, the members of his household or other inhabitants of the same district who are not building workers by trade (Section 1, subs. 2). Under Section 4 of the Act, amended by the Act of 10 April 1919, the Minister of Social Welfare, in agreement with the ministers concerned and after consulting the workers' insurance institutions concerned, is empowered to exempt the persons employed in undertakings belonging to the State or the provinces, or in private railways: (a) Provided that the persons employed and their survivors are in the event of an industrial accident entitled to a pension, compensation or damages at least equal to those provided under the Act of 1887, Section 7 of the Act of 20 July 1894, and Section 65 of the Act of 30 March 1888; (b) Further, provided that the competent sickness funds or provident funds are entitled to repayment under the Act mentioned above in the event of the workers not being exempt from the liability to insurance ; (c) Finally, provided that the workers have the same right to share in decisions on benefit as that guaranteed to the insured by the insurance system set up under the Act. Under these provisions the Czechoslovak State railways, certain provincial railways and post office conveyances are excluded from the general accident insurance system. DENMARK I. — INDUSTRY, HANDICRAFTS, COMMERCE, DOMESTIC SERVICE, ETC. By Section 49 of the Act of 6 July 1916, No. 205, on Accident Insurance» amended by the Act of 28 June 1920, any person who in Denmark carries on an undertaking, whether for purposes of gain or not, or who employs workers, officials, office or shop employees, domestic servants or other persons in his service, is bound to insure the workers he employs. II. — SHIPPING Under Section 54 of the Act, insurance is compulsory for all owners of ships registered or liable to registration in the Danish Shipping Register in conformity with the provisions of the Ships Act of 1 April 1892 and the Ships Registration Act of the same date. The insurance applies to all employments for which the ship or vessel is used, including work on or about the ship, loading and unloading of the cargo, and bringing it to land and on board, conveyance to and from the ship as well as getting on board and landing; work at sea in saving human life or in salving goods; expeditions on land on errands for the ship, as well as navigation in the vessel performed on account of others (Section 56). III. — FISHING AND SMALL SHIPPING Any employer resident in Denmark, whether a private individual or a company, is bound to insure if his income is derived from the following work : fishing, shipping, boating, ferrying, lighterage, towage, dredging for stone, pilotage or sand digging, recovery of wreck from the bottom of the sea, diving and salvage work; pleasure sailing and all other sailing in a vessel of a gross — 41 — tonnage of not less than 4 registered tons are included under this head (Section 66 A). According to Section 66D the insurance is compulsory in all employments in connection with the undertakings specified above, including work on or about a ship, the loading and unloading of the cargo, its transport on board and vice versa, putting on board and landing of passengers, pleasure sailing and all other sailing in which the ship or vessel may be used. The Act covers also all work connected with the repair and maintenance of ships and of material, etc. used in the undertaking, work in the household of the employer if not completely separated from the undertaking, and work in the personal service of the employer or his family. Insurance is similarly compulsory for persons employed in work subsidiary to the fishing industry: ice-cutting, worm digging, baiting; cleaning, packing, salting and smoking the catch; and transporting the catch or bait to or from a railway station. IV. — AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, HORTICULTURE, ETC. All employers, whether individuals or companies, are bound to insure their workers if they carry on any of the following undertakings: agriculture, forestry or horticulture ; trade in horses and cattle, studs, dairies, turf-cutting, reed-cutting, marl works, threshing works, straw pressing, pisciculture, wind and watermills (Section 68). The following are deemed to be horticultural undertakings; horticulture carried on as a business (including ornamental gardening) work in parks, ornamental and other gardens belonging to the State or a commune, or in connection with agriculture and forestry, and work in private gardens of at least one hectare in size (Section 70). Insurance is compulsory under Section 69 for workers employed in undertakings subsidiary to the undertakings specified in Section 68, e.g. brick works, gravel and marl pits, driving, stonebreaking, sawmills, trade in horses and cattle, and similar undertakings. Insurance is also compulsory in respect of all work in the specified undertakings quoted above, including driving, even where carried on outside the scope of the undertaking; work on railways for the business of the undertaking, work on roads, rivers and waterways, the repairing of buildings, etc. done in the interests of the undertaking or incumbent on the owner: work in the employer's household, unless this is entirely separated from the undertaking, in which case the provisions of Section 50 apply, and in the personal service of the employer and his family (Section 72). ECUADOR The Act of 30 September 1921 on industrial accidents applies to the following industries or occupations : (1) Factories or workshops and industrial undertakings in which other than human motive power is used. (2) Mines, salt works and quarries. (3) Factories and workshops in the metallurgical, building and shipbuilding industries. (4) The construction, repair and maintenance of buildings, including masonry and all related work: carpentry and joinery, locksmiths' work, stonecutting, painting, etc. (5) Factories where explosive, inflammable, noxious or poisonous materials are produced or used by way of trade. (6) The construction, repair and maintenance of railways, harbours, roads. canals, dams, aqueducts, sewers, and other similar works. — 42 — (7) Work in agriculture and forestry in which a machine driven by other than human power is used. In work of this kind the employer is liable only in respect of the risks connected with the machinery. (8) Cartage and transport by land or sea and on inland waterways. (9) The cleaning of streets, cesspools, and sewers. (10) Warehouses and wholesale depots of coal, wood fuel, and building timber. (11) Theatres as regards the wage-earning staff. (12) Fire brigades. (13) Establishments for the generation of gas or electricity and the installation and maintenance of telephone systems, piping and underground concrete work in sewers. (14) All persons employed in loading and unloading. (15) All similar industries or occupations not mentioned under the foregoing heads. ESTHONIA Under the Act of 23 June 1912 amended by the Acts of 18 June 1917, 3 February 1920 and 4 April 1923, insurance is compulsory for the following undertakings if not less than five persons are employed 1 . The list is the same as that given in Article 1 of the Draft Convention limiting the hours of work in industrial undertakings to eight in the day and 48 in the week adopted by the International Labour Conference at its first Session at Washington : (1) Mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth. (2) Industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed; including shipbuilding and the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind. (3) Construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic and telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work, waterwork or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or laying the foundations of any such work or structure. (4) Transport of passengers or goods by road, rail or inland waterway 2 including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves or warehouses 3 . By an Act of 8 March 1923, aerial transport undertakings were included in the scope of the law. The provisions of the law do not apply to (a) State undertakings 4 ; (b) Railway companies whose lines are used for public transport (Section 3) 5 . Compensation for accidents occurring in agricultural work is governed by the Act of 2 June 1903. Under Section 11, the Workers' Insurance Council may add to or cut down the list of undertakings covered. On the recommendation of the competent i Persons employing less than five workers are individually liable for the payment of compensation, but they may discharge their obligation by insuring with an approved insurance company (Act of 2 June 1903). s The Esthonian Act has left out the word "sea". s The Esthonian Act leaves out the words "but excluding transport by hand" contained in the Draft Convention. * Cf. the provisions of the Industrial and Labour Code. Special Acts have been passed covering the State undertakings in the shale industry (Act of 19 July 1922) and the peat industry (Act of 27 July 1922), and the State printing works (Act of 7 March 1923). 6 The compensation for industrial accidents on railways used for public transport is Soverned by the Act of 28 June 1912. — 43 — insurance authorities, the Council has power to grant exceptional and temporary exemption for isolated undertakings which for local reasons find it difficult to join an insurance organisation. The exemption holds good until the difficulties have been overcome. The Council may further extend the provisions of the Act to undertakings permanently employing a smaller number of workers than that specified in Section 1. Finally, it may issue general regulations for the application of the Act to persons working in co-operation (artel). FINLAND Under Section I of the Order of 18 August 1917 on the insurance of workers against accidents, insurance is compulsory for the following industrial undertakings in which other persons than the employer, his wife and his children under age are employed: (1) Factories, handicrafts and other industrial undertakings in towns and market towns; similar undertakings in rural districts provided that use is made of steam boilers or machinery driven by other than human motive power, or of technical appliances, mines, quarries, workyards for stonecutting and polishing, and timber yards. (2) Agriculture and subsidiary agricultural industries if use is made for more than 14 days in the year of machinery driven by natural power. Nevertheless, plant for using the wind to raise water and similar works are not deemed machinery in the above sense. (3) Fishery carried on as a business if more than three paid workers are employed simultaneously. (4) Undertakings for the felling and floating of timber. (5) The construction and maintenance of means of communication, canals, harbours, buoys, lighthouses, and all construction of roads and bridges on which more than five persons are employed at the same time. (6) The construction and repair of houses in towns and market towns, and similar work in the country provided that more than five workers are employed. (7) The construction and maintenance of systems for the transmission of electricity, gas, or water, telephone lines, and sewerage systems. (8) The loading, unloading and warehousing of goods; salvage and diving undertakings. (9) Operation of railways, tramways, elevated railways and canals; the transport of passengers by lifts; the operation of electrical generating stations ; transport by car or motor car. (10) Undertakings for the transport of passengers and goods by vessels which need not be under the command of a certificated captain. By the Order of 18 August 1917 on the insurance of seamen against accidents, other members of the crews of Finnish ships are subject to the Order of 18 August 1917 on the insurance of workers against accidents. (11) Laundries and ironing establishments 1 , window cleaning, baths, slaughterhouses, chimney sweeping and all similar undertakings. Section 1, subs. 3, provides that if the risk of accident in operating certain industrial establishments is slight, they may until further notice be exempt from the provisions of the Act. Under this provision, the Government by an Order of 28 December 1917 temporarily excluded the following undertakings: watch factories, optical instrument factories and similar scientific instrument undertakings, undertakings for the manufacture of boots and shoes, saddlery, furriery, decorating and paper hanging, the manufacture of clothing, weaving, bakeries, laundries and ironing establishments, hairdressers' establishments. The Government is empowered (Section 1, subs. 4) to grant provisional exemption for the handicrafts, agricultural work and fishery defined above, i Both provisionally excluded under the Order of 28 December 1917. — 44 — the construction of roads and bridges and the construction and repair of private houses and agricultural buildings in rural communes, if the journey from the commune to the nearest town or market town or the residence of the doctor requires more than three hours by rail, or is more than 30 kilometres by road or river, or an equivalent distance if more than one method of locomotion is used: ten kilometres by road being taken as equal to one hour by rail. Certain rural communes have accordingly been exempted from the provisions of the Act by the Orders of 27 January and 27 September 1918 and 4 August 1921. State undertakings are also covered by the Finnish Act. FRANCE I. — INDUSTRY Section 1 of the Act of 9 April 1898 applies to the following undertakings: (1) The building industry, factories, mills, workyards, undertakings for transport by land or water, loading and unloading, public warehouses, mines.. surface mines and quarries. (2) Any undertaking or part of an undertaking in which explosives are manufactured or used, or in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is used. The term "mills and factories" is deemed to cover all industrial workshops irrespective of size or the danger of the work. The term "workyard" is deemed to cover earthworks and industrial workyards, but not commercial workyards. The term "transport by water" is taken to mean inland navigation. II. — SHIPPING The term "transport by water" used above does not apply to shipping, which is subject to the Act of 23 April 1898 setting up a National Seamen's Provident Fund to meet the risks and accidents of the trade. This Act was originally limited in application to registered seamen, but was extended by the Act of 29 December 1905 to unregistered workers employed on all French seagoing vessels other than naval vessels and those used exclusively in the public service. III. — COMMERCE Section 1 of the Act of 12 April 1906 extended the provisions of legislation on the liability for industrial accidents to all commercial undertakings. IV. — AGRICULTURE The Act of 30 June 1899 related only to accidents caused by the use of agricultural machinery driven by mechanical power, but by the Act of 15 December 1922, industrial accident legislation was applied to all agricultural undertakings. According to Section 1 of this Act, industrial accident legislation applies, subject to special provisions, to agricultural undertakings and undertakings for stock breeding, breaking-in and training, stud farms and undertakings of all kinds, depots and places of sale connected with agricultural associations or undertakings where the agricultural undertaking constitutes the principal establishment. V. — DOMESTIC WORK By the Act of 2 August 1923, industrial accident legislation was extended to domestic servants and other persons employed for a wage or salary in the household of the employer, and of caretakers, whether such workers are engaged in personal services to the employer or not. — 45 — VI. — PUBLIC SERVICES If a mine or industrial undertaking covered by Section 1 of the Act of 1898, or a commercial undertaking as defined in Section 1 of the Act of 1906 belongs to the State, a department, a commune or a public institution, it still remains subject to the law on industrial accidents, even though the undertaking is not run for profit. VII. — VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION A. According to the Act of 18 July 1907 on voluntary submission to legislation on industrial accidents, any employer not subject to the law may place himself under its regulations for all accidents that may occur to his workers, employees or domestic servants arising out of or in the course of the work. By Section 2 of the Act such legislation becomes legally applicable to all of the workers, employees and domestic servants of the employer who signify their consent by signing and dating the written declaration which the employer must present to the mayor, and which the latter has endorsed noting the declaration and its date. By Section 3, the employer may discontinue his liability for the future by a special declaration to the mayor's office. The discontinuance does not affect the workers, employees or domestic servants who have previously accepted their inclusion under the law. B. The Act of 15 December 1922 provides similarly for the voluntary submission of employers not otherwise liable, who insure the members of their family and their casual workers, and who are entitled to place themselves under the regulations of industrial accident legislation. Moreover, employers liable under the law, those who work alone, and those who have submitted voluntarily, may also insure themselves against accident under the same conditions. In this event the law on industrial accidents applies immediately, under the conditions defined by the Act of 18 July 1907, to the members of their family working with them and their casual workers (Section 4). GERMANY I. — INDUSTRY The Insurance Code of 19 July 1911 gives a list of 11 groups of under" takings in which insurance is compulsory (Section 537): (1) Mines, salt-works, ore-dressing works, quarries, surface mines. (2) Factories, shipyards, metal works, pharmacies and industrial breweries and tanneries. (3) Building workyards, industrial undertakings involving such work as masonry, decorating, stone cutting, locksmiths' work, blacksmiths' work and plumbing; stone breaking and building work done by other than regular building undertakings. (4) Chimney sweeping, window cleaning, slaughtering and the operation of bathing establishments. (5) Railways and the administration of the postal and telegraph service, military and naval administrative undertakings, as also former military and naval administrative undertakings which, under the Treaty of Peace, have been transferred to civil departments (Order of 25 May 1920) x . (6) Inland navigation, rafting, ferrying, towage, fresh-water fishing, pisciculture, the operation of ponds and the production of ice if done as a business or administered by the Federal Government, a state, a commune, an association of communes, or other public body; dredging, and the running of vessels on inland waters. i Reichsgesetzblatt, p. 1093. — 46 — (7) Cartage, forwarding, the keeping of draught-animals; the hiring of riding animals and keeping of stables if carried on as a business ; the running of vehicles, other than boats, provided that they are driven by mechanical or animal power, and the keeping of animals for riding. (8) Warehouses, depots and cellarage establishments conducted as a business. (9) Packing, loading, storing, sorting, weighing, measuring, inspecting and stowing carried on as a business. (10) Goods and passenger transport undertakings and timber felling if the undertakings are connected with a commercial undertaking which extends beyond the scope of a small scale establishment. (11) Under the same conditions as in 10, undertakings for the treatment and handling of goods. The term "factories" (Section 537, subs. 2) is deemed for the purposes of the law to cover undertakings which: (a) work on or transform specified articles and which regularly employ not less than 10 workers; (è) manufacture or work up as a business explosives or explosive materials or generate or distribute electrical power; (c) make other than temporary use of steam boilers or machinery driven by mechanical and animal power; (d) are defined as factories by the Federal Social Insurance Office (Section 538). Insurance is compulsory for undertakings which are either important parts of the undertakings defined in Sections 537 and 538 or subsidiary to such undertakings (Section 539). This provision does not apply: (a) To agricultural undertakings which are subsidiary to the main undertaking. The rules of the insurance institution may make insurance compulsory for such subsidiary undertakings if the majority of persons employed in them belong to the staff of the main undertaking; (¿) To shipping and other undertakings covered by Sections 1046 and 1049 if they are important parts of the undertakings defined in Sections 537 and 538, provided that the work is not limited to local traffic or that they are subsidiary undertakings. Exemption from the liability to insurance may be granted by the Central Insurance Office for undertakings in which there is no particular risk of accident (Section 543). The rules of the insurance institution may extend compulsory insurance to all heads of undertakings and artisans working at home (Section 548). They may also define the conditions under which persons employed in the undertaking but not insured, persons not employed in the undertaking but who visit its premises, and members and employees of the association may be insured. Heads of undertakings and pilots on inland waters who conduct their business on their own account may insure voluntarily. II. — AGRICULTURE Under the German Law accident insurance is compulsory also for agricultural undertakings. The Central Social Insurance Office is empowered to specify what branches of industry are to be considered as agricultural undertakings (Section 915). Certain kinds of work enumerated in Section 916 are deemed to be parts of an agricultural undertaking: (1) Current repairs to buildings used in agricultural operations. (2) The cultivation of the land; other building work for the undertaking, especially the construction and maintenance of roads, dams, canals, and watercourses for this purpose, provided that the work is carried out on his own account by the head of an agricultural undertaking on his own land, or on the land of others for his own agricultural undertaking without transferring the work. — 47 — If the head of an agricultural undertaking carries out work in his capacity as such which he is bound under public law to carry out for the commune, for the construction and maintenance of buildings, roads, dams, canals and watercourses and which form part of the obligation resting upon him as an agriculturist, such work is to be considered as part of his agricultural undertaking (Section 916). Section 917 enumerates certain other works which are to be considered as agricultural undertakings: horticulture, the care of parks and gardens, work in cemeteries, provided that these occupations are not liable to industrial accident insurance. Insurance is further compulsory in respect of undertakings which are carried on by the head of an agricultural undertaking side by side with the latter and economically dependent on it (subsidiary agricultural undertakings). This group includes, in particular, undertakings intended solely or mainly for; (1) Working up and transforming of the products of the main agricultural undertaking. (2) Supplying the needs of the main undertaking. (3) Procuring and working up the products of the soil from his land (Section 918). Finally, inland navigation and rafting and occupations connected with such navigation or rafting are not included in the insurance of the main agricultural undertakings unless their scope is limited to local traffic (Section 920). Section 917, subs. 2, and Section 919 expressly limit the scope of accident insurance in agricultural undertakings by excluding small home gardens, or ornamental gardens which are worked irregularly and very largely with the assistance of special labour, and the produce of which is intended mainly for the household of the producer; further (Section 919), mines, salt-works, ore-dressing, shipyards, metal works, building yards, and undertakings which manufacture or work up explosives or explosive materials as a business and undertakings which the Central Insurance Office treats as factories because of their size, of their special mechanical equipment or the number of their industrial workers, even if they are run by the head of an agricultural undertaking side by side with and economically dependent on this undertaking. The Code provides further for the compulsory insurance of heads of undertakings under the rules of the insurance association (Section 925), or for their voluntary insurance (Section 927). The industrial accident insurance provisions apply correspondingly in so far as the insurance of persons employed in the undertaking but not insured, and persons not employed in the undertaking, but who visit its premises, is concerned (Section 929). III. — SHIPPING Maritime navigation is deemed to cover: (1) Voyages upon the sea outside the limits fixed by Section 1 of the Administrative Provisions of 10 November 1899 in connection with Section 25 of the Flag Act of 22 June 1899. (2) Voyages upon bays, enclosed bays (Haffen) and seashallows (Watten) (Section 1047). By Section 1046, insurance is compulsory for German sea-going vessels, floating docks and similar undertakings, inland undertakings for pilotage, the saving of human life and salvage of goods in case of shipwreck, the watching, lighting and maintenance of waters for the service of maritime navigation. Maritime navigation is not deemed to include voyages upon other waters connected with the sea, even if made by seagoing vessels (Section 1048). If it is doubtful whether an undertaking is liable to shipping accident insurance, the Central Insurance Office must decide after hearing the management of the insurance institution (Section 1050). — 48 — The rules of the insurance association may extend compulsory insurance to shipowners who belong to the crew of the vessel (Section 1059) ; they may also fix conditions for the insurance of persons employed in the undertaking, but not insured, and of persons who are not connected with the undertaking (Section 1064). Voluntary insurance is open to the heads of insured undertakings who are not already insured under the provisions of the Code and to pilots who carry on their business on their own account (Section 1061). GREAT BRITAIN Since the Act of 1906 compensation for industrial accidents is payable "in any employment". The British Act therefore brings all undertakings within its scope. Further, the Act applies to every person who has entered into or works under a contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer whether by way of manual labour, clerical work or otherwise. It does not apply to a person engaged to render services to another where there is no relationship of worker to employer. The Act of 1906 applies only within the territorial limits of Great Britain except in the case of seamen and fishermen. According to Section 7 of the 1906 Act, it applies with certain modifications to seamen and fishermen. Further, according to Section 9, it covers all workers employed by or under the Crown, and also, according to Section 13, those employed by or under any local or other public authority. In brief, the Act applies to industry, agriculture, shipping, commerce, domestic service, and State and municipal undertakings. Under the Act of 1923 the following workers who are not covered by the definition of "workman" in the Act of 1906, were included: (1) Share fishermen, i.e. fishermen remunerated by shares in the profits or gross earnings of the working of the vessel unless such share constitutes the whole or main part of their remuneration. Fishermen remunerated wholly or mainly by share may be brought within the Act by Order of the Secretary of State. (2) Persons employed on board ship in whatever capacity. The Act of 1906 applied only to members of the crew and did not cover persons such as postal workers, bandsmen, hairdressers, and men in charge of livestock. (3) Persons engaged in plying for hire with any vehicle or vessel, the use of which is obtained from the owner under a hiring contract in consideration of the payment of a fixed sum or a share in the earnings or otherwise. (4) Persons whose employment is of a casual nature and who are employed otherwise than for the purpose of the employer's trade or business, if they are employed for the purposes of any game or recreation and engaged or paid through a club. All casual labour employed for the purpose of the employer's trade or business is included under the Act of 1906. • The 1923 Act also provides (Section 27) that the Secretary of State may by Order extend the provisions of the principal Act to persons employed on aircraft in respect of accidents occurring outside Great Britain (accidents within the territorial limits .being of course already covered by the 1906 Act). GREECE The Act of 31 December 1914, No. 551, respecting liability for payment of compensation to workers or employees who are victims of industrial accidents, as amended by Section 3 of the Act of 11 March 1920, No. 2114, the Act of 5 July 1920, No. 2193 and the Legislative Decree of 20 January 1923, covers the following undertakings and occupations: building and other technical trades; all kinds of industrial establishments, workshops and other work- — 49 — places in which machinery is used; land or water transport undertakings; loading, unloading and warehousing of all kinds; mining and quarrying not covered by Section 1 of the Act of 21 February 1901, No. 2841 *; industries and undertakings in which explosive or poisonous substances are manufactured or used, or in which use is made of machinery driven by other than human or animal power (Section 2). The State and in general all bodies corporate which directly employ workers or employees in the occupations or undertakings specified above, are also liable for compensation. It should be observed that compensation for accidents in shipping is governed by an Act of 6-12 July 1907 on the Pension Fund for Disabled Seamen. HUNGARY The Act of 1907 on the insurance of industrial and commercial employees against sickness and accident gives lists not only of the undertakings and occupations subject to sickness insurance, but also of those subject to accident insurance. The first list includes, besides all the industrial and commercial undertakings covered by the Industry Act, those which are not covered by that Act, as, for example, offices, agencies, theatres, pharmacies, sanatoria. The second list contains only undertakings where there is an appreciable risk. The Regulations of 1919 have extended compulsory accident insurance to all undertakings and occupations which are subject to sickness insurance. In practice Hungarian accident insurance legislation applies to all undertakings and all workmen employed therein except barristers and solicitors. The Act of 1907 provides for compulsory insurance against accidents in the case of the following undertakings and occupations: (1) Mines, foundries, salt Works and other works for working up mining products; quarries, sand pits, gravel pits and clay pits, and undertakings for the breaking and working up of stone and earth. (2) The construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, water-works, dams, canals, harbours, fortifications, systems for the transmission of water, gas, electric light and power. (3) Establishments in which inflammable, noxious or poisonous materials or explosives are manufactured or prepared. (4) Chemical, physical and pharmaceutical laboratories. (5) Slaughter houses, meat trade, sausage works, ice factories. (6) Railways, irrespective of the motive power used, factories and workshops, and construction and maintenance works connected therewith; post, telegraph and telephone undertakings and the construction and maintenance of these. (7) Shipping, including ships' restaurants; loading and shipbuilding. (8) Dredging and harbour works, ferries and rafting. (9) Carrying and forwarding of goods ; warehouses, and commercial stores. (10) Industries subsidiary to agriculture, forestry, stock-breeding, fishery, horticulture, viticulture, sericulture and bee-keeping, even if the industry as a rule uses only- its own raw materials. (11) Public institutions. (12) State, municipal, communal and institutional undertakings, except military works and undertakings employing soldiers. (13) Workshops attached to public educational institutions. » This Act introduces a special system of compensation for the victims of accidents in mines and metal works and for their survivors. 4 — 50 — (14) Unions, societies, industrial corporations and the insurance funds set up in accordance with the 1907 Act. (15). Domestic service. (16) The work of certificated engineers in charge of agricultural work. (17) All building undertakings and workyards, including construction. undertaken not commercially but by or on behalf of a public authority, unless such construction does not require a building permit. (18) Professional fire brigades. (19) Motor-car driving. (20) Undertakings in which persons in reformatories or prisons are employed. The Act of 3 July 1909 on relief funds for agricultural workers and farm servants (amended by the Act of 26 June 1902 and the Act of 27 February 1912 on the insurance of agricultural workers and farm servants against industrial accidents, and the Act of 28 June 1913 on the insurance of agricultural workers against sickness and accident) set up a relief fund which, since the Act of 1913, has been called the "Relief Fund for Agricultural Workers". Accident insurance is compulsory for agricultural workers living in the household of the employer, those employed on agricultural machinery, including the driver, but excluding the certificated engineer who is covered by the Act of 1907 unless he belongs to the staff of the undertaking and lives in the household of the employer. The Act of 1900 as amended applies also to water-works companies, and the water-works and forestry undertakings under the Ministry of Agriculture. INDIA The Act of 1923 providing for the payment by certain classes of employers to their workmen of compensation for injury by accident applies to the following undertakings and occupations. (1) Non-permanent administrative work on railways within the meaning of the Indian Railways Act 1890 (Section 2, subs. 1 (n), i). (2) Tramways within the meaning of the Indian Tramways Act 1886r Section 3. (3) Factories within the meaning of the Indian Factories Act 1911, Section 2, i.e. factories employing not less than 20 persons and using mechanical power. (4) Mines within the meaning of the Indian Mines Act 1923. The definition of the term "mines" is very wide, but the 1923 Mines Act contains a provision under which certain areas or certain classes of mines may be excluded from the provisions of the Act, in which case the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act also cease to apply. (5) Shipping. The Act applies to captains and seamen of registered ships, i.e. sea-going ships registered under the Bombay Coasting Vessels Act 1838, or the Indian Registration of Ships Act 1841, or the Indian Registration of Ships Act (1841) Amendment Act 1850, or any home trade ship so registered of a registered tonnage of not less than 300 tons, or any inland steam vessel asdefined in the Inland Steam Vessels Act 1917 of a registered tonnage of not less than 100 tons. (6) The loading and unloading of vessels. The Act applies to the loading and unloading of vessels at any pier, wharf, quay, dock, etc., provided that steam, water, or other mechanical or electrical power is used. (7) The construction, repair or demolition of (a) a building which is designed to be, is, or has been more than one storey in height above ground level, or (b) a building which is used, has been used or is designed to be used for industrial or commercial purposes and is not less than 20 feet in height measured from the ground level to the apex of the roof, or (c) a bridge which is, has been or is designed to be more than 50 feet in length. — 51 — (8) Setting up, repairing, maintaining or taking down telegraph or telephone lines or posts or overhead electric cables. (9) The construction, inspection or upkeep of underground sewers. (10) The service of fire brigades (Schedule II). IRISH FREE STATE The scope of workmen's compensation legislation is that defined in the British Act of 21 December 1906 x without the amendments introduced in Great Britain by the Act of 16 November 1923. ITALY I. — INDUSTRY The codified text of 31 January 1904 of the Acts relating to industrial accidents, amended by the Legislative Decree of 17 November 1918 and the Act of 20 March 1921, classifies the industries covered under five heads, those under heads 2 and 3 being liable only if a minimum number of workers is employed. (1) The Act applies to workers employed in: mines, quarries and peat digging, and the loading, transport and unloading of the materials extracted ; the construction and demolition of buildings, and the loading, transport and unloading of building materials or materials resulting from demolition; the generation of gas or electricity; telephone undertakings; the installation, repair and removal of electric transmission systems and lightning conductors ; undertakings in which explosives are manufactured or used ; arsenals or shipyards. (2) The Act applies further to workers in the following kinds of construction and undertakings if more than five workers are employed: construction or working of railways or tramways with mechanical traction; transport by land, river, canal or lake; shipping, including fishery, carried on more than 10 kilometres from the coast, and sponge and coral fishing; loading and unloading ; irrigation ; works required for repairing the effects of landslips and floods in the mountains; the felling or thinning of trees in forests, and the transport of the logs to the usual storing places on the banks of rivers and streams or to cart roads, and dumping the logs from the storage places into the rivers and streams; construction and repair of harbours, canals and dams; construction, repair and breaking up of ships; construction and repair of bridges, tunnels and ordinary national, provincial and communal roads. (3) The Act further applies to industrial undertakings in which machinery is used, provided that the machinery is not driven directly by the worker using it, and further that more than five workers are employed in the undertaking. According to the administrative regulations, the term "machinery" is taken to include steam boilers and containers liable to inspection under the Public Safety Act of 23 December 1888 (No. 5888) and the Regulations of 27 June 1897 No. 290 (Section 5). The liability to insurance in industrial undertakings in which machinery is used applies also to workers employed in different premises separate from the premises in which the machinery is working, even if they are engaged in work which is subsidiary to that carried on in the principal undertaking (Section 7). Industrial workshops within the meaning of Section 1, subs. 3 of the Act include (a) those in which machinery is used only temporarily, (¿>) those in which machinery is not directly employed in operations connected with the industry carried on in the workshop, (c) workshops attached to hostels, hospitals and other benevolent institutions in connection with the working of » Cf. page 48. — 52 — these institutions or the work performed by the inmates, (d) workshops attached to reformatories and prisons (Section 8). (4) The Act applies to workers employed in minding machinery driven by mechanical power, or the engines, if the machinery is used for industrial or agricultural purposes. (5) The Act applies to workers employed in minding cannon and other apparatus for shooting to prevent hail storms. It applies also to victuallers employed by undertakings for the supply of victuals to the Navy. II. — SHIPPING Under section 21 of the Act insurance is compulsory under certain conditions for members of the crews of ships flying the Italian flag. III. — AGRICULTURE By the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917, No. 1450, on compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work, as amended by the Act of 20 March 1921 and by the Legislative Decree of 11 February 1923, insurance is compulsory for undertakings in agriculture or forestry. Such undertakings are taken to mean the cultivation of land and woodland and the operations connected therewith, supplementary or accessory thereto, such as raising of plants; irrigation; the breeding and management of stock; the preparation, preservation, manufacture and transport of the products of agriculture, stock-keeping and forestry (Section 2). IV. — FISHERY According to section 10 of the Act of 24 March 1921, No. 312, making provisions for the benefit of the fishing industry and fishermen, insurance in accordance with the Act of 31 January 1904 and the Decree of 17 November 1918 is compulsory for (a) undertakings and persons carrying on fishing with or without vessels of any kind; (6) undertakings engaged in sea fishing or along the coast, irrespective of the provisions of Section 1, subs. 2, of the Act of 1904; (c) undertakings engaged in fresh-water fishing. By Section 11 of the Act of 24 March 1921, employers in the fishing industry are deemed to include, in addition to individual or collective undertakings including co-operative societies directly engaged in fishery, owners or charterers who furnish fishery workers with their vessels and fishing tackle, with or without taking part personally in the fishing, and who receive any remuneration whatever in money or in kind as a share of the catch. V. — PUBLIC SERVICES The Act of 31 January 1904, in its amended form, applies to workers employed in undertakings or works managed directly by the State, a province or a commune, or under a concession or lease from such authorities (Section 18). They must be insured in the National Workers Accident Insurance Institution set up under the Act of 8 July 1883. The position of railway workers is governed by the Act of 8 July 1908, No. 418, on State railway employees' pensions, the Regulations of 21 May 1908 on compensation for temporary workers injured in an accident, the Regulations of 13 August 1917 on State railway employees, amended by the Legislative Decrees of 11 June 1919, No. 913, and 8 February 1923, No. 319. JAPAN A. The compensation for accidents based on the Factory Act of 28 March 1911 (Section 1, subs. 1) applies to factories where more than 15 persons are regularly employed (10 workers since the Act of 29 March 1923). — 53 — The Act applies also to factories where the work is dangerous or injurious to health (Section 1, subs. 1). A list of the factories to be considered as involving dangerous or unhealthy work was issued in an Order of 2 August 1916 (Section 3). It includes undertakings for the manufacture of poisonous substances or poisonous chemicals, the stuffing and preparation of animals, the smelting or refining of metal, the manufacture of measuring appliances in which mercury is used, the manufacture of matches, gunpowder, varnishes, ether, etc. Under Section 25 of the 1911 Act, the Act itself and Orders in pursuance thereof apply to State and public factories. B. The Act of 22 April 1922 on sickness insurance, which is not yet in force, provides for the payment of compensation in the event of accidents to the insured (Sections 43 et seq.). This Act which supplements the Factory Act of 1911, states that all persons employed in a factory to which the Factory Act applies, or in a works or factory to which the Mining Act of 1916 applies, must be insured under the provisions of the Sickness Insurance Act (Section 13). An employer in an undertaking other than the factories and works specified in Sections 1 and 13 may, after having obtained the sanction of the competent Minister and the consent of more than half the persons concerned, cause all the persons employed in the undertaking and the works attached to it to be insured. This applies to the following undertakings: (1) Undertakings for the mining or collecting of minerals; (2) Undertakings for the manufacturing, working up, sorting, packing, repairing or breaking-up of articles. (3) Undertakings for the generation, transformation or transmission of electricity or motive power. (4) Undertakings for building construction or the erection, preservation, repair or demolition of the structures designated by the competent Minister. (5) Undertakings to which the Local Railway Act or the Tramway Act applies. (6) Undertakings for the transportation of goods and passengers by land, other than those mentioned in the preceding item, as designated by the competent Minister. (7) Undertakings for the loading and unloading of goods. (8) Undertakings other than those mentioned in the preceding item, as designated by Imperial Ordinance. C. The Mining Act of 1916 and the Order of 3 August 1916 contain provisions relating to compensation for accidents in private mines. Compensation for accidents in State mines is governed by special regulations. The Factory Act does not apply to the industrial undertakings enumerated in Section 1 of the Order of 2 August 1916, except as regards undertakings which use the machines driven by mechanical power specified in Order No. 19 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade dated 3 August 1916lw. Undertakings for the manufacture of certain foodstuffs (cakes, barley syrup, bread, gelatine, rice wine, etc.), the manufacture of certain articles of furniture and clothing out of vegetable raw materials (straw, wood, bamboo, formosa grass, etc.); the manufacture of fans, umbrellas, etc., toys, artificial flowers, cardboard and paper articles, clothes, socks and other articles out of woven materials; passementerie goods made by hand, needlework, lace, drawn thread work, etc. 1 Section 1 of the Regulations in pursuance of the Factory Act, dated 3 August 1916, states that the machines driven by mechanical power within the meaning of Section 1 of the Order in pursuance of the Factory Act are those driven by steam engines, steam turbines, gas engines, petrol motors, turbine water mills, Pelton water mills or electric motor». — 54 — LATVIA The Russian Act of 23 June 1912 in force in Latvia applied to industrial undertakings, mines, metal works, railways, inland navigation (rivers, canals, inland seas, and lakes) and tramways, provided that not less than 20 workers were permanently employed and use was made of steam boilers or machinery driven by natural (water, gas. electricity, etc.) or animal power. If the undertakings permanently employed not less-than 30 workers they were subject to the Act even though no use was made of steam boilers or machinery. If the undertaking was both commercial and industrial and had several departments, it was subject to the Act only in respect of the departments which would come under the head of undertakings as defined above (Section 1, note 1). Several measures have been introduced in Latvia amending these regulations. The Decree of the Ministry of Labour of 22 July 1920, No. 46676 (Valdibas Vestnesis, No. 165) amended Section 1 of the Act of 1912, extending its provisions to all industrial undertakings, to tramways and inland navigation employing more than four paid workers (including apprentices and clerks employed by the undertakings). Only small industry (handicrafts) 1 is not subject to the Latvian Act 2 . Section 1 so amended was supplemented by two decrees of the Ministry of Labour, one relating to fishery, the other to saw mills. The Decree of 14 June 1923, No. 16330, laid down that in the fishing industry all workers employed on steamships or sailing vessels in handling the catch (salting etc.) must be insured under the Act. By the Decree of 22 July 1923, No. 16768, workers in sawmills in the provinces must also be insured if more than four workers are employed. Such sawmills therefore cannot be classified with agriculture and forestry and thus be exempt from the provisions of the 1912 Act. The Act does not apply to State undertakings or railway companies whose lines are used for public transport 3 (Section 3). The Decree of the Ministry of Labour of 26 May 1923, No. 16914 states that workers employed in transport by motor-car are not liable to insurance under the Act. The Workers' Insurance Council (at present the Ministry of Labour) is empowered by Section 11 to add to or cut down the list of undertakings covered. On the recommendation of the competent insurance authorities the Council has power to grant exceptional and temporary exemption for isolated undertakings, which for local reasons find it difficult to join any insurance organisation. The exemption holds good until the difficulties have been overcome. The Council may further extend the provisions of the Act to undertakings permanently employing a smaller number of workers than that specified in section 1. Finally, it may issue general regulations for the application of the Act to persons working in co-operation (artel). 1 Section 2 oí the Industrial Code (Collection of Lows, Vol. XI) states that factories and workshops are to be distinguished from small industry (handicrafts) by the possession of plant and machinery, small industry employing only "machinery and tools worked by hand". 2 Compensation for accidents in small industry is governed by the Compensation Act of 2 June 1903. s The compensation for industrial accidents on railways used for public transport is governed by the Act of 28 June 1912, which, however, applies only to railway workers who have engaged in the occupation of their own free will and are not considered as State workers. State workers and employees are subject to the Act of 13 January 1922 on pensions for •soldiers and civil servants (Noteikumi par karaviru un valsls ierednu un kalpolaju pensijam). Section 5 of this Act lays down that if a civil servant or State employee working under unhealthy conditions is the victim of an accident, he is entitled to a pension proportioned to his loss of working capacity irrespective of his length of service, but not less than 30 per cent, of his salary. By a decision of the Senate this provision also applies to workers on State railways who are considered as State workers. — 55 — LITHUANIA The Act of 2 June 1903 on compensation for industrial accidents, in force in Lithuania 1, applies to workers in factories and mills, mining and metal works. For the definition of these terms reference is made to the Industrial Code and the Mines Act. . By Section 1 of the Industrial Code 2, establishments in which industrial work is carried on are entitled factories and mills. Section 2 of the Code states that such establishments are distinguished from small industry (handicrafts)' by the possession of machinery and plant, small industry employing only "machinery and tools worked by hand". Section 1 of the Mines Act (Collection of Laws, Vol. VII) states that the term "mining undertakings" covers undertakings in which natural ores found on the surface or underground, such as (a) earth and stone, (6) metals, (c) salts (sodium chloride, alum, vitriol, etc.), (d) inflammable materials, are prospected for, extracted, smelted, refined and worked up. According to section 2 of this Act, metal works are defined as undertakings engaged in (a) the working up of ores, (b) the working up of metals or manufacture of metal goods (in cases in which undertakings engaged in working up ores and those intended for the manufacture of metal goods belong to the same owner), (c) salt works. The Act of 28 June 1912 applies to railways used for public transport. Small industry (handicrafts) is not covered by the law (Section 1 of the Act of 2 June 1903 and Section 2 of the Industrial Code), nor does the law apply to State undertakings, the workshops and other establishments of private railways3 and shipping, nor to agricultural undertakings *. LUXEMBURG The Act of 5 April 1902 on the compulsory insurance of workers against accidents applies to the following undertakings : (1) The operation of railways and tramways. (2) The operation of mines, surface mines, and quarries of all kinds. (3) The generation of gas and electricity and the production of explosives. (4) Blast furnaces, steel works, iron works and foundries;. (5) Factories in which iron, steel, or other metals are used or worked up as the principal materials. (6) Potteries. (7) Breweries, mills and saw mills. (8) Cartage, inland navigation, ferrying, towage and dredging. (9) Forwarding, warehousing and packing. (I) Transport and warehouse undertakings connected with a wholesale commercial business. (II) Locksmiths' and blacksmiths' work, stone cutting, well-sinking, slaughtering, bookbinding, and chimney-sweeping. (12) The building industry, construction and earth-works. (13) Construction, earth-works, and other works carried out by the State, a commune, a public institution or other proprietor without the intervention of a contractor. i Except for the Klaipeda (Memel) Territory, to which the (amended) German law still applies. s Collection of Laws, Vol. XI. 3 Compensation tor industrial accidents on railways used tor public transport is governed by the Act of 28 June 1912 . * The Regulations on direct taxation (Collection of Laws, "Vol. V) gives a list of agricultural undertakings not subject to the law (Section 371, heads 20, 24 and 25). —.56 — (14) The operation by the State of the telegraph and telephone system and of all other industrial undertakings not previously enumerated (Section 1). In addition, the Act of 23 December 1904 made insurance compulsory for the following undertakings : tanneries and currying establishments ; malt houses, the manufacture of champagne, aerated water and preserves ; the manufacture of candles, soaps, paints and varnishes, paper; vinegar factories; the loading, unloading and wholesale warehousing of goods; the textile industry; printing and lithography; cloth making and related trades; tobacco factories; lime kilns; carpentry, wheelwrights' work, tinsmiths' work, stove setting, and professional window cleaning; the state postal service so far as the actual transport and delivery of parcels is concerned ; all factories, works, manufacturing and industrial undertakings and all trades not specially mentioned. For the purposes of the Act, factories are deemed to be all industrial undertakings which manufacture or work up articles for purposes of gain (Section 2). Since the Act of 20 December 1919 insurance has also been compulsory for agriculture and forestry, and undertakings run by the head of an agricultural or forestry undertaking side by side with the latter but economically dependent on it (subsidiary undertakings). Such subsidiary undertakings include, in particular, those intended • nainly or solely for (a) Working up the products of the agricultural or forestr. undertaking of the employer; {b) Supplying the needs of the agricultural or lorestry undertaking; (c) Procuring and working up products of the soil on the land of the employer. For the purposes of the Act agricultural undertakings are deemed to include ornamental and commercial gardening, arboriculture and the production of seed, and laying out and maintaining domestic or pleasure gardens if carried on as a trade (Section 2). Estates which are less than 10 ares in size are not deemed to be agricultural or forestry undertakings, vineyards being counted at three times their area for the purpose of calculating these 10 ares (Grand Ducal Decree of 22 August 1922). A Decree of 23 December 1904 exempted certain trades in which the risk of accident was slight, chiefly the clothing, toilet articles, and food trades. By Section 3 of the Act of 23 December 1904, however, employers in the undertakings exempt from the liability to insurance and in commercial undertakings are entitled to insure their workers against the results of industrial accidents by making a written declaration to that effect to the President of the Accident Insurance Association. NETHERLANDS I. — INDUSTRY Compulsory Insurance Under the Accident Insurance Act of 2 January 1901, as amended, insurance is compulsory for all industries (Section 11) except agriculture, stockkeeping, horticulture and forestry, passenger and goods transport on ships which do not as a rule sail either on rivers or on inland waterways or from one place within the country to another such place and fishing carried on elsewhere than in rivers and inland waterways and as a rule out of sight of the Dutch coast (Section 12). Special measures have been adopted for these kinds of undertakings. If a contractor who engages in the transport of passengers or goods not falling under section 12 (inland navigation and inland fishery) causes goods which he has transported or is about to transport by ship to be loaded, unloaded, stowed, weighed, measured, transported or stored by persons in his service, for the purposes of the Act, the shipping undertaking is deemed as — 57 — regards these operations to include also the loading, unloading, stowage, weighing, measuring, transporting or storage of'goods (Section 13, subs. 1). By Section 13, subs. 2, when a contractor who carries on the business of passenger or goods transport by ships to which Section 12 applies (maritime navigation and sea fishery) and who has the office of his undertaking or an agent within the Netherlands, causes goods which he has transported or is about to transport by ship, to be loaded, unloaded, stowed, weighed, measured, transported or stored by persons in his service, he is for purposes of the Act deemed, as regards these operations, to carry on an industry liable to insurance. If a public body causes such operations to be performed by persons in its service as would render them liable to insurance if they performed the same operations in the service of a private person, the public body is deemed to carry on an industry liable to insurance in so far as these operations are concerned (Section 3, subs. 2). The Act of 19 May 1922, amending the Accidents Act, added a new subsection to Section 3 stating that the provisions of Section 3, subs. 2, do not apply to the educational institutions of public bodies (without prejudice to the provisions of Section 4). According to Section 4 of the Act if a person or body corporate causes the operations specified in public administrative regulations to be performed by persons in his (its) service who would have been liable to insurance if the operations formed an independent industry in an undertaking, the person or corporation is deemed for the purposes of the Act to carry on an industry liable to insurance in a separate undertaking, in so.far as the operations in question are concerned, in the cases specified in public administrative regulations. If the persons by whom the operations in question are performed are already insured in respect of these operations in virtue of another accident insurance Act the section does not apply. The Decree of 14 September 1921 1 containing the public administrative regulations provided for in Section 4, subs. 1, of the Act enumerates the operations performed on account of another which are deemed to be liable to insurance. The Decree refers only to operations involving a certain risk. In the majority of cases it has been admitted that a minimum half-yearly wage of 500 florins should be paid for the performance of the operations in question because the kinds of work paid at a lower rate are too few in number to be liable to insurance. Voluntary Insurance Under the Act the employer may insure himself voluntarily against the pecuniary consequences of accidents met with by him in connection with the carrying on of an industry liable to insurance (Section 87, subs. 1). Voluntary insurance is also open to any person who carries on an industry liable to insurance on his own account without having any other person in his service; such a person is deemed to be an employer (Section 87, subs. 2). II. — AGRICULTURE Compulsory Insurance According to Section 11 of the Act of 20 May 1922 to insure persons employed in agricultural occupations against the pecuniary consequences of accidents with which they meet in connection with their employment, insurance is compulsory for (a) agriculture, (¿>) stock-keeping, (c) horticulture, (d) forestry s . i Staatsblad, 1921, No. 1057. 2 According to Section 12 of the Act if an employer carries on in his undertaking one or more of the industries specified or referred to in Section U and also one or more of the industries liable to insurance in virtue of the Accidents Act 1921, the management of the Insurance Bank (Rijhsverzekeringsbank) decides whether the undertaking as a whole is to be deemed liable to insurance in pursuance of the Accidents Act 1921 or of the Accident Insurance Act for Agricultural Workers 1922. — 58 — Sections 3 and 4 of the Act contain the same provisions with respect to public bodies and occasional work as are found in sections 3 and 4 of the General Accidents Act. Voluntary Insurance Section 99, subs. 1, specifies that an employer who is not a member of a trade association may insure.himself with the State Insurance Bank against the pecuniary consequences of accidents met with by him in connection with the carrying on of an industry liable to insurance. Voluntary insurance is also open to the wife of an employer who is not a member of a trade association, his children Jiving at home, and any person carrying on an industry liable to insurance on his own account without having any other persons in his employment, together with the wife of such person and his children living at home. III. — SHIPPING AND SEA FISHERY The Act of 8 May 1915 granting compensation to seamen and their survivors ill the case of accidents to seamen arising out of or in the course of an event directly due to the war, amended by the Act of 27 June 1919 1 , applies to any seagoing ship which was or will be taken out into the open sea from the Netherlands after 19 July 1915. Section 1, subs. 1, defines a seagoing ship as any Dutch ship not in the service of the State which is destined to leave a Dutch port. Section 1, subs. 2, defines any ship as Dutch, (a) which goes to sea for an undertaking with its office in the Netherlands, (b) the crew of which is recruited in the Netherlands, not less than half being resident in the Netherlands. NEW ZEALAND The Workers' Compensation Act of 1922 covers employment in any trade j business or work carried on temporarily or permanently by or on behalf of an employer (Section 2, Section 3, subs. 2 (a)), and employment in mining, quarrying, excavation, cutting of standing timber, building, manufacture or use of explosives, use of machinery in motion, driving of vehicles, domestic service, and any occupation in which the worker incurs the risk of falling more than 12 feet, whether for the purposes of the employer's trade or business or not (Section 3, subs. 2 (b) and Schedule I). Government service is specifically included (Section 12), as also employment by a corporation or local authority (Section 3, subs. 4) and employment on board a New Zealand ship wherever the ship may be at the time of the accident, and, in the case of seamen, whether the accident occurs on board the ship or elsewhere (Section 11). The only specific exclusion from the scope of the Act is that of the naval and military services (Section 12). NORWAY The Norwegian Act of 13 August 1915 on accident insurance for industrial workers, as amended by the Act of 19 July 1918, makes insurance compulsory for all workers and employees employed in the following industries and occupations : (1) Factories and workshops and other establishments run as factories or using mechanical motive power or a steam boiler. (2) Mining and related undertakings, quarries (stone and limestone), stone cutting, etc. (3) Ice-cutting. i Staatsblad, No. 415. — 59 — (4) Undertakings in which explosives and other very inflammable materials' are manufactured or used in the way of trade. (5) The construction, installation or repair of buildings, ships, railways, overhead cables, roads, bridges, quays, docks, dams, canals, locks, etc., sewers, gas works, water works and works connected with the erection, repair or removal of electric cables and lightning conductors. (6) Forestry, including the felling and transport of building timber, wood fuel and other materials derived from forestry and related works; timber floating and all related works; supervision of dams, canals, locks, railways, overhead cables, and tramways. (7) Loading and unloading of ships in so far as this work is not performed by the crew and provided that the tonnage of the ship renders it liable to registration under the Norwegian Ships Registration Act No. 2 of 4 May, 1901 (Section 1); all work in building yards and in the depots, warehouses and sheds of harbours; the preparation, etc., of fish and of canned food. Ships in port which are equipped for performing the kinds of work last described are deemed to be depots or sheds within the meaning of the Act. Such work is covered by the Act if it is performed on board ships which must be registered under the above-mentioned Act of 4 May 1901, by persons not belonging to the crew and who have not been engaged, either by the captain or the shipowner, for employment to be remunerated by the shipowner and performed on board during the course of the voyage. (8) Diving and related salvage operations. (9) Chimney sweeping, fire brigade service and related salvage work. (10) The transport of goods carried on as an independent undertaking (provided that not less than two horses are employed for the purpose) or in connection with any of the industries enumerated under heads 1-9 above, but only if the goods are transported by vehicles, etc., belonging to the undertaking or hired by it. (11) Sea transport on lighters (vessels which have no independent means of propulsion) of a gross tonnage of 50 tons or more. The insurance is compulsory irrespective of the period of employment and is subject to one of the following conditions: (a) That the work is performed on the account óf a person running an undertaking which normally requires the said work or on account of a company whose operations cover the working of one of the undertakings enumerated above, even though the company may not undertake the industry for purposes of gain. The Act does not apply to the work so defined unless the wages paid for the work by the person or company are not less than 50 kroner a year. (b) That the work is performed on the account of the state or a commune, irrespective of the value of the work done. (c) That the total remuneration for the work is not less than 500 kroner or if use is made of mechanical power or a steam boiler not less than 100 kroner a year. If it can be shown that an undertaking covered by the Act does not expose the workers to the risk of accident, the Crown may exempt it from the liability to insurance. Such exemption may be granted on the recommendation of the factory inspector addressed to the government insurance institution in the case of undertakings in which motive power is obtained from engines of not more than 1 H.P. or steam boilers with a pressure of not more than half an atmosphere, provided, however, that such undertakings are not liable to insurance for other reasons. Insurance under the Act is not compulsory for state workers, employees of the main railways or municipal workers if, in the event of accident, they and their families are entitled to compensation which the Crown considers equivalent to that provided under the Act. — 60 — A special Act of 18 August 1911, amended by the Acts~ of 30 July 1915, 15 June 1917, 19 July 1918 and 16 February 1923, deals with the accident insurance of seamen. It applies to the crews of Norwegian vessels employed on foreign or home service, including traffic on inland lakes and river?, provided that the vessels have a gross tonnage of 50 registered tons <>r more in the case of sailing vessels or of 25 registered tons or more in the case of steamers or motor vessels. The Act of 10 December 1920 on the accident insurance of fishermen applies to fishermen, whalers, sealers, etc., who earn their living by sea-fishing or catching whales, seals, etc., either exclusively or in connection with another occupation, and persons belonging to the crews of fishing boats or whaling or sealing vessels. Nevertheless, members of the crew, fishermen, and whalers and sealers, etc., on Norwegian vessels having a gross tonnage of 50 registered tons or more in the case of sailing vessels and 25 tons or more in the case of steam or motor vessels are exempt from insurance. The Act further applies to persons who earn their living wholly or partly by navigating small vessels, and the crews of life-boats and tenders and pleasure boats, in so far as such vessels have a gross tonnage of less than 50 registered tons in the case of sailing vessels and less than 25 tons in the case of steam or motor vessels, but not less than 4 tons gross tonnage. Finally, the Act applies to the crews of lighters (vessels which have no independent means of propulsion) of gross tonnage of 4 to 50 registered tons, provided that the work is carried on as an independent undertaking. PANAMA The Act of 16 November 1916 (No. 17) applies to the following industries provided they are of a permanent nature: (1) Mines, salt works and quarries. (2) Metal work in factories and workshops. (3) Undertakings in which explosives, inflammable, noxious or poisonous materials are manufactured. (4) Loading and unloading at warehouses, docks, quays, etc. (Section 9). (5) Public or private construction, repair, and maintenance of public works, railways, harbours, roads, bridges, dams, quays, aqueducts, sewers; construction, repair and demolition of public buildings; all other similar work carried out on account of a private individual or of any national or municipal authority; undertakings for transport by land, sea, river, navigable canals, etc., within the jurisdiction of the Republic (Section 5). The Act applies also to commerce. PERU The Act of 20 January 1911 on industrial accidents applies to the following industries: (1) Production or transmission of electricity, steam, gas or other power producing mechanical energy. (2) Electric or gas lighting systems. (3) The installation, maintenance or taking down of electric wiring or lightning conductors. (4) The installation, maintenance or repair of telegraph and telephone lines. (5) Shipbuilding and repairs. (6) The construction, repair, maintenance and running of railways, bridges and roads. (7) Transport by land, sea, river or lake, provided that mechanical traction is used. — 61 — (8) Agricultural undertakings in which use is made of other than human motive power, but only in respect of the workers exposed to tbe risk of accident by the machinery. (9) Wharves or quay companies for loading and unloading in which mechanical appliances worked by other than human power are used (Section 2). (10) Mining. — Liability under the Act applies to: (a) metal works, with the attached mines and works; (6) ore dressing works in which other than human motive power is used; (e) mines, salt mines or works, quarries, deposits of coal, petroleum, borate, saltpetre, guano and other similar substances, if more than 35 persons are employed (Section 3). (11) The construction, repair and demolition of buildings. (12) Factories, workshops and industrial establishments in which other than human motive power is used (Section 4). Under Section 5 of the Act its provisions apply to the State, departmental councils, municipal councils, charitable societies, public educational establishments, for all the works and buildings executed by contract and for all the factories, establishments and industries maintained by them. POLAND In the former Prussian territory of Poland industrial accident compensation, and consequently the scope of the law, is governed by the German Insurance Code of 1911 as amended up to 31 December 1918. Insurance against accidents in horticulture is subject to a Decree of 27 August 1921 issued by the Minister for former Prussian territory 1 . In former Austrian Poland, the Austrian law remains in force as amended by an Act of 7 July 1921 a. The Austrian law was extended to former Russian territory by the Act of 30 January 1924 concerning the application to the provinces of Warsaw, Lodz, Kielce, Lublin, Bialystok, Volhynia, Pqlesia, Novogrodek and the territory of Vilno, the compulsory accident insurance laws in force in the provinces of Cracow, Lvov, Stanislavov, Tarnopol, and the Teschen districts of Silesia 3 and the Decree of 7 June 1924 of the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare concerning the coming into operation of the Act of 30 January 1924. By this Decree, insurance is compulsory for the following undertakings irrespective of whether they are the property of natural or artificial persons, except in the case of standard or narrow gauge railways and undertakings in agriculture or forestry: (1) Undertakings in which engines or closed steam boilers are used, and employing on an average more than five persons throughout the year. (2) The following undertakings irrespective of the use of engines or closed steam boilers and the number of persons employed: narrow gauge railways, electric tramways, steam shipping undertakings on rivers and lakes, transhipment, river transport, towage, railway transhipment, timber floating, loading and unloading of vessels, depots of cranes and heavy iron, aeroplanes for the transport of passengers and goods; mines and metal works and related undertakings, the manufacture and use of explosives, construction, including underground and underwater boring, boring and the sinking of shafts in mines carried on as independent undertakings; the construction of bridges, canals, dams; demolition works; drainage; the construction and repair of railways; the setting up and taking down of iron structures ; building on land ; the construction of roads and navigable waterways; the building industry, including plumbing, roofing, masonry and carpentry; professional fire-brigades. 1 Dziennih Ustaw, 1921, No. 82, p. 1492. » Ibid., 1921, No. 65, p. 1096. 8 Jbid., 1924, No. 16, p. 184. — 62 — (3) Undertakings in which engines or closed steam boilers are not used and which are not included under head (2) if they employ on an average more than 15 persons throughout the year. In former Russian and Austrian territory miners are subject to the same provisions as other workers, but Sections 14 and 16 of the Act of 30 December 1917 on Miners' Accident Insurance are still in force. PORTUGAL Decree No. 5637 of 10 May 1919 on compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents covers all undertakings whether industrial, commercial or agricultural. All manual and non-manual occupations are liable to insurance whether carried on collectively or individually (Section 1). The insurance is compulsory for the employer and must cover all the persons working in his service and in receipt of a wage, salary or other remuneration paid by him. ROUMANIA 1 The Act of 25 January 1912 on the organisation of handicrafts, minor credit institutions and workers' insurances, amended by the Acts of 26 April 1913 and 31 May 1913 and by the Act of 2 July 1924, applies to the following undertakings, whether they belong to private individuals, the State, a province, or a commune; Industries and handicrafts in which use is made of machinery driven by engines (steam, gas, electricity, internal combustion, or hydraulic), construction, earth-works, mines, quarries, saw mills, agricultural undertakings in which machinery is used, forestry, grain mills, tramways and railways of all descriptions, inland navigation and shipping, and transport undertakings in so far as the loading and unloading of goods is concerned. The Central Office has power to add to this list (Section 140). RUSSIA The social insurance system set up under the Labour Code, 1922 (Sections 175 et seq.) which includes accident insurance, covers all employed persons irrespective of whether the undertakings, institutions and businesses in which they are employed are state, public, co-operative, established under a concession or lease, of mixed character or private, or whether they are employed by private individuals, and also irrespective of the nature and duration of their employment and the method of remuneration. A Circular of 23 April 1924 excluded agricultural workers employed in undertakings producing solely for their own requirements and not working for the market. The contract of employment of such workers must contain a clause binding the employer to compensate any injuries suffered by the workers. A further Circular of the Commissariat for Labour (259/53) of 21 June 1923 excludes seasonal workers employed in certain occupations in the sugar, peat or alcohol industries or forestry, for which they use their own horses. SALVADOR Under the Act of 11 May 1911 on industrial accident compensation, the employer is liable to insurance in the following industries and works: (1) Mining of all kinds. > This analysis refers to the law of the former Kingdom and Bessarabia. The amended Hungarian law is in force in Transylvania and the Austrian law, as amended to the end of 1918, in BukoTina, — 63 — (2) Establishments in which explosive or inflammable, noxious, or poisonous materials are produced or used in the way of business. (3) Cartage and land transport by motor car, railway or tramway. (4) Transport by sea or inland navigation. (5) Fire brigades. (6) Undertakings for the generation and distribution of electricity. (7) Factories or workshops and industrial undertakings in which use is made of other than human motive power. (8) Factories and workshops in the metal working, building and shipbuilding industries. (9) The construction, repair and maintenance of buildings, including masonry and all related work; carpentry and joinery, locksmiths' work, stone-cutting, painting, etc. (10) Work in agriculture and forestry in which an engine driven by other than human power is used. (In work of this kind the employer is liable only in respect of risks in connection with the machinery.) (11) The cleaning of streets, cesspools and sewers. (12) Warehouses and wholesale depots of coal, wood fuel, and building materials. (13) All work of loading and unloading (Section 6). SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES (KINGDOM OF THE) The Act of 15 May 1922 on workers' insurance applies to all physical or mental work for remuneration performed within the territory of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Section 3). Consequently as from 1 July 1922, accident insurance has been compulsory for industry, commerce, transport undertakings (by land, sea or river) mining, and home work. In principle, agricultural undertakings are also liable to insurance, but the application of accident insurance to such undertakings is held up pending the issue of an administrative decree. Agricultural undertakings in which steam boilers or engines driven by natural or animal power are used have been liable to insurance since the Act came into force, i.e. 1 July 1922. Sea fishing is in the same position. Such undertakings are, in principle, liable to insurance, but its application is held up pending the issue of an administrative decree. Unlike the provision for agricultural undertakings (except those using steam boilers or engines) no period is fixed for the promulgation of such a decree (Section 6, subs. 6). State transport undertakings are expressly excluded, provided that the benefits paid to their workers in the event of accident are not less than those received under the general workers' insurance system, and, further, provided that representatives of the staff are entitled to share in the management of the insurance institute of the State transport undertakings in the manner provided under the general insurance system (Section 6, subs. 5). SOUTH AFRICA The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1914 covers employment in any trade, industry, business or public undertaking (Section 41), employment by the Crown, except in so far as other legal provision is made for the compensation of public servants (Section 3), employment by a local authority, with the same exception (Section 4), and employment on Union ships (Section 6). The Act does not apply to employment in agriculture, horticulture or forestry, except where such employment is in connection with an engine or machine worked by mechanical power (Section 41), share-fishing (Section 6), domestic service (Section 41), nor to native labour subject to the Native Labour Regulation Act No. 15 of 1911 (Section 2). — 64 — SPAIN Section 3 of the Amended Act of 10 January 1922 relating to industrial accidents enumerates the industries and occupations in which "Employer's liability" is assumed, irrespective of the number of workers employed; (1) Factories, workshops and industrial establishments. (2) Mines, salt mines and quarries. (3) The construction, repair and maintenance of buildings including masonry and all related work: carpentry and joinery, locksmiths' work, stone-cutting, painting, etc. (4) The construction, repair and maintenance of railways, harbours, roads, canals, dams, aqueducts, sewers, streets and other similar works. (5) Undertakings in agriculture, forestry and stock breeding, provided that they fall under one of the following heads and are not dealt with in a special act : (a) employing regularly more than six workers ; (b) using agricultural machinery driven by mechanical power. In this case the employer is liable in respect of the workers engaged in managing and minding the engines or machinery and the workers who are victims of accidents occurring in the undertaking. (6) Cartage, transport of passengers or goods by land, sea or inland waterways, and fishing. Transport by sea is deemed to cover the crews of vessels. (7) The cleaning of streets, cesspools and sewers. (8) Theatres as regards their wage-earning staff. The artistes and managing staff are also entitled to the benefit of the Act provided that their salaries are not more than 15 pesetas a day. The calculation of compensation is in all cases based on the average annual earnings of the persons concerned. (9) Fire brigades. (10) The installation, repair and removal of electrical wiring and lightning conductors, and the installation and maintenance of tel egraph and telephone lines. (11) All persons employed in loading and unloading: (12) Commercial establishments in respect of their salaried employees, clerks and travellers1. (13) Hospitals, asylums, homes, and similar establishments, in respect of their wage-earning staff, for accidents with which they meet in the performance of their duties. (14) The offices and auxiliary departments of factories and industrial undertakings covered by any of the foregoing heads, in respect of their employees in receipt of a salary of under 5,000 pesetas a year, for accidents with which they meet in the said factories, workshops or undertakings in the course of the work ordinarily performed there. Under Section 11 of the Act, its provisions apply to the State arsenals, munition factories and industrial undertakings or workshops, as also to the provinces and municipalities in respect of public works carried out by them. Section 5 of the Provisional Regulations of 29 December 1922 for the administration of the Amended Act of 10 January 1922 states that the provisions of Section 3 of the Act do not apply to domestic service. Domestic service is deemed to be service performed, for a daily wage or not, for a salary or any other kind of remuneration, on account, not of an employer, but of the master of a household, provided that the services he requires are not intended for profit but for work in a private house or dwelling in the exclusive service of himself, his family, and his employees, irrespective of whether the workers in question live in the house of their master or not (Section 5, subs. 2). SWEDEN The Act of 17 June 1916 on industrial accident insurance, as amended by the Acts of 14 June 1917, 26 April 1918,19 June 1919,18 June 1920 and 15 June 1 By the Royal Decree of 9 January 1922, banking was excluded from the Act. — 65 — 1922, contains no limitative definition of the undertakings liable to insurance. The Act covers all work, industries, trades, shipping, commerce, agriculture, domestic service and other employment. Only home workers are excluded from insurance. Under certain conditions workers employed on account of the State or a commune may be exempt from insurance (Section 3). The provisions of the Act are not very well defined with respect to artisans and small employers who have concluded a contract with another employer, but the usual interpretation is to regard such small employers as workers. Fishery is not covered by the Act of 17 June 1916, but fishermen who are not considered to be independent contractors are entitled to insure voluntarily by the Decree of 11 June 1918. SWITZERLAND I — COMPULSORY INSURANCE Under the Federal Act of 13 June 1911 on sickness and accident insurance the employees and workers employed in Switzerland in the following undertakings are liable to insurance (Section 60): (1) Railways, steamships and the postal service. (2) Undertakings subject to the Federal Factory Act of 23 March 1877 *, i.e. any industrial undertaking where several workers are regularly employed simultaneously, away from home and in closed premises. (3) (a) Undertakings in the building industry; (b) transport by land or water and rafting; (c) the erection and repair of telephone or telegraph lines, the installation and removal of machinery and the installation of technical apparatus; (d) the construction of railways, tunnels, bridges, roads; waterworks ; the sinking of wells and shafts ; the laying of water mains ; the working of mines, quarries and gravel pits. (4) Under the supplementary Act of 18 June 1915, undertakings which manufacture, use or store explosives in the way of trade. This Act of 18 June 1915 empowered the Federal Council to extend the scope of the 1911 law. In accordance with Section 16 it issued the Order I on accident insurance of 25 March 1916, which applies to (a) the Federal railways; (b) the Swiss postal service; (c) railways and steamship undertakings which have obtained a concession from the Federal Government under the Federal Act of 23 December 1872; (d) transport undertakings which have obtained a concession from the Federal Government under Sections 8 and 9 of the Federal Act of 5 April 1910 on the Swiss postal service (Section 12). Under the same Order I the following undertakings are liable to insurance : (1) All kinds of construction and earth works, namely the erection, demolition, alteration, repair or maintenance of any kind of building or construction or of any part of a building or construction; the manufacture of structural parts ; the preparation and technical management of works of this kind ; the cleaning of buildings, roads, squares and public parks. (2) The installation, alteration and maintenance of technical fittings inside and outside buildings, e.g. for the transmission of water, gas, or electricity, or of heating for laundries, etc.; the installation and removal of machinery. (3) The installation, repair and maintenance of overhead and underground transmission systems of all kinds, e.g. for high or low tension current, water, or gas. (4) Any branch of the transport industry which is not conceded by the Government, including transport by animal traction or with the assistance of any kind of motive power; the provision for this purpose of vehicles, draft animals, and motor cars and lorries. i This Act was repealed when the Federal Factory Act of 18 June 1914 came into force. 5 — 66 — (5) The working of mines; extraction by boring; working of quarries; the extraction of ice, minerals, gravel, sand and similar materials (Section 13). In pursuance of Section 60 bis of the Act of 18 June 1915 the Federal Council has declared that insurance is compulsory also for: (1) Electrical generating stations which generate electricity for distribution to third parties, whatever the original motive, power. (2) Electrical generating stations which generate electricity to run a plant connected with them, such as railways, factories and similar undertakings. (3) Undertakings which receive electricity and distribute it to third parties, whether they transform the current and tension or not (Section 15). By Order I, insurance is further compulsory for the following undertakings even though they are not subject to the Factory Act: (1) The manufacture of illuminating gas, air gas, acetylene, liquid gas, spirit of wine, lacquers and varnishes, inflammable articles, fireworks, oxygen, hydrogen and explosive chemicals. (2) Tar distillation. (3) The wholesale storage of spirit of wine, petroleum, petrol, benzine and other volatile products distilled from petroleum and tar, of explosive chemicals or fireworks. (4) The running of garages for keeping, cleaning and repairing motor cars and lorries. (5) The running of aviation stations. (6) Laundering with the use of chemicals. (7) The running of cinematographs. (8) Galvanoplasty (Section 16). Further in pursuance of Section 60 bh, subs. 1 (c), of the Act of 18 June 1915, Order I makes insurance compulsory for: (1) Industrial and commercial undertakings using for their plant, workyards, depots or warehouses, sidings connecting them with an undertaking holding a railway or steamship concession. (2) Commercial undertakings which store large quantities of heavy goods such as coal, wood, metal, or manufactured goods made of these materials, building materials, etc., and which use mechanical equipment such as cranes, elevators, etc. for their transport. (3) Warehouses and loading and unloading undertakings. (4) Beer depots which also undertake delivery. (5) Slaughter houses with mechanical equipment, even if they are not covered by head (1). (6) Saw mills (Section 17). Whereas the Federal Act of 13 June 1911 made no distinction in Section 60 between workers and employees engaged in private undertakings and those employed by public authorities, Order I on accident insurance specifies that when any public authority on its own account runs an undertaking liable to insurance, Sections 2 to 17 of the Order apply (Section 18, subs. 1). If a public authority regularly employs several workers or employees full time in works covered by Sections 13 to 17 and connected with the running of plant for the distribution of water and light, or with a pumping installation, or with the maintenance of public parks or gardens, the employees and workers so employed are liable to insurance (Section 18, subs. 2). Employees and workers engaged in forestry work carried out by a public authority are also insured. Other work carried out by a public authority with the labour of workers who are engaged in forestry work, at the same time as, or in connection with the latter, is included in the insurance, even if by itself it would not be liable (Order I bis of 20 August 1920, Section 19). If a public authority temporarily undertakes work covered by Sections 13 to 17 of Order I, the employees and workers employed in this work are — 67 — insured if it is likely that not less than five persons will be regularly employed for at least a month, or if the work requires not less than 100 werking days (Order I, Sections 20 and 23). The provisions of Section 18 described above (undertakings and works performed by a public authority on its own account) apply also to undertakings run mainly for public utility (hospital institutions, etc.) and belonging to societies or private bodies, provided that they regularly employ not less than five workers or employees. If any person undertakes on his own account work of a kind covered by Sections 13 to 17 of the Order, but not of the nature of an undertaking, the employees and workers employed are insured if it is likely that not less than five persons will be regularly employed for a month, or if the work requires not less than 100 working days. If an undertaking is mainly engaged in work liable to insurance, the liability applies also to subsidiary undertakings even though these are of such a nature that by themselves they would not be liable to insurance (Section 5). If the undertaking is mainly engaged in work which is not liable to insurance, subsidiary undertakings are liable on condition that (a) the subsidiary undertaking is run separately; (b) it regularly employs not less than five persons; (c) it is subject to the Factory Act (Section 7, subs. 2). II. •—• VOLUNTARY INSURANCE The Act of 13 June 1911 provides for voluntary insurance against risk of accident for any person not liable to compulsory insurance who is not less than 14 years of age, for as long as he is resident in Switzerland (Section 115). The main object of this voluntary insurance was to cover agriculture. III.—VOLUNTARY INSURANCE OF THIRD PARTIES The heads of undertakings which are liable to insurance and the heads of undertakings who have insured themselves with all their employees and workers in accordance with section 115 (voluntary insurance) may insure third parties at their own expense for whom they are legally responsible in the event of slight negligence on their part (Section 118). URUGUAY The Act of 15 November 1920 (Section 4) gives a list of about 150 industries and occupations in alphabetical order covering the employments in Uruguay which could involve the use of machinery or power or exposure to any risk of injury, and which are subject to the Act, including agriculture so far as concerns the persons exposed to danger from machinery 1. The list is not limitative, because the Act covers all industries similar to those enumerated and, in general, all industrial undertakings or occupations which involve the use of other than human power, and, further, because the executive authorities may at any time increase the number of industries and occupations included. Any employer responsible for operations in which workers are employed and which for any reason are not included under the provisions of the Act, may place himself thereunder by enrolling himself in a register kept for this purpose by the National Labour Office (Section 52). The State, the provincial authorities and other bodies corporate which carry on public establishments are liable to the same obligations as those laid upon employers under the Act, in so far as the kinds of work mentioned in Section 4 are carried out by persons in their employment (Section 13). 1 Cf. Legislación obrera del Uruguay, Vol. I, No. 1, 1921, pp. 63-66. Montevideo. — 68 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY ARGENTINA Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Agriculture Factories, workshops, and industrial establishments other than those enumerated in the Act, in which only human motive power is used. Excluded, except for transport, loading and unloading undertakings. Undertakings In forestry and agriculture in which mechanical power is not used. Industrial undertakings employing as a rule less than 20 persons, in which steam boilers and machinery driven by natural or animal power are not used, which are not engaged in construction or metal forging, and undertakings in which machinery not forming part of the permanent plant is used only temporarily. Small commercial undertakings not using machinery (retail trade). Undertakings in agriculture and forestry in which steam boilers or machinery driven by natural or animal power are not used. Industry AUSTRALIA Commonwealth New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia AUSTRIA Forestry work performed regularly in small agricultural undertakings. — 69 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Fishery Domestic Service Miscellaneous Excluded. Vessels ordinarily propelled with oars. — . — Share Ashing. — — — — Share Ashing. — Share fishing. Domestic service in a private family where the servant is under 16 years of age or is employed less than 8 hours daily or has, at the date of the injury, been in the employment of the same employer for less than 60 days continuously. Share fishing. — Excluded. — The erection of onestorey dwellings and other agricultural buildings in rural districts, provided that the work is executed only by the builder, the members of his household or other inhabitants of the same district who are not building workers by trade. Repair work on completed buildings. — 70 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Agriculture BELGIUM Industrial undertakings not enumerated in the Act, in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is used only temporarily, or in which less than five workers are habitually employed, or which have not been scheduled as dangerous by Royal decree. Commercial houses where less than three workers are habitually employed. Agricultural undertakings in which less than three workers are habitually employed. BRAZIL Industrial undertakings in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is not used. Excluded, except for transport, loading and unloading. Agricultural undertakings in which machinery driven by other than human or animal power is not used. — — Farming and ranching, except for lumbering. — — — BULGARIA CANADA Alberta British Columbia ' Manitoba — l New Brunswick 1 Nova Scotia * Ontario 1 Excluded. • — — — Excluded. — Excluded. Excluded, except transportation, loading and unloading. Excluded. Excluded, except transport by rail. Excluded. Undertakings employUndertakings employing less than five workers. ing less than five workers. Excluded. Quebec Saskatchewan Industrial work performed on a farm for the purposes only of the farm. Yukon CHILE Undertakings employExcluded, except transing less than five workers. port, loading and unloading undertakings employing not less than five workers. CHINA Factories employing less than 100 workers, or which are not dangerous or unhealthy. i Part I of the Act. Excluded. Excluded. Undertakings in agriculture and forestry and stock breeding employing less than Ave workers. Excluded. — 71 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Maritime navigation. Fishery Sea fishing. Domestic Service (COTlt.) Miscellaneous Excluded. • — — Excluded. — — — Excluded. — — — Excluded. — — — Excluded. The entertainment industry; the operation of aircraft. — — Excluded. Logging and other timber work, municipal fire departments. — — Excluded. Municipal fire departments. — — — Excluded. — — Navigation by means of sails. Excluded. — Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. — Excluded. — Excluded. — Undertakings employUndertakings employing less than five workers. ing less than five workers. Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. — 72 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS A'ND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY CUBA CZECHOSLOVAKIA Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Agriculture — Excluded, except for transport undertakings and warehouses. Undertakings in which machinery not forming part of the permanent plant is used only temporarily. Small commercial undertakings not using machinery (retail trade). Undertakings in agriculture and forestry in which steam boilers or machinery driven by natural or animal power are not used (former Austrian territory). Work performed by agricultural workers not living in the household of the employer (former Hungarian territory). Undertakings not enumerated in the Act in which only human motive power is used. Excluded, except for transport, warehouses and wholesale depots of coal, wood fuel and building timber, loading and unloading. Undertakings in agriculture and forestry in which engines driven by other than human power are not used. Excluded. DENMARK ECUADOR ESTHONIA FINLAND Excluded, except for the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves or warehouses and transport. Undertakings in which only the employer, his wife and his children under age are employed. Factories, handicrafts and other industrial undertakings in rural districts in which no use is made of steam boilers or machinery driven by other than human motive power or in which there is no technical plant. By an Order, certain industrial establishments in which the risk of accident is slight have been excluded : viz., watch factories, optical instrument factories, scientific instrument undertakings, undertakings for the manufacture of boots and shoes, saddlery, furriery, decorating and paper hanging, the manufacture of clothing, weaving, bakeries, laundries and ironing establishments, hairdressers' establishments. Excluded, except for the loading and unloading, and warehousing of goods, and transport. Excluded, except for agricultural undertakings in which machinery driven by natural power is used for not more than 14 days in the year. — 73 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Excluded. Fishery Excluded. Domestic Service (COtlt.) Miscellaneous Excluded. — Excluded. The erection of onestorey dwellings and other agricultural buildings in rural districts, provided that the work is executed only by the builder, the members of his household or other inhabitants of the same district who are not building workers by trade. Casual or temporary domestic service if the employer is not bound by a contract with other workers liable to insurance. Maritime navigation. Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. " Excluded, except for fishery carried on as a Business it more than three paid workers are employed simultaneously- Excluded. The construction of roads and bridges on which less than Ave persons are employed at the same time. The construction and repair of houses in the country if less than Ave workers are employed at the same time. Undertakings situated in certain remote rural districts. — 74 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Agriculture FRANCE GERMANY GREAT BRITAIN GREECE Undertakings regularly employing less than 10 paid workers in which neither explosives, electricity, steam boilers, nor machinery driven by natural or animal power are used. Small commercial undertakings (in which the persons employed work less than 300 working days a year). Small home gardens or ornamental gardens which are worked with the assistance of special labour, and the produce of which is intended mainly for the household of the producer. — — — Industrial establishments, workshops etc. in which machinery is not used, and undertakings in which explosive or poisonous substances are not used, or machinery driven by other than human or animal power. Excluded, except for transport undertakings, loading, unloading and warehousing. HUNGARY INDIA Excluded. All work performed by agricultural workers not liring in the household of the employer and not using machinery. Factories employing as a rule less than 20 persons and not using mechanical power. Excluded, except for the loading and unloading of vessels, if mechanical or electrical power is used, and railway undertakings. IRISH FREE STATE " Excluded. — 75 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Fishery- Domestic Service (COTlt.) Miscellaneous Excluded. — Fishermen remunerated wholly or mainly by a share in the profits of the vessel (except under certain conditions). — — Excluded. Maritime navigation. Sea fishing. Coasting vessels of a registered tonnage of less than 300 tons, inland steam vessels of a registered tonnage of less than 100 tons. Excluded. Excluded. Share fishing. " The construction, repair or demolition of one-storey buildings or buildings which are not intended for industrial or commercial purposes or which, if intended for such purposes, are less than 20 feet in height, and the construction, repair or demolition of bridges of less than 50 feet in length. — 76 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Agriculture ITALY The construction or working of railways or tramways with mechanical traction, irrigation, works required for repairing the effects of landslides and floods, the construction and repair of harbours, canals and dams, ships, bridges, tunnels and roads, provided less than five workers are employed. Undertakings in which machinery is not used or in which the machinery is driven directly by the worker using it, provided that less than five workers are employed. JAPAN Factories employing regularly less than 10 workers, unless the work is dangerous or unhealthy. Undertakings excluded by an Order owing to the slight risk of accident. LATVIA Industrial undertakings 2 employing less than Ave workers. Excluded, except for transport undertakings. Excluded. — Excluded, except for transport. Excluded. LITHUANIA s LUXEMBURG NETHERLANDS Excluded, except for loading and unloading and transport, provided that more than five workers are employed and undertakings enumerated in the Act- Excluded i. Industrial undertakings Excluded, except for and the clothing, toilet transport and warehouse articles, and food trades, undertakings connected in which the risk of with a wholesale comaccident is slight. mercial business. — — Excluded. Undertakings in agriculture and forestry of less than 10 ares in size. — NEW ZEALAND NORWAY Industrial undertakings not using mechanical motive power or steam boilers, not being factories or run as factories, not being enumerated in the Act; all industrial undertakings in which the total amount of wages is less than 50 kroner a year. Excluded, except for Undertakings in agrithe loading and unloading culture in which neither of vessels and work in mechanical power nor the depots, warehouses steam boilers are used. and sheds of harbours, unless the wages paid for the work are less than 50 kroner a year. 1 Voluntary insurance is allowed under the Act of 22 April 1922 for the storing of minerals, transpor loading and unloading. — 2 Undertakings covered by the Act of 2 June 1903. — s Except for theKlaipéd (Memel) territory. — 77 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Fishery Excluded, except for inland navigation, if more than four workers are employed. Excluded. Miscellaneous Excluded. Transport by river, canal or lake if less than Ave workers are employed. Maritime navigation if less than Ave workers are employed. Excluded. Domestic Service (cotlt.) Excluded. — Excluded. Excluded. Excluded. — Excluded. — " — Sailing vessels of less than 50 tons and steam or motor vessels of less than 25 registered tons. . — Sailing vessels of 50 tons or more, or less than 4 tons, and steam or motor vessels of 25 tons and more, or less than 4 tons. Excluded, except for specially dangerous work. Excluded. — — 78 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) — — PERU Industrial undertakings in which only human motive power is used. Mining and quarrying it not more than 35 persons are employed. Excluded, except for loading and unloading if use is made of mechanical appliances worked by other than human power. POLAND i Undertakings other than Excluded, except for those enumerated in the the loading and unAct using engines or loading of vessels, work steam boilers and em- in depots and underploying not more than takings using engines or five workers, and under- steam boilers and emtakings not using en- ploying more than 5 gines or steam boilers workers, and undertakand employing not more ings not using engines or than 15 workers. steam boilers and employing more than 15 workers. Standard and narrow gauge railways. COUNTRY PANAMA Agricultural undertakings in which only human motive power is used. Excluded. — — Industries and handicrafts, except those specified in the Act or in which use is made of machinery driven by steam, gas, electricity, internal combustion or hydraulic engines. Excluded, except for transport and the loading and unloading of goods. Agricultural undertakings in which machinery is not used. — — Agricultural undertakings not working for the market. Excluded, except for warehouses and wholesale depots of coal, wood fuel and building materials, and all work of loading and unloading. Work in agriculture and forestry in which an engine driven by other than human power is not used. — The application of the Act is suspended except for undertakings in which steam boilers or engines driven by natural or animal power are used. — Employment in agriculture, horticulture or forestry if engines or machines worked by mechanical power are not used. RUSSIA SALVADOR SERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM SOUTH AFRICA i Excluded. — PORTUGAL ROUMANIA 2 Agriculture Former Russian territory. — — 2 The former kingdom and Bessarabia. — 79 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Excluded. Transport by land, sea, river or lake, if mechanical traction is not used. Fishery Excluded. Excluded, except for undertakings using engines or steam boilers and employing more than 5 workers, and undertakings not using engines or steam boilers and employing more than 15 workers. — — .— — — Excluded. — — — — Excluded. — Excluded. — Excluded. Miscellaneous Excluded. Maritime navigation, except for undertakings using engines or steam boilers and employing more than 5 workers, and undertakings not using engines or steam boilers and employing more than 15 workers. Excluded. Domestic Service (COilt.) The application of the Act is suspended for sea fishing. Share-fishing. Excluded. — Excluded. — — 80 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRINCIPAL UNDERTAKINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS EXCLUDED COUNTRY Industry Commerce (commercial undertakings, transport by road and rail, loading and unloading, etc.) Banking. SPAIN Undertakings in agriculture, forestry and stock breeding in which not more than six workers are employed, or in which no use is made of agricultural machinery driven by mechanicalpower. — — SWITZERLAND Small undertakings not enumerated in the Act. Commercial undertakings which do not store large quantities of heavy goods, nor make use of mechanical equipment for the transport of such goods, except the wholesale storage of inflammable goods or explosives, warehouses and loading and unloading undertakings, and beer depots which also undertake delivery. URUGUAY Industrial undertakExcluded, except for ings or occupations which transport undertakings. use only human power. SWEDEN Agriculture — Excluded. Agricultural undertakings in which machinery is not used. — 81 — FROM THE PROVISIONS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Shipping Fishery Domestic Service (concluded) Miscellaneous Excluded — Voluntary insurance for fishermen not deemed to be workers. — — Excluded. — — Excluded. — CHAPTER II CLASSES OF WORKERS COVERED § 1 — Introduction In the preceding chapter the undertakings and services subject to legislation on industrial accident compensation have been examined. The present chapter will deal with the classes of workers who benefit by the provisions of such legislation. This study is necessary, for, within the undertakings subject to the law, all persons are not entitled in the event of accident to the compensation provided by the law, while on the other hand, several classes of persons not working in undertakings properly so-called are often subject to the law. In some cases, work which is normally covered by the law, if performed outside an undertaking, is not in itself enough to place the worker under the law. Legislation on industrial accident compensation is governed by the principle of occupational risk, according to which the employer must pay compensation for any accident to one of his workers, whether manual or non-manual, and irrespective of his ra te of pay. The full application of the principle would mean the inclusion of all paid workers and only paid workers in the class of beneficiaries. But the idea of the economic inferiority of the workers intervenes, sometimes to limit the scope of the law, sometimes to extend it. Thus a given group of paid workers has been excluded because, owing to their privileged situation from the point of view of remuneration, they seemed able to cover their own risks. On the other hand, certain accident insurance laws have been extended to cover specific classes of non-wage-earners on the same grounds of economic inferiority. As a rule, they are independent persons with a low income, such as artisans working at home, or persons who are semi-independent, semi-paid, such as métayers whose conditions are sometimes less favourable even than those of workers properly so-called. Apart from these exceptions, it should be observed that the various laws on industrial accident compensation make the right to compensation depend on the existence of a legal bond between — 83 — the person applying for compensation and the person applied to. The form of the bond may vary. It may relate to the hiring of work, association, the hiring of things, mandate, etc. Whether the contract is one of employment or of apprenticeship, whether it is a case of piece work, co-operative association or profit sharing, the agreement binding the worker, employee, or apprentice to the employer always supposes the actual employment of the beneficiary in, or even outside, an undertaking subject to the law. As a rule this condition in industrial accident legislation is supplemented by various others to be fulfilled by the workers covered and these must be studied in greater detail. For the sake of clearness they will be considered in turn, the following points being dealt with more particularly: sex, nationality, nature of occupation, existence or absence of remuneration, wage or income limit, period of employment, work in a public or private undertaking, the place of work, the position of independent workers. § 2. — Conditions to be Fulfilled by Workers covered by the Law SEX Industrial accident compensation legislation applies without distinction to men and women employed in the undertakings and services covered. This is in conformity with the principle of occupational risk. NATIONALITY The part played by the nationality of beneficiaries under the different accident compensation laws will be studied separately 1. AGE Most of the laws at present in force apply the principle of occupational risk to workers and employees irrespective of their age. Any person who is admitted to employment is entitled to compensation and in principle the right of the workers to the prescribed compensation cannot be affected by considerations of age. A few laws, however, exclude persons whose age is not between certain limits. Thus Section 2 of the Swedish Act excludes minors of under 12 years of age, although they may insure voluntarily. In Italy the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917 (No. 1450) concerning compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work, amended by the Act of 20 March 1921 and the Legislative 1 See Part VI. — 84 — Decree of 11 February 1923, states in Section 1 that permanent or casual workers employed in agriculture or forestry are insured, as well as land owners, métayers, tenant farmers, their wives and children, including illegitimate children, who habitually perform manual labour, provided that they are between 12 and 65 years of age. NATURE OF THE OCCUPATION Whereas considerations of age have as a rule carried no weight, in several countries the nature of the occupation has been taken into consideration. The occupation may be either manual or non-manual. In the strict sense of the word the worker is a person who performs manual work. He takes the most active part in the work and seems more exposed to the risk of accident than any other person. As already remarked in the first chapter of this part, compensation laws frequently endeavoured to draw a distinction between dangerous and safe industries, a distinction which is still retained in several laws. The discrimination would even seem to have been introduced with respect to the different kinds of work performed in a single undertaking. In the mind of the legislator "the worker" is simply that potential claimant under an accident compensation law who, within the undertaking covered, performs the most dangerous work, and therefore such a person is covered in every country by the provision for accident compensation. A non-manual worker does not take part in the material work. His functions are those of management, supervision, administration, that is to say, in general, non-manual work. But since he lives and works side by side with the workers, like them he in exposed to the risk of accident although often to a smaller extent. In the large majority of countries non-manual workers are therefore treated in the same way as manual workers as far as compensation for industrial accidents is concerned. The exclusion of non-manual workers from the protection of workmen's compensation laws is in contradiction with the principle of occupational risk which admits of no distinction between the wage-earners based on the nature of their occupations. Moreover, since the risk of accident they run is smaller, the cost of compensation to the employer is considerably reduced, so that the extension of compensation legislation to non-manual workers can hardly impose a heavy burden on national industry. When the French bill was debated in the Senate the reporter, Mr. Thévenet, replied as follows to the objection that there were no occupational risks for non-manual workers : "When there is an explosion in a — 85 — factory, does it pick out the worker who earns three francs, or the one who earns fifteen, or the engineer supervising the work who earns 10,000 to 15,000 francs a year ? Since in a factory run by machinery everyone is exposed to occupational risks, we have therefore decided that everyone should benefit" 1 . In the majority of States, equality of treatment for manual and non-manual workers is an actual fact. The compensation laws of the following countries include in the same definition either " workers and employees " or "all persons " working in the undertakings and services covered by the law, without distinguishing between manual and non-manual workers : Argentina 2, Australia (New South Wales2, Queensland2, South Australia2, Tasmania 2 , Western Australia 2 ), Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec2, Yukon), Chile, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Luxemburg2, Netherlands, Panama, Peru2, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, South Africa2, Sweden2, Switzerland, Uruguay. In Germany the law expressly treats the officials of undertakings (Betriebsbeamte) in the same way as workers if they are employed in undertakings or occupations covered by the law. The German example has been followed in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Latvia, Norway, Poland. The Belgian Act embodies a similar principle, for it treats non-manual workers in the same way as manual workers if they are exposed to the same risks owing to their direct or indirect participation in the work. The Manitoba Act contains the same idea, excluding only employees who are not exposed to the risk of accident. Under other laws, on the contrary, the non-manual workers in undertakings are not entitled to the compensation due in the event of accident to manual workers. In this group of laws non-manual workers are not treated in the same way as manual workers unless their wages fall below a certain figure. The group includes the laws of the following countries: Belgium, Commonwealth of Australia, Cuba, Finland, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Saskatchewan, Spain, Victoria. Certain, though few, laws confine the right to compensation to manual workers, for instance those of Ecuador and Salvador. EXISTENCE OR ABSENCE OF REMUNERATION Although the contract of employment may be based on work for a consideration and supposes the existence of remuneration, 1 Senate, 17 March 1896. Journal officiel, p. 254. Quoted by LOUBAT, Traité sur le risque professionnel, p. 156. Paris, 1907. * The law, however, fixes an income limit for "workers" and "employees". — 86 — whether the agreement is explicit or implicit, whether the remuneration is high or low, and whatever its nature, certain laws nevertheless allow the right to compensation to persons who receive no remuneration for their services. In the following countries in particular, the existence or absence of payment is not taken into account in defining beneficiaries of the law: Argentina, Austria, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Poland, Salvador. In several other states, on the contrary, the absence of remuneration, however defined, deprives the person in question of the quality of worker or employee. This is the position, for instance, in the following countries : Belgium, Cuba, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Sweden. In practice, the force of such provisions is necessarily limited, in view of the fact that under the present system of paid work the vast majority of persons employed in the undertakings or services subject to compensation legislation perform their work only in return for pay calculated by time or output. It is important to note, however, that a worker may perform services without demanding remuneration and be exposed to the risk of accident as much as paid workers and employees. Apprentices, voluntary workers, minors, pupils in schools, and often the members of the employer's family are in this position. The situation of each of these groups under the laws in force will be considered separately. Apprentices, Voluntary Workers, Workers on Probation, and Minors In many respects the position of apprentices is similar to that of workers properly so-called. Like these, they take part in the work of the undertaking and are exposed to the same risk of accident. Sometimes, even, their lack of experience makes the risk of accident more serious and more frequent. The agreement binding them to the employer, the contract of apprenticeship, is very similar to the contract of employment. Under the contract of apprenticeship, the apprentice is bound to work for the head of an undertaking, a manufacturer, or any other employer on the agreed conditions and for the agreed period, receiving in return technical instruction. He is subordinate to the head of the undertaking whose orders he receives, and therefore it is only fair that in the event of accident he should be entitled to the same compensation as other workers. This method has in fact been adopted in every law. — 87 — Whether apprentices are included in the general definition of the terms "workers and employees", or whether the law expressly states that they are to be treated in the same way as "workers and employees", all the legislation in force not only places apprentices in the same position with respect to accident compensation, but sometimes even allows them more favourable treatment. Thus, in various countries in which a person is not deemed to be a worker if he is not paid, apprentices benefit by the provisions of the law not only if they are on short pay owing to their training being incomplete, but also if no provision at all is made for their payment in the contract of apprenticeship (Belgium, Cuba, France, Italy, Netherlands, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Sweden). In certain other countries, however, such as Finland, British India, and Portugal, no such provision is made and only paid apprentices are regarded as covered by the law. In countries in which the existence of payment is not considered an absolute condition for being deemed a worker or employee, the law sometimes expressly states that even apprentices on short or no pay are entitled to compensation in the event of accident. Thus the Austrian Act applies to apprentices, voluntary workers and workers on probation, and other persons who receive short or no pay because their training is not yet completed (Section 1). Similarly under the Danish Act apprentices must be insured, whether they are paid or not. It should be pointed out that various laws treat not only apprentices properly so-called in the same way as workers, but also other classes of persons whose position is very similar to that of apprentices from the point of view of remuneration and technical training. Thus, under the German law assistants and journeymen are treated in the same way as workers, and under the Austrian law, as already explained, voluntary workers, persons on probation and other persons who receive short or no pay because their training is not yet completed. The Dutch law deems voluntary workers to be workers, even if they are not paid, as also other persons who cannot be paid owing to their technical training not being completed, and persons of under 21 years of age. In the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, voluntary workers and other persons who are on short pay because their technical training is not completed are entitled to the benefits conferred by the Act in the same way as workers and employees. — 88 — The Uruguayan law treats not only apprentices but also minors of under 21 years of age in the same way as workers. Pupils in Schools In certain countries pupils in schools are subject under certain conditions to the same provisions as workers and apprentices properly so-called. In Sweden for instance the pupils of horticultural, cookery, and similar schools, in which the school is to some extent dependent on the work of the pupils, are covered by the Accident Insurance Act. In Italy, the pupils of industrial or technical schools employed in the workshops attached to the schools are covered by the Act of 1904. Further under Section 3 subsection 1 of the regulations for the administration of the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917 on compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work, amended by the Act of 20 March 1920, pupils in institutions for instruction in agriculture or forestry are insured if they perform any of the work defined in Section 2 of the Legislative Decree 1 and Sections 1 and 2 of the regulations, whether for purposes of instruction or of practical training. In France, a pupil in a technical school, part of whose training consists in employment for instance in a mine, may be deemed to be a worker if he really works as such, for wages, under the authority and supervision of the head of the undertaking and without any outside interference 2. In the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the pupils in workshops and public educational institutions are treated as apprentices and voluntary workers. The Hungarian law pro\ides for the voluntary insurance of pupils in apprenticeship schools to which workshops are attached. Members of the Family of the Employer The lack of technical knowledge is often a reason for the absence of remuneration. Similarly, a worker or employee may not be in a position to demand payment owing to his family-relationship 1 Section 2 of the Decree runs: "An undertaking in agriculture or forestry shall mean the cultivation of land or woodland and the operations connected therewith, supplementary or accessory thereto, such as the raising of plants; irrigation; the keeping, breeding and management of stock; the preparation, preserving, manufacture and transportation of the products of agriculture, stock keeping and forestry." 2 SACHET: Traite théorique et pratique de la législation sur les accidents du travail, Vol. I, p. 130. 1921. — 89 — with the employer. Several accident compensation laws contain provisions concerning the members of the family of the employer. In piinciple the family relationship between an employer and his worker or employee need not hinder the conclusion of a contract of employment. The only obstacle to the conclusion of such a contract is the community of interests created by a contract of marriage. Thus, a son may enter into his father's service just as a father may become his son's worker. In such cases, however, it often happens that the right to payment is renounced or not stipulated at all. As a rule, therefore, the members of the family of the employer may be considered as workers or employees if they fulfil the conditions defined by the law as qualifying for compensation, and the principle of occupational risk ipso facto applies. In some countries it is accordingly argued that kinship should not dispense the employer from the obligation to pay the compensation which in the event of an accident would have been due to the worker if he had not been a member of his employer's family, and therefore the law, carrying out the fundamental theory, stipulates that under certain conditions the members of the family of the employer should be in the same position as other workers. Thus, Section 9, subsection 2, of the regulations for the administration of the Bulgarian Act of 6 March 1924 treats the members of the family of the employer in the same way as workers and employees, except for his wife and ascendants or descendants who are under age. Under the Danish Act (Section 51) the members of the family of the employer, except his wife, are liable to insurance if they can be regarded as being in the same position as other workers in view of the nature and importance of their work in his undertaking, and if they are over ten years of age. For fishing and small shipping, the same Act (Section 66 b) states that insurance is compulsory for members of the employer's family, with the exception of his wife, in so far as the natuie and scope of their work in the undertaking places them in the same position as other workeis. For agriculture, the Act (Section 71) specifies that the insurance shall apply also to the members of the employer's family, with the exception of his wife, in so far as the nature and scope of their work in the undertaking places them in the same position as other workers, unless their maintenance for life (Aftaegt) is properly secured to them on the property on which they are employed by a rent charge or in some other way. It should be remarked that this provision, which is wider than the corresponding provision for the family of an industrial employer, prescribes no age limit. — 90 — In Italy, insurance is compulsory for the members of the family of the head or manager of the undertaking, provided that they take an important part in the work or supervise it, and further that they may be deemed workers within the meaning of the Act (Section 11, subsection 3, of the Regulations). By the Act of 23 August 1917 on compulsory accident insurance in agriculture, the wives and children, including illegitimate children, of landowners, métayers and tenant farmers are also insured if they habitually perform manual labour in the undertaking. Swiss law contains similar provisions. Section 25 of Order I of 1916, amended by Order Iter on accident insurance of 8 December 1922, specifies that insurance is not compulsory for the wife or husband or the relatives living with the head of an undertaking, unless it is shown, either by a formal declaration on the part of the head of the undertaking, or by special circumstances such as their regular employment in the undertaking or the proper remuneration for their work, that they should be included among the workers and employees of the undertaking. In addition to the above laws, which, under certain circumstances, treat the members of the employer's family in the same way as workers or employees, there is a second group, in which such persons are expressly excluded. The laws in this group consider that the relationship created by living in the same household constitutes an obstacle to the conclusion of a contract of employment, and cannot justify the application of the principle of occupational risk. Thus in Great Britain, the members of the employers' family who live under the same roof are not entitled to compensation. The term covers the following persons: wife or husband, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, grandson, grand-daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister. In South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales, members of the family of the employer living under the same roof are excluded — viz. wife or husband, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, grandson, grand-daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister. The laws of Queensland, Tasmania, and Victoria add to this list all persons to whom the employer stands in loco parentis. The compensation laws of the Canadian Provinces similarly exclude the members of the employer's family. — 91 — In Finland, the Act of 1917 does not apply to undertakings in which only the employer, his wife and their children under age are employed. Such persons are exempt even if they are employed in an undertaking in which other persons are also employed. In Luxemburg, the members of the employer's family are similarly excluded from the scope of the law, but employers who belong to the Industrial Accident Insurance Association are entitled to have them insured voluntarily. The compulsory insurance of agricultural workers introduced by the Dutch Act of 20 May 1922 does not apply to children of the employer living in his household. This provision is due to the state of opinion among the agricultural population. Under the Swedish Act (Section 2), compensation is not payable in respect of the employer's child or adopted child, or parents or adoptive parents, living with him. The wife or husband of the employer is similarly excluded. WAGE OR INCOME LIMIT, AND THE EXCLUSION OF HIGHLY PAID WORKERS The extent to which the definition of workers covered by the law is subject to the existence of payment has already been discussed. The question how far the definition is influenced by the amount of the payment remains. The answers contained in the different laws vary. The principle of occupational risk on which compensation legislation is based should logically apply to all workers in the undertaking, the human factor being treated on this principle in the same way as the machinery factor as far as compensation for the injuries due to accident is concerned. Logically, therefore, the best paid worker should be entitled to compensation calculated according to the same rules as for the worst paid labourer. In some countries the legislator, with a view to reducing the burden on industry, has argued that the pay of the highly paid worker is not only remuneration for his work, but also a premium for the risks he runs. The application of the principle of occupational risk is modified by consideration for the economic inferiority of the class of paid workers, and maximum wage or income limits are fixed above which the worker or employee loses the right to compensation in the event of accident. Mention has already been made, in the account of the development of compensation legislation, of the example of the British Act fixing an income limit for non-manual workers of £250, raised — 92 — in 1923 to £350. This tendency to increase the maximum income — a tendency which was particularly marked after the war — is to be found in certain other countries. In many cases the object was to adapt the limits fixed by the law to changes in the purchasing power of money, whereas in others it was very clearly to enlarge the scope of the law. Such an adjustment or extension took place, for instance, in South Australia, where the limit was raised from £5 a week in 1911 to £10 in 1925 ; in Western Australia, where it was raised from £300 a year in 1912 to £400 in 1920; in Belgium, for non-manual workers, from 2,400 francs a year in 1903 to 7,300 francs in 1921; in Saskatchewan, for non-manual workers, from 1,200 dollars a year in 1911 to 2,000 dollars in 1920; in Finland from 3,000 marks a year for non-manual workers in 1917 to 15,000 marks in 1919; in Sweden from 5,000 kronor a year in 1916 to 9,000 kronor. Side by side with this tendency to raise the income limit, certain countries show as the ultimate phase a tendency to abolish all limits and apply the principle of occupational risk to all manual and non-manual workers in the undertakings covered. In Germany, for instance, whereas in 1914 insurance was compulsory only for employees whose income fell below 5,000 marks a year, the limitation was entirely withdrawn by the Act of 19 July 1923. Under the Danish Act of 1916, insurance was not compulsory for certain classes of workers such as teachers, musicians, commercial travellers, etc., unless their earnings were below a certain maximum, but, on the grounds that such income limits were arbitrary, and would in practice lead to difficulties, the Rigsdag abolished the limits by the Act of 1920. In addition to Germany and Denmark, certain other countries have already reached this stage of development, for their legislation prescribes no income limit for workers and employees. They include: Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Yukon), Chile, Esthonia, Ecuador, France, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Switzerland, Uruguay. In spite of this tendency of modern legislation, several laws are still to be found excluding from the general system of compensation either all workers, or only non-manual workers, whose earnings exceed a certain limit: — 93 — Argentina • Workers and employees employed in undertakings covered whose earnings exceed 3,000 piastres a year. A ustralia Commonwealth: Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £500 a year. New South Wales: Persons whose remuneration exceeds £525 a year. Queensland: Persons whose rate of remuneration at the time of the accident exceeds £10 a week. Tasmania: Persons whose remuneration exceeds £5 a week. Victoria: Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £250 a year. South Australia: Persons whose average remuneration exceeds £10 a week. Western Australia: Persons whose remuneration exceeds £400 a year. Belgium Employees whose salary exceeds 7,300 francs a year. Canada Saskatchewan: Persons employed otherwise than by way of manual labour whose remuneration exceeds $2,000 a year. Quebec: Workers whose remuneration exceeds $1,500 a year. Cuba Non-manual workers whose wages exceed 3 gold pesos, and whose contracts of employment are valid for less than 30 days. Finland Persons managing and supervising the work of others, if their earnings exceed 15,000 Finnish marks a year. Great Britain Persons employed otherwise than by way of manual labour whose remuneration exceeds £350 a year. India Persons employed in non-manual work at a rate exceeding 300 rupees a month. — 94 — Irish Free State Persons employed otherwise than by way of manual labour whose remuneration exceeds £250 a year. Italy Persons supervising the work of others (i.e. work performed, whether permanently or temporarily, away from the home of the worker either for fixed pay or at piece rates) if the fixed earnings exceed 20 lire a day and are paid at least once a month. Persons supervising or in charge of work in agricultural and forestry undertakings whose average earnings, including payment in kind, exceed 20 lire a day for 300 working days a year. Fishermen who supervise the work of others during the fishing operations, if their fixed earnings exceed 3,600 lire a year. The officers of ships flying the Italian flag whose salary exceeds 6,000 lire a year. Japan Employees whose salary exceeds 1,200 yen a year (Health Insurance Act of 1922). New Zealand Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £400 a year. Peru Workers and employees whose earnings exceed 120 Peruvian pounds a year. South Africa Persons whose remuneration exceeds £500 a year. Spain Persons who, without themselves performing work, prepare and supervise the work of others, if their earnings exceed 15 pesetas a day. Persons employed in the offices and auxiliary departments of factories or industrial undertakings whose salaries exceed 5,000 pesetas a year. Artistes and administrative employees in the entertainment industry whose salaries exceed 15 pesetas a day. Sweden Persons receiving from the employer remuneration exceeding 9,000 kronor a year. — 95 — PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT (CASUAL EMPLOYMENT) Several laws take into consideration not only the amount of remuneration but aJso the period of employment. In theory the principle of occupational risk should apply to all persons engaged by an employer, irrespective of the period of their employment, but the administrative difficulties met with in the strict application of the principle appeared too considerable, and led to the exclusion of workers employed intermittently or for an extremely short period, especially if their work lay outside the strict scope of the employer's business. Under the theory accepted in the French law the period of the contract of employment has no effect on the application of the law, and the worker is entitled in the event of accident to the compensation prescribed by the 1898 Act, even if he has been in the service of an employer for a few hours only. Similarly under the British law a person coming within the definition of "workman" in the Act of 1906, as extended by the Act of 1923, is entitled to compensation for an industrial accident, however short the period of employment and however intermittent the employment may be. But although the British law covers the great bulk of casual labour, it excludes persons "whose employment is of casual nature, and who are employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business". So far, therefore, as casual labour is concerned the test, for the purpose of the Act, is the nature of the work, i.e., whether or not it comes within the scope of the employer's trade or business. The French system has been adopted in severel other European countries. Thus the Hungarian Act expressly includes persons employed provisionally as assistants, or temporarily, in the undertakings covered. In Italy, the Act of 31 January 1904, amended by the Acts of 17 November 1918 and 20 March 1921 (Section 2) applies to all persons employed on work performed away from their homes, whether permanently or temporarily. The Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917 (No. 1450) on compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work amended by the Act of 20 March 1921 and the Legislative Decree of 11 February 1923 states that permanent or casual workers of both sexes employed in undertakings in agriculture or forestry are insured between the ages of 12 and 65 years as well as land owners, métayers, tenant farmers, their wives and children, including illegitimate children. — 96 — In other States, on the contrary, the British principle has been adopted, the accident compensation law excluding either all casual workers or special classes of workers. Thus, the States of the Australian Commonwealth exclude persons employed in casual work not connected with the trade or business of the employer. The same exception is contained in the laws of the Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Yukon). Similar provisions are to be found in the South African Act and the Indian Act. In certain laws specific classes of seasonal workers are excluded. Thus, in Austria and Czechoslovakia workers employed in the erection of certain buildings in rural districts are excluded, provided that the work is executed by only the builder, the members of his family, or other inhabitants of the same commune who are not building workers by trade. In Bulgaria certain classes of seasonal workers (mowers, reapers, vineyard workers, woodcutters, diggers, etc.), employed temporarily are not liable to insurance. A similar measure was recently introduced in Soviet Russia. By the terms of Section 175 of the Labour Code of 1922, the social insurance system in Russia covers "all employed persons," but it has since been limited in scope, particularly by the circular of the Commissariat for Labour of 21 June 1923 (No 259/53), in respect of undertakings employing paid workers performing seasonal or temporary work. The exemption applies to certain classes of casual workers in the sugar, forestry, alcohol, and peat industries. In Sweden, persons engaged in casual work for a person who does not ordinarily employ workers are not subject to the Compensation Act. The provision therefore applies only if the worker is employed by a person who does not employ other workers and if he is employed only temporarily. The chief application of the provision is to small agricultural undertakings. The same consideration has prevailed in the Swiss law, which provides (Section 23 of Order I) that employees and workers engaged by a person, who on his own account has work performed which is liable to insurance (Sections 13 to 17 of Order I) but not of the nature of an undertaking, are not insured if it is probable that less than five persons will be regularly employed on such work during one month, or if the work requires less than 100 working days. — 97 — W O R K IN A PUBLIC OR PRIVATE UNDERTAKING The question whether the treatment of workers and employees in public undertakings should be different from that of perso as employed in private industry as far as accident compensation is concerned has been variously settled in the laws in force. In the majority of countries workers in public services are treated in the same way as workers in private undertakings. It would be inequitable not to apply the principle of occupational risk to the persons employed in state, municipal or communal services, especially since such services have grown so considerably, and have in many cases made the state one of the most powerful of employers. If, however, the workers in public services are already covered by a special system which is more favourable to those concerned, they are excluded from the law applying to workers and employees in private industry, so t h a t any duplication of rights may be avoided. Subject to this reservation, persons employed in public services are very generally covered by the provisions for private industry. Thus, in France the Act of 1898 applies to public officials whose appointments have not been confirmed, as well as to employees and workers in the public services. In Finland, state employees (except persons holding public appointments) are treated in the same way as workers. Section 9 of the British Act of 1906 states that "The Act shall apply to workmen employed by or under the Crown to whom this Act would apply if the employer were a private person." Under Section 3, subsection 3, of the Hungarian Act, persons employed in state, municipal, communal, and institutional undertakings are liable to insurance, if such undertakings may be classified with the undertakings enumerated in Section 3 of the Act. In Italy, insurance is compulsory under Section 18, subsection 1, of the Consolidated Act of 31 January 1904, for workers employed in the works, undertakings, or establishments directly managed by the state, the provinces, or communes, or conceded or leased out by them. In the Netherlands, insurance is compulsory for persons employed by a public body which engages them on work such that if they were employed on similar work by a private person they would be insured under Section 1 of the Act (Section 3). The Uruguayan Act of 15 November 1920 on industrial accidents specifies that the state, the provincial governments, and other 7 — 98 — legal persons running public undertakings will be considered employers if the persons they engage are required to perform work covered by the Act (Section 4). Similar provisions are to be found in several other accident compensation laws. In other countries there is no such provision for equality of treatment, if the workers in question are already covered by a special system which as a rule is more favourable. Thus, in Germany insurance is not compulsory for public health officials, members of the army, and the police force, nor for the persons defined in Section 1 of the Act of 18 June 1901 on the relief of officials in the event of accident, nor for officials employed in the administrative offices of a Federal State, an association of communes, or a commune, with fixed salaries and with pension privileges, nor for other officials of a Federal State, an association of communes, or a commune, who are insured under Section 14 of the above mentioned Act (Section 554). Similarly, in Austria, persons employed in an undertaking of the State, a commune, or a public body are not liable to insurance if in the event of an accident they and their survivors are entitled to a pension at least equal to that payable under the Act of 1887 (Sections 6 and 7). Under the Brazilian Decree of 15 January 1919, workers employed by the Federal Government, the states or the municipalities cannot claim the compensation fixed in the Decree (Sections 7 and 8) if they aie entitled to benefit from a mutual insurance fund, to superannuation, or a pension. In Spain, the provisions of the Act of 1922 do not apply to public officials (state, provincial, or municipal), whatever their grade, if they benefit by special provisions (Section 11, subsection 2). In France the Act of 1898 does not apply to workers, apprentices, and labourers in naval workshops, and unregistered workers in munitions factories, under the Ministry of War, who are entitled in the event of accident to pensions defined by special legislation and assistance organised by decrees and regulations. Further, permanent public officials covered by the Act of 7 June 1853 are not covered by the Act of 1898, and thus the duplication of rights is avoided. In Norway, insurance is not compulsory for persons employed by the state, the principal state railways, and the municipalities, provided that in the event of accident they and their families are — 99 — entitled to compensation equivalent to that payable under the Act of 1915. Besides these two systems, one of which treats workers and employees in public services precisely in the same way as those in private industry and the other excludes them from the general system of accident compensation, there is a third under which certain classes of workers in public services may voluntarily insure under the system for private industry. The Bulgarian Act, for instance, contains provisions of this kind. According to note III to Section 1 of the Act, workers in state undertakings covered by the Pension Act for the staff of institutions belonging to the State and local authorities (which provides either for deductions from their salaries or contributions paid for them by the state) may be brought under the Social Insurance Act of 6 March 1924 if the compensation it provides is more advantageous to them. In this case the payments made by or for them into the State Pension Fund, plus interest, is transferred to the Social Insurance Fund. THE PLACE OF WORK The various laws in defining the terms "worker" and "employee" also take into account the place of work. It has already been explained that the existence of a legal agreement between employer and worker is not enough to entitle the latter to benefit by the principle of occupational risk. The claim of a worker, employee, or apprentice to compensation under the Act depends also on his actual employment, whether in the undertaking or even outside it. The place where his work is performed may influence the administration of accident compensation legislation, since it is considerably facilitated if the worker or employee works in the undertaking under the supervision, direct or indirect, of the employer. Moreover, it is often considered that the risk of accident for workers employed at home is not sufficiently serious to justify legislative intervention. Certain laws, such as those of Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Italy, Salvador, Spain, Uruguay, cover only workers employed away from home. Other laws expressly exclude home workers. They appear to reject the principle of occupational risk deduced from the Civil Law doctrine of responsibility for articles in the care of a pei son, in the case of accidents to workers employed at home where the employer is unable to exercise supervision and take steps to reduce the risk. The laws in the British group are the most important — 100 — in this respect. The British Act of 1906 defines a home worker or "outworker" as "a person to whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, or repaired, or adapted for sale in his own home or on other premises not under the control or management of the person who gave out the materials or articles". Outworkers are excluded by the Acts of the States of the Australian Commonwealth, Canada, South Africa, and India. Home workers are not entitled to compensation in the following countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chili, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Roumania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay. Although in the majority of countries home workers are left out of the system of accident insurance, some modern laws include them, such as the Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, New Zealand, Portuguese, Russian and Serb-Croat-Slovene laws. From the theoretical point of view, persons whose trade involves continual travelling, such as commercial travellers, are in a similar position to persons employed outside the factory. In France commercial travellers are covered by the 1898 Act, if they are employed by a single merchant or manufacturer. If they work for several firms, they are considered as commission agents working on their own account, or as partners. Commercial travellers are expressly excluded in the laws of several Canadian provinces: British Columbia (if they are not exposed to the risks inherent in the work performed in the industry), New Brunswick (with the same reservation), Nova Scotia. THE POSITION OF INDEPENDENT WORKERS In some respects the problem of independent work is very similar to that of home work. The question whether a person is to be considered an independent contractor or a worker can be settled only for each individual case. Thus an artisan performing work for other persons is not deemed to be an independent contractor, if he does not assume the economic risks inherent in the work nor receive the profits due to an independent employer. In general, accident compensation laws apply only to workers and employees, and persons in a similar position, such as apprentices — that is to say persons legally dependent on an employer (manufacturer, head of an undertaking) with whom they have — lOi — entered into a contract of employment.The position of small employers and artisans working at home is, however, often very similar from the economic point of view to that of workers and employees. The provisions of the general law naturally do not afford them any protection against the risk of accident. The principle of occupational risk, which implies the existence of an employer, cannot be extended to persons who legally are not dependent on the head of an undertaking, and consequently only States in which the compensation law is at the same time an insurance law have been able, under certain conditions, to include independent workers in their special legislation on industrial accidents. Although the persons in question are not paid workers properly so called, their means of subsistence are often so small that they cannot cover the risks they run in carrying out their work, and by insurance they may in the event of accident obtain suitable compensation, which is as necessary to them as to workers and employees. The inclusion of independent workers may be compulsory or voluntary. It is compulsory under the German law for the heads of the following industrial undertakings: (1) Shipping, if the stowage of the vessel is not more than 50 cubic metres (gross) and the vessel is not attached to a larger vessel or propelled by steam or other mechanical power. (2) Sea fishery, in which vessels are used not already liable to accident insurance by the Federal Council (under Section 1, subsection 5, of the Act of 13 July 1887) as steam ships for deep sea fishing or luggers for herring fishing. (3) Fishery, as specified in section 1049 (fishery in waters connected with the high seas, for circulation in these waters is not considered maritime navigation, even though seagoing vessels may enter them). Similarly, in Denmark, insurance is compulsory for any person carrying on business in fishing or small shipping on his own account or jointly with another, if not less than three-fifths of the annual income obtained by his personal exertions is derived from the business (Section 66 c). The Norwegian Act of 10 December 1920 on the accident insurance of fishermen covers fishermen, whalers, sealers, etc. (fangstmenn) who engage in sea fishing or catching whales, seals, etc. In Italy, the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917 on compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work, amended by the Act of 20 March 1920, states that insurance" against accidents in — 102 — agricultural work is compulsory not only for permanent or casual workers, but also for landowners, métayers, tenant farmers, their wives and children, including illegitimate children, who habitually perform manual labour in their respective undertakings. Thus, these laws cover not only workers who are partly paid, partly independent, such as métayers, but also certain groups of persons who are legally in an independent position, but who, like paid workers, have a small income. Under other laws insurance is only voluntary. In Germany, the rules of the mutual trade associations may make insurance compulsory for the heads of undertakings and artisans working at home who are engaged in an employment covered by the law (Section 548). If the rules contain no such provision, the heads of undertakings are entitled under the law to insure voluntarily (Section 550). Voluntary insurance is also open to pilots in inland navigation who work on their own account. The Act fixes no income limit and pays no attention to the number of paid workers employed by the heads of undertakings or pilots in inland navigation. For the heads of agricultural undertakings insurance may similarly be compulsory under the rules of the associations or else voluntary (Sections 925 and 927). In Austria and in Czechoslovakia, voluntary insurance is open to employers whose undertakings are not liable, as well as to employers in undertakings for which insurance is compulsory (Sections V and VI of the Act of 20 July 1894). In Bulgaria, voluntary insurance is open to artisans, traders, farmers, and members of the liberal professions, if their income does not exceed 50,000 leva a year (Section 1, subsection 2). The Danish Act provides for voluntary insurance in industrial and commercial undertakings, domestic service, and agricultural undertakings, as well as for the wives of such employers if they take a considerable part in the work, and for any employer who employs no assistant liable to insurance, but only if his annual income as declared for income tax purposes does not exceed 1,800 kroner in rural districts, 2,100 kroner in market towns, and 2,400 kroner in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. In fishing and small shipping, any person engaged in an occupation covered by Chapter VIII of the Act, who makes no use of assistants liable to insurance, may insure voluntarily, provided he is not himself liable to insurance under the provisions of Section 66 c (Section 66 /). Such insurance may be entered into in such a way as to cover also the wife of the insured person if she takes a substantial share in the business. It — 103 — is interesting to note that the provisions for the voluntary insurance of employers in fishing and- small shipping fix no income limit. In Hungary, voluntary insurance is open to artisans working on their own account without assistants. In the Netherlands, it is open to all employers and to anyone who, on his own account, carries on an occupation liable to insurance without employing other persons for the purpose. In agriculture, the Dutch Act provides for voluntary insurance for an employer not belonging to an industrial organisation, his wife, children living with him, and any person who on his own account carries on an occupation liable to compulsory insurance without employing other persons, together with his wife and children living with him. Similarly the Swedish Act of 17 June 1916 on industrial accident insurance, which excludes all independent workers, nevertheless allows the voluntary insurance of fishermen. — 104 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL CLASSES OF PERSONS COUNTRY Excepted workers in the industries and undertakings covered Home workers Persons whose earnings exceed 3,000 piastres a year. Persons employed in agricultural and forestry undertakings in which use is made of mechanical power and who are not employed in working or transporting the engines. Excluded. Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £500 a year. Excluded New South Wales Persons whose remuneration exceeds £525 a year. Excluded. Queensland Persons whose rate of remuneration exceeds £10 a week. Excluded. South Australia Persons whose remuneration exceeds £10 a week. Excluded. Persons whose remuneration a week. Excluded. ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA Commonwealth ' Tasmania exceeds £5 Victoria Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £250 a year. Excluded Western Australia Persons whose remuneration exceeds £400 a year. Excluded. AUSTRIA Workers employed in agricultural and forestry undertakings in which use is made of machinery forming part of the permanent plant, who are not exposed to the risk of accident by the machinery. Non-manual workers other than works officials (Betriebs beamte). Excluded. BELGIUM Non-manual workers whose salary exceeds 7,300 francs a year. Excluded. BRAZIL — Excluded. BULGARIA — CANADA Alberta — Excluded. — Excluded. Clerical workers not exposed to the risks incident to the work performed. Excluded. British Columbia i Manitoba 1 i Part I of the Act. — — 105 — NOT COVERED BY WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Members of the family of the employer Casual workers Other workers — — — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — Excluded if they are in partnership with the employer. — — — — — The wife and relatives under age. Specified classes of seasonal workers: mowers, reapers, vineyard workers, rose pickers, woodcutters, and diggers. — Excluded. Excluded. Workers in itinerant trades. Workers engaged in specific employment on the railways defined in the Act. Excluded. Excluded. Travelling salesmen not exposed to the risks incident to the nature of the work carried on in the industry. Excluded. — — — 106 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL CLASSES OF PERSONS Excepted workers in the industries and undertakings covered COUNTRY CANADA (coni.) New Brunswick Nova Scotia Excluded. 1 — l Excluded. — Ontario 1 Home workers Excluded. Quebec Workmen whose remuneration 1,500 dollars a year. exceeds Excluded. Saskatchewan Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds 2,000 dollars a year. Excluded. — Excluded. CHILE — Excluded. CHINA — Excluded. CUBA Non-manual workers earning more than 3 gold pesos a day, whose contracts of employment are valid for less than 30 days. Excluded. CZECHOSLOVAKIA" Workers employed in agricultural and forestry undertakings in which use is made of machinery forming part of the permanent plant, and who are not exposed to the risk of accident by the machinery. Non-manual workers other than works officials (Betriebsbeamte). Excluded. ECUADOR Persons employed in agricultural and forestry undertakings in which use is made of an engine driven by other than human power, or who are not exposed to risks in connection with such engines or power. Excluded. ESTHONIA — Excluded. Unpaid apprentices. Persons managing and supervising the work of others, if their earnings exceed 15,000 marks a year. Excluded. Yukon DENMARK FINLAND — FRANCE Excluded. GERMANY Non-manual workers other officials (Betriebsbeamte). GREAT BRITAIN Non-manual workers whose remuneration exceeds £350 a year. • i Part I of the Act. than works Excluded . (Hausarbeiter.) Excluded. — 107 TNOT COVERED BY WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Members of the family of the employer Casual workers Excluded, if they have resided with the employer. Excluded. Excluded, if they reside with the employer. Excluded. — — Excluded. Excluded. — Other workers Travelling salesmen not exposed to the risks incident to the nature of the work performed in the industry; clerical workers. Travelling salesmen. — — Excluded. — — — — Excluded. — — — Excluded. — Excluded. {COnt.) — — Members of the family of industrial employers if they cannot be classed with the other workers owing to the nature and scope of their work, and if they are not less than 10 years of age. " " — — — The wife and children under age. — — — — — The wife or husband of the employer. — — Excluded if they reside with the employer. Included if employed for the purposes of the employer's trade and business. Casual labour not so employed (except when employed for the purposes of any game or recreation and engaged or paid through a club) is excluded. ! Except for Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia (former Hungarian territory). — 108 — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL CLASSES OF PERSONS COUNTRY Excepted workers in t h e industries and undertakings covered GREECE — HUNGARY — Home workers Excluded. — INDIA Non-manual workers whose exceeds 300 rupees a m o n t h . Unpaid apprentices. remuneration Excluded. I R I S H F R E E STATE N o n - m a n u a l workers whose exceeds £250 a year. remuneration Excluded. ITALY Persons supervising t h e work of others, if their earnings exceed 20 lire a d a y and t h e y are paid at least once a m o n t h . Persons supervising or in charge of work in agricultural and forestry undertakings whose average earnings, including p a y m e n t in kind, exceed 20 lire a day for 300 working days a year. Fishermen, who, even w i t h o u t actually taking part in t h e work, supervise t h e work of others, if their earnings exceed 3,600 lire a year. The officers of ships flying the Italian flag whose salary exceeds 6,000 lire a year. Agricultural workers under 12 years or over 65 years of age. Excluded. JAPAN Employees whose salary exceeds 1,200 yen a year i. Excluded. — Excluded. LITHUANIA 2 Non-manual workers whose earnings exceed 7,500 litas a year. Excluded. LUXEMBURG Persons whose earnings exceed 3,750 francs a year. Excluded. LATVIA NETHERLANDS — — Non-manual workers whose exceeds £400 a year. NORWAY Non-manual workers not exposed to the risks incident to the work performed. Excluded. PANAMA — Excluded. Persons whose earnings exceed 120 Peruvian p o u n d s a year. Excluded. — Excluded. PERU POLAND 3 PORTUGAL ROUMANIAN Unpaid apprentices. — RUSSIA • Health Insurance Act of 1922. a Except for the Klaipeda (Meme!) Territory. remuneration — NEW ZEALAND — Excluded. — 109 — NOT COVERED BY WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION Members of the family of the employer Casual workers — • — — — Excluded. — — (cont.) Other workers — — Excluded. — Excluded. — Excluded. — — — — — — — — — — In agriculture children living with their parents and employed by them. — — — — — — — The wife or husband of the employer. — Excluded. — — — — — — — — — — — — — Casual workers employed in certain occupations in the sugar, peat or alcohol industries, or forestry, for which they use their own horses. » Former Russian territory* The former Kingdom and Bessarabia. — HO — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL CLASSES OF PERSONS COUNTRY Excepted workers in the industries and undertakings covered SALVADOR — S EBB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM — Home workers Excluded. — Persons whose earnings exceed £500 a year. Excluded. SPAIN Persons employed in ofllces and auxiliary departments of factories or industrial undertakings whose salaries exceed 5,000 pesetas a year. Excluded. SWEDEN Persons whose earnings exceed 9,000 kronor a year. Excluded. SOUTH AFRICA Excluded. SWITZERLAND URUGUAY Workers employed in undertakings in which machinery is used, who are not exposed to the risk of accident from the machinery. Excluded. — Ill — NOT C O V E R E D BY WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (concluded) Members of the family of the employer Casual workers Other workers — — — — — — — Excluded. Native labour. — — Artistes and administrative employees in the entertainment industry whose salaries exceed 15 pesetas a day. The children or adopted children or parents or adoptive parentsliving with the employer. The wife or husband of the employer. Persons casually employed by a person who otherwise employs no workers. Children under 12 years of age. The wife or husband, or the relatives living with the employer, if they cannot be deemed workers or employees of the undertaking. Persons employed in work which is not in the nature of an undertaking, unless not less than Ave persons are regularly employed for a month, or the work requires not less than 100 working days. — — — PART II RISK COVERED INTRODUCTION The principle of occupational risk underlying workmen's compensation essentially means that the loss of the economic value of labour as a productive agent should be transferred to the industry. Theoretically, this principle is applicable to any personal disablement which is due, or incident, to industrial work, without distinction as to its causes or consequences. The essential criterion for compensation is the connection between disablement and employment, and not the nature of the injury itself. The legislation derived from the principle of occupational risk has, however, made a more or less rigid discrimination between two classes of occupational injuries, viz. "injuries by accident" and "injuries by disease". The first workmen's compensation laws covered industrial accident risk only, and excluded the risk of occupational disease, mainly hecause the establishment of the proof of the occupational origin of diseases was considered, if not impossible, at least extremely •difficult. To-day, it is admitted that the principle of occupational risk covers occupational diseases as well as industrial accidents, and the scope of risks covered by the compensation legislation is, in an increasing number of countries, being gradually extended by means of more and more comprehensive schedules of occupational diseases. Since, however, the problem of the risk of occupational disease forms the subject of a special report 1 , the following discussion will be confined to an analysis of the legal definition of industrial .accident risk. * * As soon as the legal theory of occupational risk was established and accepted, the problem of an exact and comprehensive definition •of the industrial accident risk arose. The question involved was not a simple one. As a matter of fact, it was endeavoured to isolate from the countless hazards to which the workmen are exposed a 1 See INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE : Compensation for Occupational •Diseases. Geneva, 1925. 8 — 114 — definite class of injuries in general, and a definite class of occupational risks in particular. Not all kinds of injuries were intended to be covered, but only injuries by accidental events; not all accidents, but only those due to risks inherent in, or incident to, the industrial work itself; and even not all industrial accidents, but only those for which the employer or the industry as a whole could be held responsible, a consideration that amounted to the survival of the question of fault either of the workman, or of the employer, or of third party, as a part of the definition of the compensable risk. The constitutive elements of the definition of the industrial accident risk to be examined are thus three, viz. (1) the notion of accident, (2) the notion of industrial accident, and (3) the notion of fault as far as it has subsisted in workmen's compensation and industrial accident insurance legislation. The comparative analysis of the three fundamental elements of the legal conception of industrial accident risk is an exceedingly difficult task. The legal texts by themselves are very meagre and far from explicit. We obtain from them hardly any idea of the legal notion of accident, a vague definition of industrial accident, and, in the case of exceptions on account of personal responsibility, the relative importance of the various degrees of fault remains uncertain. The method therefore adopted in the following pages consists of an examination of the basic legal texts in the light of jurisprudence or case-law. It would, of course, be an impossible task to examine and compare the case-law of more than a few of the hundred legislations concerning workmen's compensation. Attention is mainly confined to the case-law of three leading countries, namely, France, Germany and Great Britain1, which countries have in fact influenced the jurisprudence of a number of other countries. The table appended to the present chapter gives the relevant legal texts — usually in an abbreviated form — concerning the classes of the industrial accident risk covered by, and excluded from, compensation and industrial accident insurance legislation in the several countries considered in the present report. 1 The commentaries used are the following: For France: LOUBAT, Traité sur le risque professionnel. Third ed. Paris, 1906. — ADRIEN SACHET, Traité théorique et pratique de la législation sur les accidents du travail et les maladies professionnelles. Sixth ed., Vols. I and II. Paris, 1921. For Germany: R. VAN DER BORGHT, Betriebsunfall. (In "Versicherungslexikon ", edited by A. MANES, Berlin, 1909.) — C. KAUFFMANN, Handbuch der Unfallmedizin. Vol. I. Fourth ed., Stuttgart, 1919. — W. RABELING, Kommentar zur Reichsversicherungsordnung. Drittes Buch : Unfallversicherung. Fourth ed. Heymann, Berlin, 1922. For Great Britain: Judge RUEGG and H. P. STANES, The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906. Ninth ed. London, 1922. — W. ADDINGTON WILLIS,. The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906. Nineteenth ed. London, 1920. CHAPTER I NOTION OF ACCIDENT § 1. — General Definitions of Accident Etymologically, an accident means simply an unusual event or an unexpected occurrence. This is the meaning of the word "accident" in common language, and this meaning has served as a guide in cases under the common law. Before long, however, this proved inadequate for the purposes of the workmen's compensation legislation. Theoretically, the notion of accident, as specifically applied to human persons, became more complicated than when applied to inanimate things. In practice, again, it was found that beneficiaries of the law had a natural tendency to extend the word "accident" to events and injuries which logically could not be included in this notion. Hence the necessity for a more exact definition of what is meant by an accident. As a rule the laws themselves do not define the notion of accident. There are however a few Acts which aim at giving a legal definition of the word; thus, the Brazilian Decree of 1919 defines an accident as a "sudden,, violent, external and not wilfully caused occurrence. .. . producing bodily injuries or functional disturbances". Other laws are less explicit and mention only certain characteristics which an event must show if it is to be considered as an accident. According to some laws the accident only means a "violent occurrence" (e.g. Greece, Italy), according to some others, a "sudden injury" (e.g. Bulgaria), while â number of other laws expressly stipulate that an accident means an event resulting in personal or bodily injury involving death or incapacity for work. All these legal definitions, however, are more or less imperfect. In most countries the definition of accident has been left to the competence of the law courts or for legal interpretation. Students of law have summarised such practical experience in vai ious different definitions. An old and well-known definition is that given by a French expert, Mr. Marestaing, some thirty-five years ago as the — 116 — result of a comparative study of the definitions of an accident in various countries: according to him the accident means "an injury to the human body due to the sudden and violent action of an external cause." l This definition was accepted in substance i>y the jurisprudence of France and many other countries, and the legal definition of Brazil given above is theoretically in accordance with it. In his commentary, however, on more recent French jurisprudence, Mr. Sachet does not consider the definition fully adequate, and offers another, according to which an accident is "an abnormal event, in general sudden, or at least of short and limited duration, which impairs the integrity or the health of the human body." In Germany, the Federal Insurance Office has in the course of its case-law formulated several definitions of the notion of accident. The earlier definitions imply that the accident must be "an event which is injurious to the integrity of the human body and which occurs suddenly, being clearly limited by a beginning and an end." Later, the characteristic of suddenness was modified, and replaced by the definition "an event occurring within a relatively short space of time". In Great Britain, too, the definition of accident has given rise to various interpretations. The risk covered is called "injury by accident," and the meaning of this expression has been considerably modified in the course of time. In an early leading decision upon the question, it was stated that the word accident denoted "an unlooked-for mishap or an untoward event which is not expected or designed." According to this definition the event must be caused by some specific, unexpected, unintended act in order to be considered as an accident. Later, the definition was extended and recent decisions have, in practice, worked closer to the opinion that "if a worker in the reasonable performance of his duties sustains a physiological injury as a result of the work he is engaged in . . . this is an accidental injury in the sense of the Statute," subject, however, to two limitations, namely that the injury is not one that has been gradually acquired, and that the injury was not intentionally self-inflicted; the causes of accident (apart, of course, from the employment) are therefore considered as wholly immaterial (Willis). It will be seen from the above that "accident" was originally defined by the aid of several characteristics, the most important 1 MARESTAING : Définition des accidents du travail dans les divers pays (Congrès international des accidents du travail, Paris 1889, t. I, Rapports, p. 3). — 117 — of which are fortuity, suddenness, violence, externality and bodily injury. In all countries, however, it has been found that the interpretation of the notion of accident thus given was too narrow. On the one hand, as has been justly pointed out, the progress of medical science has necessitated, and will continue to necessitate, considerable modifications in the notion of accident, and on the other hand, the interests of the workers and considerations of equity have induced the courts or administrative bodies to take an increasingly liberal view of the definition of accident. On account, however, of this tendency to extend the definition of accident, this notion has become more and more confused, and it is therefore necessary to examine more closely the elements of the "accident." There are two different conceptions of the substance of personal accident. According to one, an "accident" means an event which results in an injury; while according to the other, an "accident" means the bodily injury itself, without taking into account the cause of the injury. Suppose, for instance, that a tile falls from a roof and injures a worker: according to the first concept, the accident is the fall of the tile, and the injury to the worker is only a consequence of it; while according to the second concept, the injury constitutes the accident. Evidently both these concepts are insufficient. The former interpretation may even lead to absurdity ; in ordinary language it cannot be said that the fall of an object constitutes an accident — it can rather be said that the fall could have occasioned an accident, provided that there was someone who might have been hurt by the falling object. On the other hand, the injury alone is evidently not an accident, since the scope of the "injury" is wider than that of the notion of "accident". It is clear, then, that the notion of accident unites in one expression two concepts, namely both the cause and the effect of the hazard or unexpected e\ent. The material cause of the accident cannot be separated from its injurious effect on the human body, any more than the injury can be isolated from its cause. While, however, the notion of accident is the fusion of these two concepts, it will be necessary to analyse their logical characteristics separately. § 2. — Accident Considered in its Cause In order to be considered as an accident an event must in principle be produced by a cause fulfilling the following four conditions : It must be unexpected and external, and it must act suddenly and violently. — 118 — (1) In ordinary language the notion of accident always contains the idea of hazard, i.e. of something unexpected and fortuitous. It does not follow, however, that the cause of the accident must always be due to hazard. When an event is perfectly abnormal and inevitable, then there is "absolute" or "objective hazard", and such an event must in all cases be classified as an accident. It was the very necessity of taking such events into account that gave rise to the principle of occupational risk. But on the other hand, such fortuitous events, which involve the absolute hazard, are not the sole source of occupational risk, as understood in modern law and jurisprudence. If absolute hazard be taken as a necessary characteristic of accident, then only abnormal events which are disproportionate to the forces of the person concerned should be considered as accidents, and all events happening while doing ordinary work in the ordinary way, even though the work was more than usually arduous, would be excluded from the notion of accident. The desire to cover the latter risks also has resulted in the deletion of the characteristic of absolute hazard from most definitions of accident. The unexpected and fortuitous character which renders an event an accident may also arise out of " relative " or "subjective hazard" '. But it is to be noted that this consideration does not apply to the event itself, but only to the consequences of it: there may, logically, be an accident even in the case of a worker consciously performing the act which produces the accident, provided that he cannot reasonably be expected to have desired or foreseen the consequences of that act. The characteristic of relative hazard will therefore be dealt with later. When, then, it is said that the event must be fortuitous or due to hazard in order to be an accident, such a statement is true only to a limited extent. . The idea is often preserved in the definition of accident in order to provide for a distinction between accidents and diseases, which are considered "normal" or "usual" risks. (2) More important than "fortuity", is the condition that the event must be produced by an external cause in order to be an accident. Externality implies that the cause of the event must have no connection with the organic constitution of the human body, while the causes of a disease lie in the organism itself. By cause, again, is understood the immediate mechanical cause of the event and not any remote cause, lack of foresight or insight, back to which the accident could eventually be traced. The — 119 — characteristic of externality cannot, however, be limited to the purely physical factors. Certain movements of the human body itself, which are external only in the relative sense of the word, come under the scope of an accident. To this category belong such cases as strain and over-exertion causing injuries which may be considered as either accidents or diseases, according to the presence or absence of other characteristics. According to Dr Kaufmann, who has examined the German, Austrian and Swiss jurisprudence in the matter of accident, "heavy strain, which may be defined as a particular and sudden event, is to be considered as equivalent to an accident." A further extension of the notion of accident beyond the limits of externality appears in the treatment of cases of pre-existing sickness or injury. If the worker has had a previous disposition to a disease and if such disposition is aggravated or accelerated by an accident, the cause of the injury is not purely external. Nevertheless, the case-law in most countries considers such a case as an accident, provided that the external cause contributed to an essential degree to the outbreak of the injury. (3) The most common criterion of the notion of accident is suddenness. This characteristic evidently refers to the cause and not to the injury. A sudden attack of disease which has developed gradually cannot be characterised as an accident, while a disease caused by a sudden event may well be so qualified. If, therefore, there exists a connection between the event and the resulting injury, the beginning and end of which can be determined, it is indifferent whether the injury appears immediately after the event, or only later. Suddenness is the opposite of slowness and progressivity, but the difference between these opposites is only relative. For instance, can an event be qualified as sudden if it exists during a few hours — the ordinary time for the development of sunstroke ? Certain definitions of suddenness, e.g. that given by the German Federal Insurance Office, answer this question in the affirmative: the fact that an event takes place within a determinable "relatively short space of time" is considered sufficient to qualify it as sudden. In practice, such "relatively short space of time" means two or three hours or, at the maximum, a shift of work. Theoretically, it may be argued that this definition may admit as an accident the aggregate of successive injurious effects; but when the injury is only produced by an accumulation of effects, it cannot logically be considered as an accident. In practice, however, the wide interpretation — 120 — of the term has been increasingly accepted in most countries, a tendency fully justified by the principle of the occupational risk. A good instance of this extension of the notion of accident beyond its theoretical limits is given by the Danish Accident Insurance Act, as modified in 1920, which specifically includes "injurious effects lasting at most some few days, which are due to the work or to the conditions under which it is carried on, and which result in a reduction of earning capacity or in death." According to this definition, claims for compensation on account of the pressure of tools or machinery, particular movements in work, exposure to bad weather, gas, excessive heat and cold, etc. are admissible, provided that they do not last more than a few days *. The characteristic of suddenness has thus been interpreted in an increasingly liberal manner, and tbe main point is merely the particularity of time. But even in this extended meaning, this characteristic, nevertheless, remains the most important distinction between accident and disease. (4) The last characteristic of the accident, considered in relation to its cause, is violence. The action of the unusual and external cause must be not only sudden but also violent. The human body offers a resistance against injurious effects, and therefore a sudden event must have a certain degree of force in order to produce an injury. This implies that the characteristic of violence refers only to the human body; it is by no means necessary that the event must be so violent as to disturb the regular work of the establishment. But even this characteristic has been found too rigid for the modern concept of accident, and this to a greater extent than in the case of the other characteristics. The fact is that in many industries accidents may occur without violence, for instance, in the chemical industry where injuries can be produced by the absorption of toxic substances or injurious vapours, etc. Thus, in many cases the rigid application of the condition of violence would amount to the exclusion from the sphere of compensation of a number of risks which are as inherent in the work as any accident properly so-called. While many definitions still retain the characteristic of violence, it may be said that it has generally been left out. Besides, the deletion of the characteristic of violence from the notion of accident is more than balanced by the definition of the accident as industrial. 1 It is to be noted that this provision does not cover occupational diseases — 121 — § 3. — Accident Considered in its Effect An accident is a special kind of hazard, i.e. an injurious hazard from the point of view of its effects upon the integrity of the human body. The event, however unexpected, external, sudden, or violent, is not an accident unless it results in a personal or bodily injury. (1) As has been mentioned above, the injury must reveal a certain degree of "relative" or "subjective hazard". It is, however, difficult to determine exactly what should be understood by this term. To require that the iniurv must not have been designed amounts only to the exclusion of self-inflicted injuries. On the other hand, to say that the injury must not have been foreseen may lead — if rigidly applied •— to the exclusion of all accidents due to the worker's misconduct and negligence, i.e. it would involve the question of fault which the principle of occupational risk tends to leave aside. The question of relative hazard in an injury by accident is thus exceedingly elastic and varies according to the individual qualifications of the worker. Thus, in Great Britain the application of the word "fortuitous" to the term "injury by accident" has been criticised by the House of Lords as being "either superflous or misleading, and not warranted by anything in the Statutes". It is, however, held that the personal injury must be more or less unexpected and unintended. (2) On the contrary, the question whether the injury was external or internal is wholly immaterial to the notion of accident. In fact, the bodily injury is interpreted in a very wide sense, and includes any injury to the human organism. The Argentine Act of 1915 puts this very clearly in defining as accident "any occurrence... that results in bodily injury, direct or indirect, apparent or non-apparent, superficial or profound". Although other laws do not define injury by accident so precisely, it appears from case-law that similar principles are everywhere followed. Nevertheless, injuries may be classified in different groups according to their traumatic character. There are first the surgical cases, such as wounds, fractures and other tangible injuries, which may alwaj'S be taken as injuries by accident. Another group is formed by the medical cases, in respect of which it is more difficult to determine whether or not they are accidental injuries. Hernia capable of being described as traumatism tends to be more and more generally covered. Diseases like cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, diabetes, etc. may be imputable to accident, but this cannot be presumed; their traumatic — 122 — character must be proved, or at least there must be sufficient probability that they have an accidental origin. (3) Similarly, the injury need not have been sudden; it does not matter whether it appeared immediately after the accident or not. It is enough that it is consequent upon the accident. If the worker escapes from an accident apparently without hurt, but later suffers from an internal injury which is related to the accident, this is considered as injury by accident. Moreover, the injury may be only indirectly consequent upon the accident and yet come under the risk covered by accident compensation. The best example of this is to be found in injuries due to shock. It was formerly open to question whether it was actually sufficient that the injury was caused only by shock or fright on account of an accident, but at present it is generally admitted that, in so far as such shock causes a physiological injury — be it only mental — this is a' personal injury by accident. Thus even suicide may be an injury by accident, inasmuch as it is consequent upon a mental state due to shock received on account of accident. As Mr. Sachet puts it in his Treatise on the French legislation, "Shock is an injury to brain, and is traumatic no less than muscular injury or a fracture of a bone. It is immaterial whether the injury was caused by hurt of a solid object or by vibrations which as yet escape scientific analysis." § 4. — Distinction between Accident and Disease It will be clear from the above- brief analysis that the evolution of the concept of occupational risk shows a distinct tendency towards an extension of the notion of accident. There is, however, an irreducible limit to this extension, i.e. the notion of disease. It has clearly been the object of compensation legislation to distinguish between accident and disease. As has been mentioned above, the principle of occupational risk really covers also such diseases as are inherent in the work and have an occupational origin, but, even when this is admitted, a distinction is generally made in practice between these two groups of risks. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that the distinction between accident and disease is perfectly clear. The original contention that accident and disease were contradictory terms has more and more tended to disappear, and is being replaced by another concept according to which the risks of labour form a long series in which the different injuries merge into one another by insensible and mutable gradations. — 123 — (1) The contracting of a disease is a personal and bodily injury as well as an accident. The difference between accident and disease is to be found only in the cause producing the injury. In this connection the nature of the injury itself, whether surgical and tangible, or medical and hidden, does not matter. Poisoning, infection, tuberculosis or pneumonia — no matter what common disease — may be an injury by accident provided it can be attributed to accidental circumstances. This means that injuries produced gradually or by an accumulation of effects, or forces acting during long periods, or by numerous repetitions, etc., cannot be regarded as injuries by accident, but are in general to be qualified as diseases. But all the distinctive characteristics available for forming a judgment are very elastic. The notion of accident implies something fortuitous, a hazard, while the notion of disease covers all the ordinary injuries — yet an event happening in the ordinary work performed in the ordinary way, and perfectly foreseen by the injured worker, may come under the head of "accident". The cause of an accident must be external, and that of disease internal — yet injuries resulting from strain and similar conditions are sometimes compensated as accidents. Again, the cause of an accident must act suddenly, while the disease arises gradually — yet the notion of suddenness is so relative that certain injuries or ill effects lasting from a few hours to a few days have come to be considered as accidents, and even the particularity of time cannot always be taken asfinalin deciding about an accident, since there are cases (e.g. blood poisoning by abrasion) in which the serious effects do not develop for two or three days. Further, the cause of an accident must act violently, while the disease may develop smoothly — yet poisoning by toxic substances acting in a non-mechanical and smooth way is in certain circumstances regarded as an accident. Finally, injury by accident must be due to a material event, while disease is not characterised by any "event" — and yet nervous shocks only indirectly connected with the event may be considered as accidents. (2) Moreover, even when the accidental circumstances can be determined, it is not necessary, in order to prove an accidental injury, that the sole cause of the injury lies in these circumstances. The fact that the man was suffering from bodily injury which made him more susceptible to injury as the result of even a moderate strain, or the pre-existing diseased condition of the worker, does not, as a rule, exclude the assumption of an accident 1 . It is enough that the 1 There are, however, countries which expressly exclude accidents caused by a pre-existing diseased condition of the workman, if such condition was unknown to the employer (South Africa, New Zealand). — 124 — accident was a contributory cause of the injury or aggravated its effects. If, for example, a man injures himself in a machine in consequence of an attack of general weakness or a disease, the resulting injury is considered as injury by accident because the outbreak of the injury was accidental. It is beyond doubt that cases of trauma or tuberculosis due to accidental injuries, or blood poisoning consequent upon a wound received on account of an accident, or an infection such as anthrax resulting from a determined occurrence, or infection of a non-accidental wound by introduction of a poison, may be considered as cases of accident. (3) The question of the relation between accident and disease becomes still more complicated on account of the existence of a number of "health risks" which refer to something between accident and disease, i.e. which may be imputable sometimes to accident and sometimes to disease. Such risks include (a) employment of toxic and similar substances; (b) unhealthy conditions of factories (compressed air, damp, dust, extreme heat, etc.); (c) unfavourable climatic conditions (excessive light, excessive cold, and other abnormalities of temperature); (d) excessive strain of certain organs. The definition of accident tends to be widened to include more and more of these injuries, and in some countries has been so formulated as to include also those injuries which are attributable and traceable to any particular occurrence during work. A typical case of this sort is provided by injuries from excessive cold and excessive heat, such as frostbite and sunstroke. Frostbite, for instance, is considered as an accident when the effect of cold is of short duration and intensity, when it appears as an acute effect within a short period, and must be imputable to a determined work performed uninterruptedly. Frostbite due to injurious effects lasting during longer time, as well as chill from becoming overhot after work, do not, as a rule, constitute an accident in the sense of the law *. Another and a very difficult case of injury is that of hernia, which often presents at once the symptoms of traumatism and those of a morbid condition of the human organism. When there exists a traumatism likely to give rise to hernia, and the traumatism and the hernia stand related as cause and effect, such injury is to be considered as an accident. Inversely, when hernia is found to 1 The above-mentioned extension of the notion of accident to " injurious effects" in the Danish Act is an exception to this rule. — 125 — be due solely to the progressive and cumulative alteration of the human body, it is generally considered as a disease 1. Similarly, cases of poisoning may be considered sometimes as accidents, sometimes as diseases. The test is whether the origin of poisoning is acute or chronic; in the former case the poisoning is equivalent to an accident, and in the latter case to a disease. When a poisoning exercises a continuous influence upon the health of the worker without injury resulting therefrom, and its effect then increases on a given date, and results in a bodily injury, it is in most cases considered as an accident 2 . Thus the list could be prolonged almost indefinitely. These undefined cases have given rise to much litigation and extensive case-law, with which it is neither possible nor necessary to deal in this place. 1 Industrial incapacity resulting from accidental hernia is specifically covered in the Spanish and Portuguese Acts as well as in some of the laws of the2 United States. Poisoning by toxic substances is specifically covered by the Acts of Portugal and Salvador. CHAPTER II NOTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT § 1. — General Definitions of Industrial Accident The accidents must be in some way or other connected with the employment, occupation, or work, in order to be compensated under the law. Hence the notion of "industrial accident" 1. Practically all workmen's compensation and accident insurance laws define the industrial accident by a few words which serve as a basis for the case-law. These general definitions of the industrial accident may be classified in three standard types. (1) The earliest law, the Industrial Accident Insurance Act of Germany, defines the risk covered by the law as "accidents in establishments or activities subject to the Act (industrial accidents) 2 ". According to the interpretation given by the Federal Insurance Office to this definition, the "industrial accident" means an accident standing in relation to the establishment insured from the points of view of time, place, and cause. Although the accident as a rule must occur at the place of work in order to be an industrial accident, this is not absolutely necessary, since an accident occurring in an establishment other than t h a t of the employer of the insured worker is to be compensated by the insurance association of the employer who has engaged the worker upon t h a t work and paid his wages. Similarly the relation from the point of view of time between accident and work may be lacking, even if other relations exist. The decisive characteristic of the industrial accident is, however, that the employment must stand related to the accident as cause and effect. This characteristic is always necessary, and is also sufficient. On the other hand, this 1 The expression "industrial accident" is that used in English. In the English translations of the laws of other countries the term "occupational accident" frequently occurs. In fact, the terms used in the different languages differ considerably, e.g. in the French law the expression is "work accident," or "accident in work" (accident du travail), and in German law, "accident in establishment" (Betriebsunfall). In the present study the expression "industrial accident" is used to denote all these various definitions. 2 "Unfälle bei Betrieben oder Tätigkeiten, die... der Versicherung unterliegen (Betriebsunfälle)" — an expression which can hardly be exactly translated. — 127 — relation of cause and effect need not necessarily be direct, nor need the establishment be the only cause of the accident (van der Borght). The German expression has been more or less followed in a number of other countries, principally in Central and Northern Europe. The Austrian, Hungarian and Norwegian Acts define the risk covered in terms identical to those used in the German Code, and this definition is in force also in Czechoslovakia and Poland. The meaning of the expression "accident in work" used in the Swedish law (olycksfall i arbete) and in the Finnish law (työssä sattunut tapaturma) as well as in the Italian Act (infortuni sul lavoro) has the same bearing. The Danish law, while following on the same lines, specifies the occupational accident (Beskaeftigelsesulykke) covered as "accident in occupations contemplated in the Act or arising from conditions under which they are carried on". Considerably wider is the definition of the risk covered in the Netherlands: "accident in connection with the employment" (ongevallen in verband met dienstbetrekking overkomen) ; according to this formula, the causal relation between the accident and work is not always required for compensation. A similar extended definition has been adopted in the laws of two Central European States in that they define the risk covered as "accidents in the course of work" (Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, and Switzerland). (2) Another type of definitions is formed by those acts according to which the risk covered is "accident occurring in consequence of or during the work". This expression was originally used in French law 1 , and has been interpreted by the French jurisprudence as implying accidents occurring at the place and during the course of the work. The coincidence of these two circumstances is considered at once a necessary and a sufficient condition for compensation. The work is the "fact" of the accident, that is to say, its direct, immediate and tangible cause when the accident is due to the appliances or motive forces of the undertaking. The work is the "occasion", i.e. the indirect, remote or casual cause of the accident in all other cases, because the worker had to come to the working place where he met with the accident on account of the work (Sachet). Similar definitions are given in the laws of most of the Latin countries in Europe and South America, as well as in the laws of 1 "Accident par le fait ou à l'occasion du travail" — an expression which it is difficult to translate exactly. — 128 — Luxemburg, Bulgaria, Greece, and in the former Russian laws now in force in Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The actual words employed, however, vary somewhat. Whether the expression is "during the work" or "in the course of work" on the one hand, and "in consequence of work", "in connection with work," "arising out of work," "by reason of work," etc., on the other, these conditions occur in all the above mentioned laws as alternatives rendering an accident a compensable industrial accident. (3) The third standard definition of industrial accident is that given in the Workmen's Compensation Act of Great Britain, namely accident "arising out of and in the course of the employment". The expression has been defined by a number of legal decisions as follows. "Arising out of the employment" means arising out of the work which a man is employed to do, and out of what is incidental to it — in other words, out of his service. If by reason of the nature, conditions, obligations, or incidents of the employment, the workman is brought within the zone of a special danger, and so injured or killed, the words of the Statute are held to apply. "In the course of the employment" means in the course of the work which a man is employed to do, and what is incidental to it, in other words in the course of his service; it does not mean during the period of the engagement. These two expressions overlap each other to a great extent, because the question whether the accident arises out of the employment may be dependent on the question whether the course of the employment is still continuing, and the question whether the accident occurred in the course of the employment may depend on the question whether the event causing the injury was a risk arising out of the employment (Willis). The words employed in the British law have been directly borrowed by the laws of most British countries, namely Australia and its States (except Queensland), the Canadian provinces (except Quebec), India, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is also used in Japan and in most of the compensation laws of the United States. It is to be noted, however, that some of the Canadian provinces have in their Statutes given a wider interpretation of this definition by stipulating that "where the accident arose out of the employment, unless the contrary is shown, it shall be presumed that it occurred in the course of the employment, and where the accident occurred in the course of the employment, unless the contrary is shown, it shall be presumed that it arose out of the employment." (British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Yukon.) — 129 — It will be seen that all the legal definitions of the industrial accident are not quite precise. Their interpretation has given rise to much litigation, and, in fact, decades of case-law have modified them to a great extent. If we take as a criterion the threefold connection between the accident and work, as borne out by the various definitions, viz. the connection from the standpoint of time, place, and cause, and apply it to the standard definitions given above, the importance of the case-law will be apparent. The German formula "accidents in establishments" seems rather vague ; case law has specified that the local connection may be lacking, as may the connection from the point of view of time, while the causal connection is the decisive element. The French formula, again, expressly implies that an accident is considered an industrial one if directly caused by the work ( "in consequence of work") or if connected with the work in other less definite way: the fundamental principle of the jurisprudence is that both conditions are fulfilled by the concurrence of the temporal and the local relation between accident and work, which alone establishes the presumption of a causal connection required by the legal formula. This presumption in the favour of the injured worker may, however, be abrogated by the employer who can prove the contrary. Finally, the British definition requires the concurrence of the connection between accident and work from the standpoint of time ("in the course of the employment") and from the standpoint of cause and effect ("arising out of the employment"), and leaves out the local connection. It is, then, evident, that the various legal definitions cannot be understood without the relevant case-law, which has created quite new, and even contradictory, principles and rules. Moreover, the •criteria themselves as distinguished in legislation and in case-law are only relative, and overlap one another in many ways. There may be accidents which do not happen during the employment or work, or which do not occur at the place of work, or which do not arise out of the employment, or which may lack even two of these •characteristics, and which yet are covered by the notion of. "industrial accident". The analysis of this notion will no doubt be facilitated if we adopt as the basic criterion for judging the connection between accident and work, the conception of the employer's obligations •and the worker's rights under the laboar agreement, which regulates the -whole of labour legislation, of which the compensation law is a part. The labour agreement confers upon the employer a certain 9 — 130 — degree of authority over the employee, and imposes at the same time a corresponding dependence upon the worker, who, in return, has a legal guarantee against all accidents due to risks created or aggravated by the establishment or by the work. Starting from this point, it is proposed that the three kinds of relations — temporal, local and causal — between the accident and the work should be considered in turn. In each case, the general rule is first outlined, and there follows an examination of some typical cases of the numerous exemptions from, or extensions of, the rule. The relevant legal prescriptions are inserted in the general discussion. § 2. — Relation of Accident to Course of Work Since the authority of the employer and the dependence of the worker form, as a rule, the necessary conditions of the application of the compensation legislation, it follows that the worker is protected against the risk of accident from the moment onwards when he is at the disposal of the employer until the moment when he regains h ; s entire independence from the employer. The three principal points of the "course of work" to be examined are the beginning, the end, and the interruptions of work: all these points give rise to questions of the bearing of the above rule. (1) In general, it may be taken that the authority of the employer begins as soon as the worker enters the employer's premises or, as a British decision puts it, "the ambit, scope and scene of his duty". It should be remembered, however, that there is a difference between the beginning of a man's employment and the beginning of his actual work. As a rule the course of work is considered to begin when the actual work begins, but there may be cases in which the workman's employment begins even earlier. Thus, the course of work may be taken to have commenced, although the regular hour of work has not struck, provided, of course, that the worker's arrival on the premises is necessitated by the circumstances of employment, or justified by work done in the interests of the employer. (2) It follows from the above that the worker's right to protection against accident risk ceases at the moment when he leaves the premises under the control of the employer. In this respect, again, the end of employment or work does not necessarily mean the end — 131 — of the actual work done; an accident sustained by a worker on the premises after the end of regular work does not in itself exclude the assumption of an accident. In several industries, e.g. in building, the workers are frequently in the habit of leaving the workplace only after the lapse of some time after the signal for stopping work, in order to prepare the work for the following day, to change their clothes, etc. In so far as all these actions are performed under the authority and supervision of the employer, they are in principle included in the course of the work, and consequently the risks connected therewith are covered. Even when the worker has to return to the premises for some legitimate purpose, justified by the terms of his employment, he is considered, in general, to act in the course of his employment. An example of such legitimate purpose is furnished by the case of a worker returning to the premises to obtain his pay. Accidents of the latter kind seem to be covered according to case-law of France (according to which the employer is not considered to have freed himself from his obligations before he has paid the worker's wages), of Great Britain and of Germany. The beginning and end of work or employment have in certain countries been extended even further: the work is considered to have begun already at the moment when the worker leaves his home for work, and to end only when he has returned there. That is to say, accidents occurring to workmen on their way to and from the place of work have been included in the notion of industrial accident. The risks of such journeys become particularly closely related to the work when the contract of employment explicity or implicitly provides free carriage for the workmen to and from their place of work. In this event the course of employment will be held to extend to such journeys. If the employer, without being compelled to do so by the labour agreement, conveys workers to or from the place of work, and an accident occurs in transit, such accident may be considered as an industrial accident in cases where the transport was provided for in the interests of the undertaking. Some laws go further and cover all risks due to journeys from the worker's home to and from the place of work, and vice versa, if not otherwise stipulated. Provisions to this effect are to be found in the laws of Austria, as well as of Czechoslovakia (excluding Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia) and Poland (excluding former Prussian territory), Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, the Serb- — 132 — Croat-Slovene Kingdom and Queensland*. Only in Bulgaria and Queensland does legislation cover these risks generally; in the other countries, such risks are covered only on certain conditions. The Austrian and Serb-Croat-Slovene laws lay down that such accidents are covered only if the journey has not been interrupted in the interests of the insured person, or for some reason unconnected with the work; the Finnish Act includes only accidents on journey which are particularly hazardous by reason of the situation of the place of work, and the Swedish Act provides that in order to be covered the journey must be necessitated by and directly connected with the employment. In view of the particular risks of seamen's employment, some laws make special provisions respecting accidents occurring on the seaman's way to and from his ship. Thus, according to the German insurance code, accidents on journeys from the land to the vessel and from the vessel to the land, as well as on free return transportation, are covered. The Italian law grants compensation for accidents occurring during the journey undertaken by a member of the crew in order to embark on the vessel, or to reach his home if the engagement has been terminated elsewhere, provided t h a t he has not departed from the pre-arranged route without substantial reason. The law of the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom is limited to national seamen without means in respect of accidents met with on their way home or when taken on board a national vessel. Finally, the Norwegian Act includes accidents occurring in connection with conveyance from the shore to the vessel and from the vessel to the shore, or journeys to and from the vessel if made at the expense of the shipowner or the Treasury. The Act of the State of Tasmania is the only one which specifically excludes from risks covered all accidents occurring on journeys to and from the place of work. (3) So long as the worker is lawfully or reasonably upon the premises under the control of the employer, the course of his employment will continue. A difficult point, however, arises in connection with interruptions of work. In the case of ordinary day labourers, the course of work is intermittent and generally lasts for stated periods "called "working hours". The employer has no claim upon such workers during the intervening periods of time. The question 1 Moreover, the Dutch Act covers risks due to such journeys in virtue of the very general definition of industrial accident {q. v.), provided that the worker does not wilfully interrupt his journey for reasons unconnected with his employment. — 133 — arises whether or not during such cessation of work the worker continues to. be in the course of employment. As a rule, the course of employment is considered to continue so long as the workman remains within the sphere of the risk of employment. Consequently, accidents occurring during interruptions of work are excluded only when the worker interrupts his employment by leaving the sphere of his risks. He may be considered to remain within the sphere of the risk of the employment even when he leaves his place of work by the order or in the interest of his employer. The most usual interruptions of work are those made for meals and for rest. The application of the above principles to these intervals varies from country to country. In France, for instance, they are considered to be in the course of employment, and consequently accidents sustained during them are covered by the law, inasmuch as they occur within the establishment. In Great Britain the protection of the law extends beyond the time of actual work to legitimate interruptions for the purpose of rest. In Germany, again, accidents occurring during intervals for rest and due to the workmen's own occupations (eigenwirtsckaftliche Tätigkeiten), such as eating, drinking, bathing, dressing, etc., are compensated, provided that they occur in some connection with the establishment. The legal texts do not generally include stipulations as to accidents occurring during interruptions of work. Some Acts, however, contain interesting provisions. Thus, the Finnish Act expressly covers any injury met with by the worker during his stay at the place of work, provided that such stay was not forbidden. The Swiss Act also includes within its definition of an occupational accident injuries suffered by an insured person during an interruption of work and before and after work, so long as (without fault on his part) he happens to be either on the premises or in the danger zone of the undertaking. Further, a recent Latvian Decree, amending the Russian Act of 1912 in force in that country, has extended the scope of accidents covered to those occurring in the case of interruptions of the work. § 3. — Relation of Accident to Place of Work In order that the accident should be one connected with the employment or work, it is generally necessary that it should occur at the place of work. The same considerations as justify the protection of the workers against the accident risk in the course of — 134 — employment apply also to accidents occurring at the place of work. In general the connection with the employment or the work is presumed in all such cases. (1) The first difficult point in the application of the above rule is the question what is to be understood by the "place of work." In the terms of the labour agreement, a place of work may be defined to include any place where the worker is by order of his employer. In different occupations, however, this means very different things. In most industries, e.g. the manufacturing industries, the place of work is a determined spot exclusively used for the purposes of the undertaking, i.e. a shop, factory, plant, etc. The sphere of the occupational risk cannot, however, be limited strictly to the undertaking properly so-called, but must as a rule be extended to cover the whole area connected with it, and falling under the risk of employment. The place may, in certain cases, be extended even to industrial canteens and barracks built by the employer for dwellings, meals, or recreation, on behalf of the workers. In mining and building industries, the place of work is more difficult to determine. In the former case the place of work is partly underground, partly on the surface. In building and construction, again, the place of work does not mean only the site of the edifice, but may include also places where the building materials are stored. The Finnish Act lays down expressly that "in the construction of railways, tramways, canals, harbours, streets, roads and bridges, the place of work shall include the whole area under work and such places outside it as serve for the extraction of earth, clay or stones, as well as railway stations, harbours and warehouses from which the materials are being transported to the place of construction, as well as the ways leading to them from the place of construction." Still wider is the meaning of the "place of work" in agriculture and forestry, where it covers the whole of the more or less large area belonging to the owner as a freehold or leasehold tenancy. It often may include even the dwellings of the workers, who are thus continuously "at the place of work." Finally, in some employments, no specified place of work can be determined at all. This is the case especially in respect of certain technical workers, commercial and other agents, drivers, etc., whose employment consists in a perpetual change of the place of work, or in travelling. For these workers and employees, the criterion for the determination of the industrial character of an — 135 — accident is not the local connection between the accident and employment, but other considerations. (2) Apart from the very changing meaning of the expression "place of work," it is to be noted that there are cases where the accident occurs admittedly outside the place of work, and yet may have the character of an industrial accident. The most important of these cases are accidents occurring during the shifting of the workers. A worker who changes his place of work within the undertaking remains always under the orders and supervision of his employer and is consequently covered, when so doing, by the compensation law. This rule is, however, generally subject to the condition that the insured worker does not choose a forbidden route and thus expose himself to a risk not connected with bis service. Further, the application of this principle to each case depends very much on the presence or absence of serious misconduct or inexcusable fault on the part of the worker. This point will be discussed later. Similarly, if the worker leaves the place of work on the instruction or in the business of his employer, he normally remains covered against the accident risk, provided that his action was either ordered, or implicitly authorised, by the employer, and performed in the interest of the establishment. The Queensland Act explicitly covers such accidents, and provides that accidents occurring away from the place of work when in the course of the employment or under the employer's instructions, are covered. Another case arises when the worker is going from one place of work to another. While he is obliged to leave the sphere of work in so doing, he nevertheless remains under the authority of the employer and may therefore be considered to be entitled to accident compensation. For instance, in France it has been laid down that a worker is covered during such a route. Workers and employees who are continually moving about are covered by the accident compensation law as long as they are carrying on their work on account of their employment, irrespective of the place of their work. (3) An intermediate case between accidents occurring at the place of work and outside the same is formed by accidents due to the means of ingress to or egress from the undertaking. Such ingress or egress presents in certain occupations special risks, e.g. the case of the seaman proceeding from the land to his vessel, the railwayman arriving at the station by crossing the lines, or the worker who is compelled to pass by steam boilers or depots of explosives. — 136 — Although the worker may not be at his place of work, he is nevertheless covered against such risks provided that be has followed an ordinary route, authorised, or at least not forbidden, by the employer. It may be noticed that (e.g. in Germany) this rule includes the risk of violence to which "blacklegs" may be exposed on the part of pickets during a stiike. § 4. — Causal Relation between Accident and Work The decisive characteristic of the notion of industrial accident is that the employment or work must stand related to the accident as cause and effect. The German definition of "industrial accident", as mentioned above, implies that this relation between accident and work is always necessary, and also sufficient in itself. It is explicitly stated in the British law that the accident must have "arisen out of the employment", and while in French case-law the relation of accident to work from the standpoints of time and place is considered as sufficient, this is so because such relation is taken to establish the presumption of the causal relation implied by the legal definition itself (par le fait du travail). The same conception is to be found in the Canadian Acts, which, as has been mentioned above, establish the presumption of a causal relation between accident and work in cases where accidents happen in the course of the work. (1) The importance of the causal relation between accident and work may be illustrated by certain cases in which the accident happens outside the place and the course of work, but yet has its cause in the work. To this group belong, first, accidents due to assaults or murder. Such acts are, in fact, not anticipated by the person suffering from them, and are in certain circumstances properly considered as industrial accidents. It is clear that every assault of a worker or foreman (even in the course of employment) has not the characteristic of an industrial accident, whether committed by a fellow worker, a stranger, or the employer himself. But this may be so if it is proved that the risk of a particular assault is in causal relation with the employment or work; for instance, if a foreman is assaulted by a worker who has been dismissed on account of unsatisfactory work, this is an accident to the foreman, even irrespective of the fact that the assault was committed outside the time and place of work. Similarly, if a worker is assaulted by an overseer on account of bad work, the — 137 — motive of the action is traceable to the employment, and the case may be considered as an industrial accident. Another class of risks incidental to work which may occur outside the sphere of work are those due to the dangerous nature of materials used. For instance, a worker may carry with him some explosive substance and be injured by it at his home; logically this accident presents the character of an industrial accident, because there is a direct causal connection between accident and work. In most countries, however, both the above cases are compensated only when the injured person was in service. (2) If there are accidents which can occur outside the sphere of the work, and yet be consequent upon it, there are inversely others which occur at the place and during the course of work, but are not causally connected with employment. In general, a worker must not act beyond his duties. In taking upon himself work which is quite outside the character or the particular class of work which his employer has allotted to him, he is not covered against the accident risk. However, when such self-imposed task is in furtherance of the employer's business, exceptions to the general rule are in certain cases necessary. The first group of accidents which may be considered as industrial accidents, although they do not stand related to the work as cause and effect, are those due to acts of emergency, rescue, or salvage. In all countries an accident happening to a workman who, whilst engaged in his master's employment, voluntarily does, upon an emergency, an act outside the scope of his ordinary duties, is covered, provided, however, that the act was accomplished in the interest of the employer. In Germany, insurance covers accidents occurring in any auxiliary occupation connected with the undertaking, including watch duty, fire brigade service, etc., provided that such employment serves the purposes of the undertaking, and is connected with it. Provisions including accidents due to emergency or salvage have been inserted in the laws of certain countries. Thus, Great Britain has made a special extension in favour of coal miners, to the effect that "any accident caused to a workman employed in or about a mine who is with the consent of his employer being trained as a member of the rescue brigade, and arising out of and in the course of his training, shall, for the purposes of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment in the mine" (Coal Mines Act, 1911). A similar clause, in an extended form, is to be found in the South — 138 — African Compensation Act. Again, the insurance code of Germany has extended the definition of "industrial accident" to cover seamen who "sustain an injury during services rendered in connection with the rescue or salvage of-men or goods." The Danish Accident Insurance Act goes further, and includes any- accident "shown to have been caused by the insured person's attempt to save human life, to prevent accidents, or to avert serious loss of property or crops, provided it occurs, whether in or outside the place of work, in connection with such occupation." Closely related to the above cases are accidents due to assistance and help rendered by a workman to his fellow worker. The habits of common life often extend the sphere of employment to such acts, which any workman may be considered to be morally bound to perform, and risks arising from them are covered by the notion of industrial accident, inasmuch as they are incurred with the consent (at least implicit) of the workman's superior. (3) The above considerations concern actions of the worker outside his regular duties in the employer's interest. There are, however, also risks which are created in the interests of the worker himself. The general rule is that such risks are excluded from the scope of compensation. An exception to this rule may be made only when the interest of the workman is bound up with the interest of the undertaking, e.g. in cases of accidents connected with the payment of wages, satisfaction of personal needs such as eating, drinking, bathing, physical exercise. In France and Great Britain, accidents due to such acts may be covered when the conditions of employment compel the worker to perform them during work or to be present at the place of work. On the other hand, they are excluded in Germany, even when in some relation to the undertaking, because the causal connection between accident and work is, in virtue of the basic formula employed for the definition of industrial accident, more strictly adhered to. (4) An important group of accidents, the risk of which is only conditionally incidental to employment, are those due to workmen's horseplay, mischief, larking, or brawling. Though they occur at the place and in the course of work, they do not directly arise out of the employment, i.e. the connection between such accidents and the work may exist from the point of view of time and place, but not from the standpoint of cause. It is difficult to give a general rule on this point, but it may be illustrated by the development of the case-law in Great Britain. It was previously decided — 139 — that it was not within the scope of the employment of workers to indulge in horseplay, and that injuries thereby sustained by a worker, even if not a party, were not compensable industrial accidents. Later, however, the House of Lords supported the view "that an arbitrator is entitled to take into consideration the mischievous nature of boys, and that where boys are engaged it may be said with reason that the likelihood of their indulging in play is one of the risks which the employer runs in employing child labour, and is one of the risks which each employee runs who has to work with child companions". Accidents due to larking may thus be compensated, at least when young workers are concerned and larking has some connection with the incidence of employment (Willis). It would, similarly, seem from the French and German case-laws that accidents due to horseplay or mischief, especially as far as young workers or apprentices are concerned, are not excluded from compensation. In general, these accidents thus belong, from the legal point of view, to cases attributable to the fault of fellow worker. It will be seen from the above that the definition of the causal connection between accident and work is subject to several important limitations and exceptions. The interpretation of this criterion of the industrial accident has tended to be more and more liberal, and particularly so in view of the necessity of taking account of accidents which are partly due to risks of work and partly to common risks. § 5. — Risk of Work Connected with Common Risks It used to be held generally that an accident, in order to constitute a compensable industrial accident, must be caused by a particular risk of the industrial work, a risk exceeding the common risk to which all men are alike exposed in their daily life. This conception emerged from the principle concerning the scope of industries covered by the law: the industries were originally divided into "hazardous" and "non-hazardous" ones, and the principle of occupational risk was applied only to the former group. Logically, then, only the particular "aggravated risks" that rendered the industrial work "hazardous", as distinguished from risks common to any work, were to be covered. When it was admitted that only accidents causally connected with the work were to be covered, it meant that the employment must constitute the sole source of the industrial accident risk. — 140 — After many decades of evolution, the case-law has passed beyond this narrow conception of the occupational risk. The general rule is now everywhere that the accident need not necessarily be occasioned exclusively, directly or immediately by the work; it is sufficient that the employment or work constitutes a contributory cause of the accident. The common risks, or "risks of daily life" create an indefinite series of accidents ; the most important group of them are cases of force majeure. Cases of force majeure are often assimilated to "fortuitous cases". In the Roman law no distinction was made between these categories which were both considered as events superior to the human will, and impossible to foresee or prevent. "Casus fortuitus appellatur vis major, vis divina, fatum, damnum fatale, fatalitas", was the definition given by Averani1. This assimilation still exists in the law of several countries. With reference to accidents, however, it is evident that while both these cases are independent of the will of the employer or of the workman, there is an important distinction as to their cause. The fortuitous cases are due to the inherent hazards of the industry, to the imperfection of human foresight and insight, and thus constitute an objective fault of the industry; it was, indeed, to them that the principle of occupational risk originally and chiefly referred. They are always covered by the compensation law. The causes of the risks of force majeure, on the other hand, are entirely outside the industrial undertaking, the employment, and the work. They include risks arising from "Acts of God" and "Acts of the King's Enemies," i.e., from the forces of nature, attacks of animals, stings of insects, aerial bombardments and other war incidents, etc. Injuries sustained on account of such events are normally considered as accidental injuries, and when they are connected with the workman's employment, they usually constitute industrial accidents. There seem, however, to be certain differences in the application of this rule in various countries. The principle adopted in the British case-law is that, assuming the workman to be acting legitimately in the course of his employment, an accident will arise out of the employment if it results from one special danger with which the workman is brought into contact by the nature, conditions, obligations, or incidents of his employment; if the character of the employment be such as to create or intensify the 1 "De Fortuitis Casibus", in Vol. VII of Tractatus tractatuum, quoted by LOUBAT {op. cit., p. 204). — 141 — risks that arise from "extraordinary natural causes", an accident occurring in such circumstances is considered as one arising out of the employment, and therefore covered (Willis). French caselaw is somewhat similar. It has been ruled by the Cour de Cassation that, in principle, the law does not apply to accidents due to the action of the forces of nature, even when they occur during the work; per contra, the law becomes applicable, "if the work has contributed to put these forces in motion, or has aggravated their effects" (Sachet). In Germany where the old conception of the special risk of the undertaking as an exclusive condition of compensation was over-ruled first after 25 years of experience, the modern case-law has taken a more liberal view. All common risks arising from the forces of the nature are insured when they occur in the undertaking itself; "the dangers of daily life become risks of the undertaking through the fact that the workman is exposed to them in consequence of his very service in tbe undertaking" (Reichsversicherungsamt, in 1909). The laws of the countries mentioned do not contain specific provisions in respect of cases of force majeure. There are, however, other laws in which such provisions have been inserted. Accidents due to force majeure without distinction are covered only by the Roumanian law, but several of the Canadian Provinces approach the same position by covering "chance (fortuitous) events due to physical or natural causes" (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Yukon). The French view is sanctioned in the laws of a number of Latin countries which specifically exclude accidents due to force majeure unconnected with the work, as do Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, Salvador, Spain and Uruguay.1 It will be seen that no country excludes cases of force majeure unconditionally, and this no doubt may be regarded as a distinct step forward from the point of view of the principle of occupational risk. 1 "Fortuitous events unconnected with the work" are assimilated to cases of force majeure in a few laws (e.g. New Brunswick, Ecuador and Salvador). CHAPTER III NOTION OF FAULT Di WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION § 1. — General Relation of the Notion of Fault to the Principle of Occupational Risk Although the principle of occupational risk essentially implies that, in general, accidents connected with the work are due to risks inherent in, or incidental to, the industry, and therefore should be compensated, there nevertheless are cases where this assumption does not hold good. Even the widest concept of occupational risk excludes from compensation some industrial accidents in which the element of personal responsibility of either the employee, the employer, or a third party, is so preponderant that the accident cannot be attributed to an objective fault of industry. In other words, the application of the principle of occupational risk raises the question of the relation between the common law notion of personal fault, and the new concept of occupational risk. The solution of this problem has been reached through gradual development. The first step was the admission of the principle of occupational risk properly so-called, which included not only recognition of the fact that a large number of accidents may happen from no one's fault, as a consequence of certain industrial processes, but also the conclusion that, for this reason, the industry, and not the employee, was responsible for them. This conception, important as it was from the point of view of general progress, still left open the question of fault on the part of the worker or the employer. In cases where such fault was established, the prescriptions of common law were still applied: if there was a fault on the part of the workman, compensation was refused, and if the employer was found guilty of a fault, he was bound to pay full damages. But even this system — which may be called the system of occupational risk proper — was soon seen to be unsatisfactory. It did not remove the possibility of litigation which was one of the objects of the compensation legislation, since it left to the domain of common law a number of cases of slight fault, like negligence, imprudence, carelessness, etc., which, in reality, are determined — 143 by the character and conditions of modern industrial work itself, its speed of production, its product of fatigue, in short, its influence upon the physical and psychical state of the operatives. But once the principle of occupational risk was admitted, the way was paved for a further extension of compensation. Everywhere modern compensation legislation tends increasingly to disregard the legal notion of fault and to take more and more in consideration the economic need for enlarging the sphere of occupational risk. This extension has, however, been effected to very varying degrees in the different countries. While some compensation laws include into the scope of occupational risk all accidents except those intentionally self-inflicted, others still exclude from it accidents due to the negligence or imprudence on the part of the workman. Again, while a few laws cover without exception all accidents attributable to the fault of the employer, others refer accidents due to a wilful act or negligence on his part to the domain of the common law, with a view to providing for an alternative or an addition to the ordinary compensation. Consequently, there is no standard definition of the real scope of occupational risk. It may rather be said that the concept of occupational risk has remained different in different countries. It is proposed to examine in this chapter the problem of the persistence and survival of the notion of fault in compensation legislation. The limitations placed by this notion upon the scope of occupational risk may be grouped under three headings, viz. first, cases of fault, on the part of the worker, secondly, cases involving the employer's fault, and thirdly, the less important group of accidents due to the fault of other persons, i.e. fellowservants and third party properly so called. § 2. — Fault of the Worker The problem of the relation of the notion of fault on the part of the worker to compensation on the basis of occupational risk is fairly simple. Practically all legislations provide that in certain cases of such fault either the worker's claim to compensation is forfeited, or the compensation due to the workman is to be reduced. The differences between the various laws refer to the degree of fault that has these effects. It is convenient to examine these provisions under five main headings which are, according to the descending scale of faults, as follows: — 144 — (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) intentional infliction of injury; criminal action, misdemeanour; inexcusable fault, wilful misconduct; violation of rules, intoxication; and gross negligence or negligence in general. (1) The most general group of injuries excluded from compensation are those which are intentionally self-inflicted. In such cases the person concerned has intentionally caused the injury for an illegal purpose, namely obtaining compensation by fraud, and it is quite reasonable to exclude him from the point of view of the principle of occupational risk. Moreover, since an accident in its most primary meaning implies an event which was not expected or designed, an injury intentionally self-inflicted can hardly be covered by the broadest definition of the notion of accident. Such accidents, if so they may be called, are therefore obviously excluded from the compensation legislation. Nevertheless, the exclusion of intentionally or deliberately self-inflicted injuries is specifically provided for in the Acts of some 34 states, as shown in the appended table. The exclusion of intentionally self-inflicted injuries is not, however, absolute or categorical in all these countries. Thus, in the Roumanian Act, the provision is made in a weaker form: in the case of an injury intentionally self-inflicted the employer shall have the right to submit the case to legal investigation. According to the Italian Act the insurance institution may take action against the injured worker with a view to recovering the sums paid out erroneously on account of a self-inflicted accident, only if there is a verdict of criminal intent to constitute the proof of such an act. Finally, the Acts of Hungary and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom form important direct exceptions to the rule. The former Act stipulates that, should the injured person die, his dependants are entitled to the legal benefits and pensions even in the case of an intentionally caused accident, and the latter Act provides that, in the event of a fatal accident the family of the deceased is entitled to the benefits of insurance. These cases, although rare, are a striking illustration of the new principles governing compensation legislation. Although such intentional cases are, from a legal point of view, equivalent to fraud, it is considered just, regarding the matter from the standpoint of economic need, to grant compensation to the family of the worker whose self-inflicted injury results in death, and whose family is thereby threatened with destitution. — 145 — Several laws add to the risks excluded accidents inflicted intentionally by another group of beneficiaries of the law, viz. by a dependant of the worker. Stipulations to this effect are to be found in several laws; in general, such acts, deliberately committed for the purpose of getting the compensation due to the survivors of a worker killed as a result of an industrial accident, amount to fraud and premeditated crime, and are in fact excluded by the very notion of the industrial accident. (2) Accidents attributable to a crime or misdemeanour are specifically excluded under various formulae in the laws of Austria, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Japan, Luxemburg, Panama, Poland, and Portugal. The hardship which may be caused by this provision to the workman or to his survivors, is sometimes alleviated by special stipulations. Thus, the misdemeanour must in some countries be intentional and established by a verdict of a court of law; and the exclusion is only conditional in Germany and Cuba, where the denial of compensation may be either total or only partial. A number of laws stop at this degree of fault. The principle of covering all other cases of fault, including contraventions of rules and regulations, is strikingly illustrated by the provision of the German Code that "acts which are forbidden do not exclude the assumption of an industrial accident". This principle has been more or less followed also by the laws of many other countries. It is a significant fact that the 1923 amendment of the British Compensation Act, 1906, has extended the scope of risks to cover accidents, notwithstanding that the workman was acting in contravention of regulations or orders, or was acting without instructions from the employer, "if such act was done for the purposes of, and in connection with, his employer's trade or business", provided, however, that the accident resulted in death or in serious and permanent disablement. Most countries, however, do not cover unconditionally all accidents due to other faults than intentional infliction or crime and misdemeanour properly so-called. Accidents attributable to a forbidden act or very serious case of contravention of rules and regulations are very often excluded from compensation; but the definitions of such cases vary considerably from country to country. (3) The most restricted definition in this respect is that provided for by the French law which limits the compensation in cases due to an inexcusable fault on the part of the workman. According to case-law, this does not mean gross negligence or serious fault, which 10 — 146 — are entirely covered by the law. The "inexcusable fault" means something more, i.e. an exceptionally serious fault, which is the highest point in the scale of faults. The criteria of the inexcusable fault are the conscious will and intention of the workman, applied not to the accident itself (which would amount to the definition of an intentionally inflicted injury), but to the fault which has occasioned the accident. Inattention, imprudence, forgetfulness, taking unreasonable risks, curiosity, etc., which are considered to be inherent in human nature, are not considered inexcusable. Moreover, the infringement or violation of regulations does not a priori constitute inexcusable fault. It has this character only when accompanied by a conscious will to violate the rules •—• e.g. when a worker causes an accident by an act which has been expressly forbidden to him or by drunkenness, provided this was a direct cause of the accident (Loubat). It is to be noted that the effect of the above provision upon the right to compensation is not absolute. "Inexcusable fault" can never exclude compensation wholly, but only partially, according to the decision of the courts. The same provision as in France is enforced also in Quebec and Peru. In the British legislation, a similar limitation of the workman's right to compensation is to be found. It excludes accidents attributable to serious and wilful misconduct of the worker. The meaning of this formula has been defined by the judicial decisions in the following manner. The stipulation that the misconduct must be "serious" means not merely that the consequences are serious, but that the misconduct itself is serious. For instance, the breach of a rule may provide the opportunity for the happening of an injury, yet at the same time it does not follow that the breach of the rule will, as a matter of course, necessitate an increase or certainty of risk. But where there is a deliberate and unexampled act of disobedience to an express order, or where there is a deliberate breach of the law or rule which is framed in the interests of the workmen and for the express purpose of securing their safety, and the workman is not acting in the interests of his employer's business, it will usually be held that such a breach or such disobedience amounts to serious misconduct. "Wilful misconduct" again means misconduct to which the will is party, that is to say, something opposed to accident or neglect : the misconduct, not the conduct, must be wilful. Having established the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, the employer must further show that the injury was attributable to it; it need not be the sole cause, but only a natural result of the misconduct (Willis). — 147 — Accidents due to serious and wilful misconduct are excluded in all British legislations (except Queensland and Quebec). The term is defined in South Africa to mean (a) drunkenness, (b) a contravention of any law or statutory regulation made for the purpose of ensuring the safety or health of workmen, or of preventing accidents to workmen, if the contravention was committed deliberately or with reckless disregard of the terms of such law or regulation, and (c) any other act or omission which the magistrate or a court of law may, having regard to all the circumstances of the accident, declare to be serious or wilful misconduct. Although by these interpretations the scope of this offence is considerably restricted, it might be argued that the loss of all right to compensation for such a slight crime is too heavy a punishment for the worker. This is indirectly admitted by the greater part of the Acts concerned, which, in order to modify its effect, have added to the words "serious and wilful misconduct" the reservation "unless resulting in death or serious and permanent disablement". This formula is to be found in the laws of Great Britain, the Commonwealth of Australia, Victoria, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and New Zealand. The Acts of Alberta and Ontario have slightly extended the scope of compensation, subject to the reservation "unless resulting in death or serious disablement." By reason of these reservations, the restriction has lost very much of its importance, and practically amounts only to a comparatively slight fine. The above restrictions of the worker's right to compensation refer to clearly exceptional cases of the highest degree of fault. A number of countries, however, go further and restrict more considerably the employer's liabilities. We may deal first with cases of violation of rules and intoxication. (4) Violation or infringement of laws or regulations (of which those concerning the safety and health of workers come into consideration) do not, as mentioned above, constitute ipso facto "inexcusable fault" nor "serious and wilful misconduct", although they may do so; they form rather the principal class of misconduct in general. This class of fault has remained in the list of exclusions only in two compulsory insurance laws, viz. in that of Denmark (compensation forfeited either totally or partially) and Sweden (compensation reduced if violation of rules is combined with gross carelessness). Of other compensation laws, those of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Greece, India and Uruguay, exclude — often only conditionally — accidents attributable to violation of rules, — 148 — wilful disobedience, or misconduct, under various formulae, as shown in the appended table. Like violation of rules, intoxication constitutes a special class of misconduct. It is deemed to be even an "inexcusable fault", or "serious and wilful misconduct" in certain cases in France and the British countries. In addition, some laws contain specific provisions concerning drunkenness: compensation is reduced on account of such an offence in the Netherlands, Roumania, and Sweden; it is either totally confiscated or reduced in Danmark and Japan, while the intoxicated worker entirely forfeits his claim to compensation in New Brunswick, Yukon, Victoria, and India ("intoxication by drink or drugs"). (5) As regards, finally, cases of gross negligence or serious fault in general, it is a noteworthy fact that they are not in general excluded from compulsory accident insurance systems. The original laws of many countries which adopted this system excluded such cases, e.g. Finland (before 1917), Sweden (before 1916), and Russia (before 1912), but later this conception was swept away. To this rule there is at present only one partial exception, viz. Denmark, where cases of gross negligence are assimilated to those of violation of rules and drunkenness, and consequently involve a total or partial loss of compensation, if the injured person has brought about, or largely contributed to, the occurrence of the accident through such negligence. In the systems of workmen's compensation without collective insurance, this limitation of the personal liability of the employer may appear more natural. Some countries, especially in Latin America, have taken this view. Thus the workman forfeits all claim to compensation in Argentina, if the accident was due to "serious fault" on his part or (if killed) on the part of his survivors. Cases of "manifest incompetence" or "reckless imprudence" are excluded in Ecuador, and similarly cases of "obvious negligence or serious imprudence" in Salvador, while Colombia exempts from compensation all accidents due to the "fault, imprudence, or negligence" on the part of the worker. In Japan, mining accidents are not compensated if due to the worker's "serious fault". In Europe, Greece and Lithuania, in which latter country the earlier Russian Act of 1903 is in operation, are (in addition to Denmark) the only countries where "gross negligence" still excludes the worker from the benefits of compensation. It will be seen from the above that the cases of fault on the part of the worker may be distinguished in to two groups. There are, — 149 — first, the accidents due to intentional infliction and to a criminal act or misdemeanour; these cases are practically unanimously excluded from compensation. But in respect of all the other classes of faults, there are wider differences between the several laws. It is particularly to be noted that the compulsory accident insurance laws do not, as a rule, go beyond the above mentioned degrees of fault; they may even expressly include accidents due to forbidden acts; at any rate, they generally cover cases of misconduct and negligence. In fact, the very principle of insurance has sometimes been defined to mean "the substitution of the principle of risk for the principle of fault". In social insurance covering large groups, the loss on account of cases of negligence becomes dissolved in the general cost of compensation, and litigation arising from such cases would do more harm than good. On the other hand, in the system of workmen's compensation which simply places the liability of compensation upon the individual employer, it might be considered unfair to force him to compensate for a loss due to the misconduct and negligence of the workman, especially when it is a serious or wilful case. Notwithstanding this fact, a great number of compensation laws show a tendency to follow the development of insurance laws; some of them even stop at the exclusion of intentional accidents only (e.g. Belgium), while others have found a middle course, and have judged it sufficient to exclude (partially) either cases of "inexcusable fault" which is more than gross negligence (e.g. France) or cases of "serious and wilful misconduct" (British Acts), the meaning of which has been recently further restricted (in Great Britain). Thus the exclusion of accidents attributable to negligence is at present an exception rather than the rule. It is, indeed, more and more evident that the Acts containing such exclusions are based on a distinct compromise between the obsolete conception of fault, and the principle of occupational risk underlying the modern compensation system. § 3. — Fault of the Employer According to the common law, only accidents attributable to the fault of the employer were compensated, and when such fault was established, the worker was entitled to full damages for his economic loss. The principle of occupational risk has replaced the subjective fault of the employer by the objective fault of the industry, and damages by compensation. In this point, however, compensation — 150 — legislation still shows traces of its historical development, and the employer's personal liability for accidents attributable to some degree of fault on his part still exists in most compensation laws. These provisions form a parallel to those concerning the fault of the worker. As a matter of course, if common sense and equity require that uniform compensation should be modified to the detriment of the worker in certain cases of misdemeanour or inexcusable or serious fault on his part, then such modification •should be counterbalanced by a corresponding increase in the liabilities of the employer in certain cases of fault on his part. In cases of fault on the part of the employer, the legislation may either apply the principles of occupational risk and compensation, or open to the injured worker or to his survivors the possibility of recovering damages through an action under common law against the employer. The system of compensating for accidents due to the employer's fault according to the prescriptions of the compensation legislation, excluding all possibility of suits for damages, exists only in France and the Province of Quebec. In these countries, compensation due to the worker is increased in the case of an inexcusable fault on the part of the employer, as it is decreased in the case of an inexcusable fault on the part of the worker. In respect of the system which opens the possibility of taking action under common law against the employer, it is necessary first to examine the relation of this action to the claims in virtue of the compensation law. Further, in the system of compulsory accident insurance, the insurance institution may take action with a view to recovering expenses paid out by it because of accident attributable to the fault of the employer. It is therefore convenient to examine: (1) the systems of suits for damages open to the worker or his survivors in the compensation laws without compulsory insurance, and, (2) the systems of such suits open to the worker or his survivors and to the insurer in compulsory insurance laws. (1) Most compensation laws admit damages under the common law as an alternative to benefits under the compensation law. This system is illustrated by the provisions of the British Workmen's Compensation Act: when the injury is caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of the employer or of some person for whose act or default the employer is responsible, nothing in the Act affects any civil liability of the employer, but in that case the worker may, at his option, either claim compensation under the — 151 — Act or take proceedings independently of it; the employer shall not be liable to pay compensation for injury to a workman both independently of and also under the Act. Most of the Anglo-Saxon countries follow Great Britain in the method in which they deal with accidents imputable to the fault of the employer; and so also do Belgium, Greece, and the majority of the Latin American countries. In most countries the employer is liable to proceedings under common law only in certain more or less exceptional cases. The most restricted provisions of this kind are those contained in the Belgian Act, which allow of proceedings under common law only in cases where the accident was brought about intentionally by the employer. Most countries also include such intentional, wilful or premeditated acts, or fraud, in the scope of the employer's civil responsibility, but add to them other faults of wider scope. Following the descending scale of faults, there are, in the first place, the cases of a criminal or unlawful act on the part of the employer (e.g. Peru). Somewhat wider is the scope of the civil liability when extended to cases where the employer is deemed to have infringed legal prescriptions concerning the safety of workmen and the prevention of accidents (e.g. Greece). Great Britain and other British legislations (in Canada, however, only Yukon) have established the employer's liability to legal proceedings for full damages in all cases of "personal negligence" (in addition to cases of "wilful act"); South Africa has replaced this by "serious fault". The latter formula is to be found also in the Chilean Act. A more extensive formula in this respect is that employed in the Spanish Act which allows suits for damages for all accidents imputable to "fraud, imprudence, or negligence" on the part of the employer. There are, finally, certain laws which place no specific limitation on the civil responsibility of employers for accidents due to their fault. "Nothing in the Act affects the civil liability of employers" is stipulated in the compensation Acts of New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as in those of India and Saskatchewan, and a similar standpoint is taken by the laws of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Panama, and Salvador. (2) The problem arises in a different form when compensation is combined with compulsory insurance. In this case, the insurance institution is obliged to pay compensation to the worker or, if killed, to his survivors, even for accidents attributable to the fault of the employer; consequently, most laws leave to it the possibility — 152 — of instituting proceedings under common law against the employer in order to recover the expenses caused by such an accident. The employer is thus liable to proceedings both on the part of the injured worker, or his survivors and on the part of the insurance institution. Persons injured through the fault of the employer thus receive the ordinary compensation in any case (the Danish accident insurance law is the only one which allows the worker a choice between suits for damages and compensation, the one action excluding the other). In addition, the worker may take legal proceedings against the employer under the common law in order to recover more damages. The damages which the worker or his survivors may recover from the employer cannot, however, exceed the difference between the compensation paid in conformity with the prescriptions of the accident insurance law, and the amount of full damages which would be due to the worker in the case of an integral compensation according to the common law principles. Proceedings under common law are usually allowed to be taken by the worker or his 'survivors only in certain exceptional cases, viz. when the accident was brought about by the employer (or his representative) intentionally or wilfully (e.g. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal), to which are sometimes added cases of misdemeanour (e.g. Italy, Netherlands), or cases of gross negligence and grave fault (e.g. Norway, Switzerland), or cases of negligence (e.g. Russia), while in some countries in all cases in which the employer is to blame, i.e. in cases of the employer's fault in general (e.g. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom) suits for damages are allowed. The legal claim of the insurance institution against the employer for recovery of all expenses incurred by it on account of accidents caused by the employer, is in general admitted in similar conditions as in the case of the worker or his survivors. Sometimes the civil liability of the employer towards the insurer is more extensive than his civil liability towards the worker. This will be seen from the following instances: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Poland: legal claim of the insurer is extended to cases of gross negligence of the employer. Hungary, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom: cases of nonobservation of safety prescriptions. — 153 — Bulgaria : the employer is liable only to reimburse the insurance institution, in cases when the accident is attributable to his intention, misdemeanour, or non-observance of safety rules. Per contra, in a few compulsory insurance laws, the employer's civil responsibility subsists to a greater extent in respect of the worker than in the case of the insurer, as will be seen from the following instances: Sweden: the insurer has a claim against the employer only when he has brought about the accident wilfully, while the worker may institute legal proceedings in any case; Finland and Switzerland : the insurer's claim against the employer is not provided for, while the worker has the possibility of taking suits for damages. § 4. — Fault of Fellow Worker. Fault of Third Party Cases of fault on the part of the worker and the employer constitute in the system of compensation law the two great headings under which the common law has been involved in the new principles of occupational risk. But, apart from the workman himself, and the employer, there are other persons whose fault may increase the industrial accident risk: namely (1) fellow workers; (2) third parties, i.e. persons unconnected with the undertaking. (1) The common law, and more particularly, the Anglo-Saxon common law, included among the defences of the employer, in virtue of which he could refuse to accept liability, the so-called "fellow-servant rule", i.e. the common employment excluded liability when the injury was caused to the workman by reason of the negligence of a fellow workman employed by the same master for the purposes of the same business. This rule, which was in force in other countries also, was sometimes abrogated even by the common law, e.g. in France, as early as in the Code Napoléon. With the advent of the compensation legislation, the defence of fellow-servant's fault disappeared altogether. The general rule is now everywhere that the very fact of many people working together in one undertaking constitutes a risk inherent in, or incidental to, the occupation. Fellow workers are not "persons unconnected with" the undertaking or with the employment of workmen ; on the contrary, the employer's personal responsibility generally extends to them as to his representatives. Consequently, accidents due to the fault of a fellow worker are, — 154 — as a rule, compensated. Difficulties are apt to arise, however, in cases where a fellow worker brings about the accident intentionally, or by assault, or in consequence of "larking" or "brawling". It follows from the general principles of jurisprudence, outlined in a previous section of the present chapter, that the risk of such accidents is covered if the work constitutes a contributory cause of the accident. (2) The question of accidents due to the fault of third parties, i.e. persons unconnected with the undertaking, is somewhat different. In general, the risk of such a person bringing about an accident to a worker in the course of, or at the place of, his employment is covered only so far as the worker is particularly exposed to it by the nature, conditions or circumstances of his work. In general, it appears that the employer or insurer is liable to pay compensation for accidents attributable to the fault of third parties. This is sometimes expressly stated in the Act, e.g. in Germany, where fault of a third person does not exclude the assumption of an industrial accident, in Argentina where the law covers all accidents caused by third parties, and in a number of the Canadian provinces where the law states that "accident shall include a wilful and intentional act not being the act of the workman" (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon). On the other hand, some Acts, particularly in Latin American countries, exclude accidents caused by the intention, misdemeanour, or serious fault of a third person (e.g. Brazil, Chile, Panama). There is a second general rule to the effect that the civil liability of the third party remains intact, and that legal proceedings under common law may be instituted against it. Only in some of the Canadian provinces is the right to compensation under the Act held to be in lieu of all other rights. The employer or the insurance institution being thus liable to pay compensation for industrial accidents caused by third parties, and, on the other hand, such third parties being responsible under the common law, the situation of the worker is similar to that in cases of accidents attributable to the employer's fault. Thus, most compensation Acts with voluntary insurance give the worker the choice either of taking legal proceedings against the third party to recover damages, or of claiming ordinary compensation under the Act. One important addition, however, must .be made : if the worker recovers compensation, the employer shall be entitled to be indemnified by the person liable to pay damages (e.g. Great Britain) ; or, if the worker recovers damages, the employer will be — 155 — relieved, in due proportion, from his liability under the compensation law, being entitled himself to take legal proceedings against the third party if the worker has not done so (e.g. France). Again, compulsory accident insurance laws usually pay the ordinary compensation, and allow the worker the right to recover additional damages under the common law. In this case, as in cases of fault imputable to the employer, the claims of the worker against the third party are transferred to the insurance institution, up to the amount paid by it to the worker as normal compensation. This is the case also in Switzerland, where such transfer of claim is not provided for in the case of fault of the employer. In conclusion, it may be stated that accidents attributable to the fault of a fellow worker are dealt with in the several Acts as a special class of ordinary industrial accident risk. The common law has subsisted in respect of accidents attributable to the fault of a third party, chiefly in order to safeguard the interests of the employer and the insurer, who cannot be required to carry alone the risk of fault on the part of persons unconnected with the undertaking. Workers, again, have the right to compensation in all cases where the accident was caused by a fellow worker or a third party (provided that the accident was an industrial one) and this is no doubt a very important phase of the integral realisation of the principle of occupational risk. — 156 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED (Occupational Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General definition ARGENTINA (.Act of 11 October 1915, Order of lé January 1916) Accidents sustained by workers in t h e course oí t h e performance of t h e work assigned t o t h e m . I n d u s t r i a l accident means a n y occurrence in t h e course of, or in consequence of, work t h a t results in bodily injury, direct or indirect, a p p a r e n t or non-apparent, superficial or profound. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth (Act o/ 24 December 1912) Personal injury by accident arising out of and in t h e course of t h e employment. New South Wales (Acts of 13 December 1916 and 31 December 1920) Ditto Queensland (Act of ó 1916) January South Australia (Act of li December 1911) Tasmania (Act of 14 1919) January Victoria (Act of 21 December 1912) Western Australia (Act of 21 December 1912) Special provisions BY, AND Diseases Accidents A t t r i b u t a b l e to intentional infliction Occurrences resulting from a fortuitous cause or force majeure inherent t o t h e work, and resulting in bodily injury. — Cases of imprudence on t h e p a r t of an experienced worker resulting from t h e h a b i t u a l performance of a n y kind of work. Accidents intentionally brought a b o u t by t h e injured worker, or by his survivors. Injury by accident, w h e t h e r a t t h e place of t h e employment, or on t h e journey to or from such place or (being in t h e course of t h e employment or while under t h e employer's instructions) away from t h e place of employment. Injury or d e a t h caused by an intentional selfinflicted injury. Personal injury by accident arising out of and in t h e course of t h e employment. Ditto Ditto Ditto — 157 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION omitted) ind injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to gross Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct negligence or imprudence or drunkenness Accidents due to violation of works regulations, provided that these were expressly approved by the National Labour Department. Accidents exclusively attributable to the serious fault of the injured worker or of his survivors, and those which the worker could have avoided of his own accord. Attributable to other circumstances Accidents attributable to a case of force majeure extraneous to the work. Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault When the accident was caused by fraud or fault of the employer, the workman may either claim compensation under the act or take action for damages under common law, but one action excludes the other. Injury attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent disablement. The Act does not affect the civil responsibility of the Commonwealth, but the workman is not entitled to receive compensation both under and independently of the Act. Injury attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman. If the injury was caused by personal negligence or wilful act of the employer or any person for whose act he is responsible, the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under the act, or take proceedings independently of it. Ditto — — Ditto (In cases of personal negligence or premeditated act of the employer.) Ditto — — Ditto Ditto — Accident occurring on journey to or from the place of work. Ditto Injury attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman (including being under the influence of intoxicating liquor), unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent disablement. Injury attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman. Ditto — Ditto . — 158 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts Diseases Accidents Attributable to intentional infliction General definition Special provisions AUSTRIA (.Acts of 28 December 1SS7, 20 July 1894, 30 December 1917) Accidents in undertakings subject to insurance. Accidents due to the performance, by the order of the employer or on his behalf, of domestic or other work outside the employment subject to the insurance and in the course of the same. — Accidents occurring on the way from the dwelling of the workman to the work place and back, provided that this way has not been interrupted in the interest of the insured person or for any other reason unconnected with his work. Accidents brought about intentionally by the injured person. BELGIUM (Acts of 24 December 1903 and 7 August 1921) Injuries resulting from accidents sustained in the industrial establishments under the Act during and in consequence of the carrying out of a contract of work. Any accident met with during the execution of a contract of work shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have occurred in consequence thereof. Accidents caused deliberately by the injured person or by any of his dependants. BRAZIL. Accidents due to a (Decree of 15 January sudden, violent, external and not wilfully caused 1919) occurrence arising out of or in the course of the employment, producing bodily injuries or functional disturbances which are the sole cause of death or total or partial, permanent or temporary loss of capacity for work. BOLIVIA (Act of 17 January 1924) Bodily injury which a worker while employed, work or some arising from it. Accidents caused wilfully. with meets due to cause BULGARIA Sudden injury, inde(Acts 0/6 March 1924 pendent of the will of the workman, occurring and 25 June 1924) during and in consequence of the work, and resulting in incapacity or death. Accidents met with on the worker's way to and from the workplace. CANADA Alberta (Act of 13 April 1918) (1) Accident shall include a wilful and intentional act not being the act of the workman, and also a chance event occasioned by a physical Dr natural cause. Personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. Accidents brought about intentionally by the injured person or his survivor. — 159 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COilt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence or fault Attributable to other circumstances Accidents established by a law court to be attributable to a misdemeanour by the injured person. Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault If the industrial accident was caused intentionally by the employer, the injured person may take proceedings against the former, but the damages are limited to the difference between the amounts provided under the civil law and the insurance act. — If the accident was caused intentionally or through gross negligence of the employer, the insurance institution is entitled to recover from him all expenses incurred by it on account of the accident. The employer is civilly responsible and must pay full damages for accidents brought about intentionally by him. Cases of misconduct on the part ol the worker. • " Cases of force majeure, except acts of the nature brought about or facilitated by the establishment, by the nature or circumstances of the work. The decree does not exclude criminal proceedings under the common law. " When the accident was caused intentionally by the employer or was due to a misdemeanour on his part, or when he had not observed the legal prescriptions concerning the protection and safety of workers, he is liable under the Civil and Penal Codes towards the insurance fund. Accidents attributable solely to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, unless the injury results in death or serious disablement. Suits for damages not permitted. — 160 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General definition Special provisions Ditto (1) Ditto (2) Where t h e accident arose out of t h e employment, unless t h e cont r a r y is shown it shall be presumed t h a t it occurred in t h e course of t h e employment, and vice versa. Manitoba (Act 0 / 2 7 March 1920) Ditto (i) Ditto (2) Ditto New Brunswick (.4cto/ 1918) Ditto CANADA (ami.) British Columbia {Act oí 31 May 1916) Nova Scotia (Act o/ 23 April Accident Attributable to intentional infliction — I n j u r y which in t h e opinion of t h e Board was intentionally caused by t h e w o r k m a n . Ditto (2) Ditto Ditto (1) Ditto (2) Ditto 1915) Ontario (Act of 1 May 1914) Quebec (Act of 29 May 1909) Accidents happening b y reason of or in t h e course of t h e work. Saskatchewan (Act of 1911 and 1920) Personal injury by accident arising out of and in t h e course of t h e employment. Accident brought about intentionally by t h e person injured. I n j u r y or d e a t h resulting from t h e negligence of a n y person engaged in a common employment w i t h t h e injured employee. — I n j u r y or d e a t h caused by t h e negligence of t h e employer, or of a n y person in h i s service, or by reason of any defect in t h e condition or a r r a n g e m e n t of t h e w a y s , works, machinery, p l a n t , building or premises. — I n j u r y or death due p a r t l y or t o t a l l y t o t h e workm a n ' s own negligence or misconduct •— I n j u r y or d e a t h resulting from a risk arising out of, or incidental t o t h e n a t u r e of t h e employment, and which t h e w o r k m a n expressly or implicitly assumed. — 161 — EXCLUDED FROM WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COilt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Accidents attributable solely to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent disablement. Ditto Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault • Suits for damages under common law permitted only in respect of employments not under Compensation Act, if injury due to the employer's negligence. Defences abrogated. — Ditto Injury which was wholly or principally due to a fortuitous event unconnected with the industry in which the workman was employed. Inj ury which was wholly or principally due to serious and wilful misconduct, or to intoxication, on the part of the workman. Ditto Injury which is attributable solely to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent disablement. Ditto Injury which is attributable solely to the serious and wilful misconduct of the workman, unless the injury results in death or serious disablement. Ditto Accident due to the inexcusable fault of the workman : compensation may be reduced. Accident due to the inexcusable fault of the employer: compensation may be increased. Suits for damages not permitted. Suits for damages permitted in lieu of compensation after injury. II — 162 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts CANADA General (cont.) Yukon (Ordinance 1917) oj 24 definition Ditto April 8 September Injury by accident occurring in consequence of or directly in the course of t h e employment. COLOMBIA (Act 0/ IS 1916) NovemLer Injury or p e r m a n e n t functional d e r a n g e m e n t arising out of or in t h e course of t h e employment CHILE (Act oj 191G) Special provisions Accidents Attributable to intentional infliction Accident shall include a wilful and intentional act, not being t h e act of t h e w o r k m a n , and a fortuitous event occasioned by physical or n a t u r a l cause. — Where t h e accident arose out of t h e employment, unless t h e contrary is shown. it shall be presumed t h a t it occurred in t h e course of t h e employment, and vice versa. — Risks of t h e employment assumed by t h e workman, and injury or death proximately caused by t h e contributory negligence of t h e workman. Accidents b r o u g h t a b o u t intentionally by the workman. CUBA (Act 0/ 12 June 1916; Decree of 26 October 1917) Bodily injury sustained by t h e workman in t h e course of or in consequence of t h e work performed on account of another. Accidents b r o u g h t abo.it intentionally. CZE CHOSLOVAKIA (Austrian Acts; 28 December 1887, 20 July 1894, 30 December 1917. Act oj 12 August 1921) Accidents in undertakings subject to insurance. Accidents due to t h e Accidents brought about performance, by t h e intentionally b y t h e inorder of t h e employer or jured person. on his behalf, of domestic and other work outside the employment subject to insurance and in t h e course of same. — Accidents occurring on t h e way from t h e dwelling of t h e workman to t h e workplace and back, provided t h a t this way was not interrupted in the interest of t h e insured person or for any other reason unconnected with his work. — 163 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COTlt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Injury attributable solely to the serious and wilful misconduct or to the intoxication of the workman. Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault If the injury was caused by the personal negligence or premeditated act of the employer, the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under the Act or take proceedings under common law. Accidents due to force majeure unconnected with the work performed by thé person injured. Accidents due to violation of the rules of the establishment. Accidents due to the fault, imprudence or carelessness of the workman. Accidents due to force majeure outside of the occupation, or sudden attack of sickness preventing the use of mental or physical powers. Accidents caused through Accidents caused through Accidents due to force fraud or constituting a negligence or imprudence- majeure unconnected with misdemeanour: Com- Compensation to be fixed the work. pensation fixed by the by the judge or law court. judge or law court. Accidents due to an inexcusable fault of the employer or his substitute : Compensation may be increased. — The Act does not exclude claim for damages under common law. Accidents established by a law court to be attributable to a misdemeanour committed by the injured person. If the industrial accident was caused intentionally by the employer, the injured person may take proceedings against the former, but the damages are limited to the difference between the amounts provided by the common law and the insurance act. If the accident was caused intentionally or through gross negligence of the employer, the insurance institution is entitled to recover from him all expenses incurred by it on account of the accident. — 164 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BV, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General definition Special provisions DENMARK (Acts 0/6 July 1916 and 28 June 1920) Accidents sustained by insured persons in t h e occupations contemplated in t h e Act. or arising from t h e conditions under which they are carried on. Injurious effects lasting at most some few days which a r e d u e to t h e work or t h e conditions under which it is carried on, and which result in a reduction of earning capacity or d e a t h . — Accidents shown to have been caused by the insured person's a t t e m p t to save h u m a n life, to prevent accidents, or to avert serious loss of p r o p e r t y or crops, provided it occurs, w h e t h e r in o r outside t h e workplace, in connection w i t h such occupation. ECUADOR (Act of 30 1921) Bodily injury met with by t h e worker or d a y labourer by reason of, in consequence of, or during work which he is doing on account of another. First aid even in case of an accident d u e to a fortuitous occurrence unconnected with t h e work, if this occurs a t t h e place where t h e work is being performed. September ESTHONIA (Russian Act, 23 June 1912) Incapacity for work in consequence of a bodily injury caused by an accident met with during or in consequence of industrial work. FINLAND (Act o/ IS August 1917; Act of IS August 1917, Seamen) Occupational accident (accident in work or in service of ship). FRANCE (Act of 9 April 1S9S) Accidents in consequence of, or during the work. Accidents A t t r i b u t a b l e to intentional infliction Accidents brought about by t h e insured person himself deliberately. Accidents proved to have been intentionally brought a b o u t by t h e injured workman himself. Bodily injury m e t with by t h e worker during his stay at t h e workplace, provided t h a t this stay was not forbidden. — Injury met w i t h by the worker outside t h e workplace on his way, on t h e orders of t h e employer, to or from t h e workplace, provided t h a t the w a y was particularly hazardous, by reason of t h e situation of t h e workplace. Injuries caused intentionally by t h e injured workman. Accidents intentionally brought about by t h e injured workman. — 165 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (cOilt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Accidents brought about by the insured person, or to the occurrence of which he has contributed to an essential degree, by neglecting to observe regulations properly in force, or by drunkenness : compensation may be reduced or confiscated. Accidents brought about by the insured person, or to the occurrence of which he has contributed to an essential degree, through gross negligence: Compensation may be reduced or confiscated. Cases of manifest incompetence or reckless imprudence on the part of the worker. Injuries through accidents occurring while in the act of perpetrating a misdemeanour. Accidents proved to be attributable to an inexcusable fault of the workman: the pensions may be reduced. Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault The injured workman or his survivors may establish a legal claim under the common law against the employer, but are in such case not entitled to claim at the same time or later compensation under the Act. When they have received compensation under the Act they have relinquished all right to take proceedings under common law. The insurance council may, however, permit them also to sue the employer in which case they have to reimburse, so far as the damages suffice, to the insurer compensation under the Act. Cases due to force majeure or some fortuitous occurrence unconnected with work. Accidents met with by seamen when on leave or when leaving the vessel without due authorisation. The insurance act does not prevent the injured person from claiming damages under the common law, but the employer's liability is limited to the amount by which compensation under common law exceeds that of the accident insurance. Accident proved to be attributable to an inexcusable fault of the employer or his substitute: the benefits may be increased. Suits for damages not permitted. — 166 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General definition Special provisions GERMANY {Insurance Code, 19 June 1911) Accidents in establishments or activities which are subject to insurance according to the law (industrial ac»idents — Betriebsunfälle.). — Accidents during operations (Seamen's insurance). Acts which have been forbidden do not exclude the assumption of an industrial accident. — Accidents in household or other service on the orders of the employer. — Accidents on ways from the land to the vessel and inversely, accidents occurring during service rendered by insured persons in connection with the rescue or salvage of men or goods, and accidents caused by natural events (Seamen's insurance). — Accidents to German seamen during free return transportation, or transport granted in accordance with the Commercial or Navigation Code, or with the law respecting the obligation of vessels to return seamen to home ports. (Seamen's insurance). GREAT BRITAIN (Acts o/ 21 December 1906 and of 17 November 1923.) Personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. Any accident caused to a workman employed in or about a mine who is, with the consent of his employer, being trained as a member of the rescue brigade,»and arising out of and in the course of his training, shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment in the mine (Coal Mines Act, 19H). Accidents resulting in death or serious and permanent disablement shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of employment notwithstanding that the worker was acting in contravention of regulations or orders given by, or on behalf of, or without instructions from his employer, if such act was done for the purposes of and in connection with the employer's business. Accidents Attributable to intentional infliction Accidents purposely brought about by the injured person or his survivors. — 167 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COilt.) omitted) nd injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Accidents brought about by the performance of an act which according to the verdict of the court is a crime or an intentional misdemeanour: compensation may be wholly or partly denied. Contravention of mining regulations is not to be considered as such intentional misdemeanour. Injury proved to be attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of theworkman, unless resulting in death or serious and permanent disablement. Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Accidents while not on board contrary to orders, and while on land on leave for private affairs (Seamen's insurance). Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault If it has been determined by penal decision that the employer or his agents has purposely caused the accident, the employer is liable to injured persons and their survivors, but his liability is limited to the amount by which compensation under common law exceeds that of the accident insurance.— If it has been determined by penal decision that the undertaker has caused the accident either purposely or negligently through failure to observe such care to which he is obligated, then he is liable for everything which the several associations and funds have had to expend because of the accident. — Undertakers and persons of equal status are liable to the accident association for its expenditures, even if there has been no determination by penal decision. When the injury was caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of the employer or of some person for whose act or default the employer is responsible, theworkman may either claim compensation under the Act or take proceedings independently of the Act. — 168 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts GREECE (Acts 0/ 31 December 191i and 24 July 1920) General definition Accidents caused by some violent occurrence in the course of or in connection with the employment, entailing incapacity for work. GUATEMALA Accidents met with by (Decree of 21 November workers during work. 1906) HUNGARY (.Act ol 9 April 1907) INDIA (Act ol S March 1923) Accidents in the performance of services either by the order of the employer or his representative, or in the interest of the establishment. Accidents Attributable to intentional infliction Special provisions Accidents deliberately brought about by the injured workman. Accidents brought about intentionally by the injured worker. Accidents caused intentionally by the workman, unless fatal. — Fatal accidents caused intentionally by the survivors. Personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. - IRISH FREE STATE. (British Act ol 21 December 1906) Ditto • — 169 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COilt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances If the accident was due to fraud on the part of the employer, or to nonobservation of legal prescriptions concerning safety and prevention of accidents, the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under the Act, or take proceedings for damages. Accidents proved to be attributable to the injured workman's negligence : compensation may be reduced not more than half. Such negligence is established only in cases where the workman has violated without serious reasons laws, decrees or regulations respecting safety, provided that these rules were posted at the workplace — — Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault — — If the accident was intentionally caused by the employer, the injured workman or his survivors may take proceedings against the employer, but the damages are limited to the imount by which compensation under civil law exceeds that under the accident insurance law. — If the accident was due to the intentional act of the employer or to non-observation by him of the legal prescriptions concerning the safety of workers the employer is liable to reimburse to the insurance institution all expenses entailed by the accident. Any injury resulting from an accident directly attributable to the wilful disobedience of the workman to an express order or rule respecting safety, or the wilful removal or disregard of any safety guard or device, or to workman having been at the time thereof under the influence of drink or drugs. Injury proved to be attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the worker, unless resulting in death or serious ana permanent disablement. Compensation under the Act not paid to a workman who has taken legal proceedings under the civil law against the employer. When injury was caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of the employer, or of some person for whose act or default the employer is responsible, the workman may either claim compensation under the Act or take proceedings independently of the Act. — 170 — COMPARATIVE T A B L E S H O W I N G T H E R I S K S COVERED B Y . AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General ITALY (Acts of 17 March 1898 and 31 January 1904. Acts of 23 August 1917 and 20 March 1921: Agriculture. Decree of 17 November 1918: Maritime transport.) definition AH cases of d e a t h or bodily injury arising from accident due to violent causes in connection with t h e employment and resulting in incapacity for work (Industries). — All cases of accidents due to some violent occurrence in connection with the employment, resulting in death or incapacity for work (Agriculture). JAPAN (Factory Act, 29 March 1923. Health Insurance Act, 22 April 1923. Mining Acts of 3 August 1916 and 12 July 1924) Any injury, illness, or death arising out of and in the course of the employment (Factory and Mining Acts). Injuries whether incurred in connection with employment or not (Health Insurance Act). LATVIA (Russian Act, 23 June 1912; Decree of 14 January 1924) Incapacity for work in consequence of a bodily injury caused by an accident met with during or in consequence of the industrial work. LITHUANIA (Russian Regulation 2 June 1903) LUXEMBURG (Act of 5 April Act, 1902) NETHERLANDS (Act of 2 January 1901; Decree of 28 June 1921. Act of 27 June 1919: Seamen. Act of 20 May 1922: Agriculture) Special provisions Accidents occurring during t h e journey undert a k e n by a member of t h e crew in order to e m b a r k on t h e vessel, or t o reach his home if t h e engagement has been terminated elsewhere, provided t h a t he has not departed from the pre-arranged r o u t e . without s u b s t a n t i a l reason (Maritime t r a n s p o r t ) Accident A t t r i b u t a b l e to intentional self-infliction Accidents occurring through the wilful action or fraud of t h e victim. If compensation was erroneously paid, the insurer may institute an action for recovery of the sums paid against the injured worker. A criminal verdict shall be the proof of the said act. Persons causing danger intentionally are deprived of pension (Health Insurance Act). Accidents occurring in t h e course of interruptions of t h e work. Accidents proved to have been intentionally brought about by the injured worker. Incapacity for work in consequence of injuries directly caused by t h e work performed for t h e establishment or consequent upon such work. Accidents a t t r i b u t a b l e to an intentional fault of the injured worker. Accident sustained by t h e insured person in consequence of or in t h e course of his work. Injury or d e a t h intentionally brought about by t h e injured workman. Pecuniary consequences of accidents with which t h e workers meet in connection with their employment.— Accidents in the service of t h e ship (Seamen). Any accident with which the injured workman meets in connection with his training in consequence of an industrial accident. Accidents wilfully caused by the injured workman himself, or, in respect to fatal accidents. by one of his surviving relations. — 171 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COnt.) omitted) nd injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault Civil responsibility shall still lie against the person sentenced to a criminal penalty for the act from which the accident resulted, and this act constitutes a misdemeanour liable to public prosecution. Damages are not paid it they could not exceed the compensation under the act, and when paid, they are limited to amount by which they exceed that paid under the act. The insurance institution is entitled to recover the sums paid on account of the accident from persons responsible under the civil law. Persons causing danger Injury, illness or death through intentional crim- due to serious fault on inal conduct or through the part of the injured intentional disobedience miner (Alining Act). to the instructions of the supervisor respecting the prevention of accidents, or through drunkenness, are deprived, in the former cases wholly, and in the latter case, wholly or partly, of the benefits (Health Insurance Act). Persons causing danger through brawling shall forfeit the whole or part of the benefits (Health Insurance Act). Accidents attributable to gross imprudence on the part of the injured worker not justified by the conditions or circumstances in which the work was being performed. Accidents met with by a workman while in the act of perpetrating a crime or intentional misdemeanour. Accident attributable to the drunkenness of the injured workman : the' temporary allowance to be reduced by half. Fatal accident caused by one of the surviving relations through drunkenness: the said person has no right to a pension. — — The responsibility of the employer remains unaffected in respect of persons earning ove r 8 gulden per day. — The employer shall not be relieved from his civil responsibility if the accident is caused by certain misdemeanour s, and if he is sentenced to a penalty on ace aunt of this by a criminal court. In assessing tl: e damages, compensation received under the A 3t is taken into account. — 172 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWIMG THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General definition NEWFOUNDLAND (Act of 18 February 1908) Personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment. Special provisions Accident Attributable to intentional infliction NEW ZEALAND Personal injury by arising out of (Acts of 10 October 1908 accident and in the course of the and 31 October 1922) employment. NORWAY (Act oí 13 August 1915: Industry. Act 0/ 16 February 1923: Seamen. Act of 10 December 1920: Fishermen) Accidents in establishments resulting in bodily injury or death. (Industries). •— Accidents causing bodily injury or death, and death caused indirectly or directly by climatic diseases or epidemics. (Seamen). — Any accident which brings about the injury or death of an insured person (Fishermen). Accidents occurring in connection with conveyance from the shore to the vessel and from the vessel to the shore, or journeys to and from the vessel if made at the expense of the shipowner or the Treasury. (Seamen). — Death during an expedition for whaling, wintering, etc. in the Arctic regions, irrespective of the cause of death (Seamen and Fishermen). Accidents purposely caused by the injured person himself: claim to invalidity pension forfeited. PANAMA (Acts of 16 November 1916 and 30 December 1916) Bodily injury directly connected with the work. — Accidents intentionally brought about by the injured workman himself Any accidents occurPERU in the course of, or (Acto/ 20 January 1911; ring directly Decree of 25 November the work.occasioned by, 1918) Accidents shown to have been intentionally brought about by the injured person. — 173 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COUt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault When the injury was caused by the personal negligence orwilful act of the employer, the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under the Act or take proceedings independently of it. Injury attributable to the serious or wilful misconduct of the workman. Incapacity or death due to personal injury, if the worker has in writing falsely represented to the employer that he was not suffering or had not previously suffered from the said injury. Injury attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the worker unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent disablement. Nothing in the Act affects the civil liability of employer. Damages payable by the employer shall be deducted from compensation, and vice versa. Accidents involve the personal liability of the employer and his representative when it is proved by a criminal conviction that the person in question has caused the injury purposely or through gross negligence. In so far as the insurance institution has incurred expenses on account of such accident, the claim of the workman is transferred to it. Accidents due to a criminal act attributable to the injured workman. — Accidents arisen through an inexcusable fault on the part of the victim: Compensation to be reduced in proportion. Accidents occasioned by extraneous forces and without any relation to the work performed by the injured workman. The workman is entitled to take suits for damages, but such action excludes compensation. under the Act. If the accident has arisen through an inexcusable fault on the part of the employer or his representative, the compensation shall be suitably increased. — If the accident is the result of an unlawful act on the part of the employer, the injured person is entitled to full damages as determined at common law. — 174 — COMPARATIVE T A B L E S H O W I N G THE R I S K S C O V E R E D (Occupational Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts General POLAND Former Austrian and Russian Territories (Austrian Acts: 28 December 1887, 20 July 1894, 30 December 1917. Act of 30 January 1924. Decree of 7 June 1924) definition Accidents in t a k i n g s subject surance. underto in- Former German Accidents in establishTerritory m e n t s or activities sub( German Insurance Code, ject to insurance (in19 June 1911 dustrial accidents). Decrees of 1919, 1920, 1921, 1924.) Special provisions Attributable to intentional infliction Acts which have been forbidden do not exclude t h e assumption of industrial accident. — Accidents in household or other service on t h e orders of the employer. Ditto ROUMANIA (Acts of 25 January 1912, S February 1913, 2 July 1924) Injury by accident. Compensation to be paid without investigaing w h e t h e r t h e accident has been caused by force majeure or t h r o u g h t h e fault of t h e victim. RUSSIA (Decree of lö November 1921; Labour Code, of 1922) All risks incidental both to t h e occupational work and to common life. industrial Accidents Accidents brought a b o u t intentionally by the injured person. Industrial accident shall m e a n : a n y external or internal injury, and any nervous or psychical p e r t u r b a t i o n , due to t h e action of an exterior violent cause during t h e employment ; and acute intoxications in t h e course of t h e employment and due to t h e same, as well as occupational inflammations. May AND Diseases Accidents due to t h e performance b y t h e order of t h e employer or on his behalf of domestic and other work outside t h e employment and in t h e course of t h e same. — Accidents occurring on t h e way from t h e dwelling of t h e workman to t h e workplace and back, provided t h a t t h i s way was not interrupted in t h e interests of the insured person or for any other reason unconnected with t h e work. I n d u s t r i a l accidents d u e to t h e exercise of t h e occupation and resulting in illness, incapacity for work, or d e a t h . — An accident occurring in t h e course of t h e work is considered, u n t i l t h e contrary is shown, as being due to t h e exercise of t h e occupation. PORTUGAL (Decree of 10 191») BY, Accidents caused intentionally : the employer shall be entitled t o submit t h e case for investigation. — 175 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (COilt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misdemeanour, misconduct or drunkenness Attributable to gross negligence or imprudence Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault Accidents established by a law court to be attributable to a misdemeanour committed by the injured person. If the accident was caused intentionally by the employer, the insured person may take proceedings against the former whose liability is limited. — If the accident was caused intentionally or through gross negligence of the employer, the insurance institution is entitled to recover from him all expenses incurred by it on account of the accident. Accidents brought about by the performance of an act which according to the verdict of the court is a crime or an intentional misdemeanour: compensation may be wholly or partly denied. If the accident was caused purposely by the employer, he is liable to the injured person and his survivors to limited extent. — If the. accident was caused by the employer either purposely or negligently through failure to observe due care, he is liable for everything expended by the insurance institutions because of the accident. Accidents proved to have been brought about criminally by the injured workman. • If the accident has been intentionally brought about by the employer or his representative, the compensation is increased to the amount of total wages, without prejudice to the other responsibilities of the employer. Illness or injury attributable to drunkenness : the injured workman forfeits his right to sick money and is treated in hospital. If the accident was caused wilfully or negligently by the employer, the insured person and the insurance institution are entitled to sue the former (Civil Code of 1922). — 176 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and Countries and Acts General definition njuries covered Special provisions SALVADOR (Act of 11 May 1911) Bodily injury b y accident in t h e course of or in consequence of t h e work performed on account of another. A n y injury in consequence of t h e direct or i m m e d i a t e manipulation of toxic substances. S ERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM (Acl of li May 1!>22) Loss caused b y bodily injury or d e a t h in consequence of any accident met with in connection with work or duties in which t h e workman was engaged b y order of t h e employer or his representative or in t h e interest of t h e undertaking. — Accidents to seamen . in connection with their work on a national vessel (Inland navigation). Accident met with on the way from t h e dwelling t o t h e workplace and back, provided t h a t t h e journey was not interrupted on t h e workman's own account o r for reasons unconnected with t h e employment. — Accidents to national seamen w i t h o u t means met with on their wayhome or when t a k e n on board a national vessel (Inland navigation). SOUTH AFRICA (Acl of 1 July 1914) Personal injury resulting in incapacity or d e a t h , caused b y accident. and arising out of and in the course of t h e work. Accidents in, a t , or about a n y mine or works, while, w i t h t h e consent of t h e employer, being trained in first aid, ambulance or rescue work, or engaged in any connection therewith, and while engaged in any first aid, ambulance or rescue work, shall, if resulting in personal injury, be deemed t o arise out of and in t h e course of t h e work for t h e employer. SPAIN (Act of 10 January 1922) (Regulation of 29 December 1922) Physical injury met with by workers by reason and in t h e exercise of, or during work which he is performing on account of another. Case of t h e imprudence of an experienced worker, i.e. t h a t which is a result of t h e habitual performance of work. — I n d u s t r i a l incapacity r e sulting from hernia. Accidents Attributable to intentional infliction I n j u r y wilfully incurred by t h e injured person, except in t h e case-of a fatal accident where t h e family of t h e deceased receives t h e benefits. — I n t h e case of d e a t h wilfully caused by a relative of t h e injured person, t h e former forfeits t h é right to compensation. Damage or loss caused by fraud. — 177 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGISLATION (CO/lt.) omitted) and injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misAttributable to gross demeanour, misconduct negligence or imprudence or drunkenness Accidents brought about by manifest negligence or serious imprudence on the part of the injured workman. Accidents proved to be attributable to the workman's serious and wilful misconduct, which means (a) drunkenness, (ft) a deliberate or reckless contravention of any law or statutory regulation respecting the safety or health of the workmen, and (c) any other act or omission as judged by the magistrate or court of law. • Damage, or loss caused by imprudence or negligence constituting an offence or fault under the Penal Code. Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault Accidents due to force majeure or a fortuitous event unconnected with the work in the course of which the accident occurred. The civil responsibility of the employer subsists when the accident was consequent upon a misdemeanour or fault on his part. Compensation under the Act paid only if claim for damages was not admitted. Accidents to seamen without means met with while away from the vessel on leave or without permission (Inland navigation). The employer is personally liable for accident if it is established by a penal verdict that he is to blame for it. Compensation cannot be claimed beyond the amount by which damages exceed compensation.-If the employer or his representative wilfully caused the accident, or if the accident is attributable to the failure of the employer or his representative to take the prescribed precautions, he shall repay all expenses to the insurance institution. Accidents which would not have occurred, or incapacity or death which would not have been caused, but for a preexisting diseased condition of the workman, such condition being unknown to the employer. Death or incapacity resulting from personal injury, if the workman had falsely represented to the employer that he was not suffering or had not previously suffered from that or a similar injury. When the injury was caused by the wilful act or serious fault of the employer or of some person for whose act he is responsible, the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under the Act or take proceedings independently of it. Accidents due to force majeure unconnected with the employment in which the accident occurred. Force-majeure includes any force of nature unconnected with the work. Compensation is increased by half if the accident occurred in an establishment not fitted with the safety devices. If the accident was caused by the fraud, imprudence or negligence of the employer and the case constitutes a misdemeanour or fault according to the Penal Code, the workman has the right to sue the employer for full damages. 12 — 178 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING THE RISKS COVERED BY, AND (Occupational Diseases Accidents and injuries covered Countries and Acts SWEDEN (Act of 13 June 1911) URUGUAY (Act of 15 November 1920) Attributable to intentional infliction General definition Special provisions Occupational accidents (accidents in work). Accidents occurring during a journey to or from the workplace, provided that the journey is necessitated by and directly connected with the employment. Accidents wilfully caused by the injured person. — Fatal accidents caused by the wilful act of any of the survivors. Risks of occupational and non-occupational accidents followed by illness, invalidity, or death. Every bodily injury suffered by an insured person is reckoned as an occupational accident, if received ; (1) in the course of work performed by him under direction of the head of the enterprise, or one of his agents; (2) in the course of a service undertaken by him in the interest of the enterprise and with the presumed assent of the employer or his representative; (3) during an interruption of work, and before and after work, while he, without a fault on his part, happens to Be either on the premises or in the danger zone of the enterprise. Any other bodily injury is reckoned as a non-occupational accident. Accidents caused intentionally by the insured person or by a survivor of the deceased person, except in respect to funeral benefits. Accidents met with by the workmen owing to their work or in connection therewith. Accidents occurring in domestic work and other services which the employers may require of their employees in establishments owned by them. Accidents occurring through fault, whether trifling or serious, on the part of the injured worker. •— Accidents due to some chance event or force majeure. (Acts 0/ 17 June 1916 and 19 June 1919) SWITZERLAND Accident — 179 — EXCLUDED FROM, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LEGILATION (COHCld) omitted) nd Injuries wholly or partly excluded Attributable to misAttributable to gross demeanour, misconduct negligence or imprudence or drunkenness Accidents caused by the injured person being under the influence of intoxicating drink : compensation may be reduced. Accidents caused by misconduct on the part of the workman. Attributable to other circumstances Accidents and injuries attributable to the employer's fault Accidents caused by the failure of the injured person to comply with instructions or regulations concerning prevention of accidents and he was guilty of gross carelessness. Compensation may be reduced. — Fatal accidents caused through the gross negligence of any of the survivors : compensation not paid. The injured person is not prevented from enforcing a claim of damages over and above the compensation due to him in consequence of accident, under the common law or special regulations. — If the accident was wilfully caused by the employer, the insurance Institution is entitled to reclaim what it has paid under the Act. Accidents caused by serious fault on the part of the insured person: the benefits (other than the funeral expenses) to be reduced to a proportional extent. — Fatal accidents caused by the serious fault on the part of a survivor: compensation not paid. The employer is civilly responsible only if he caused the accident intentionally or by grave fault. Accidents due to force majeure unconnected with the work, provided that the employer proves that the accident was produced by this cause. When the accident occurred through a criminal act on the part of the employer, the worker may take proceedings against the former. PART TTÏ COMPENSATION The principle of occupational risk, constituting the basis of practically all workmen's compensation legislation, imposes on the employer the responsibility for repairing the economic loss entailed by industrial accidents upon the victims or their dependants. The economic loss resulting from an accident may consist, on the one hand, of the total or partial loss of earnings, and, on the other, of the exceptional expenditure incurred on account of medical and surgical attention, drugs, hospital treatment, and funeral costs. One element, that of exceptional expenditure, is easy to compute; it is simply a total of fees and bills. The other element, that of the loss of wages caused by the accident, is, on the contrary, very difficult to determine. The actual loss is directly proportional to the wages which the injured workman would have earned if the accident had not occurred, i.e. to the duration and the many other conditions of his industrial career. In practice the future is deemed to resemble the past, and the laws fix the amount of compensation in the cases of death and incapacity according to the wages of the victim at the time of the accident or during a shorter or longer period preceding the accident. The subject of compensation will be examined as follows: (1) The basic wage; (2) The form of compensation; (3) Compensation in case of death; (4) Compensation in case of incapacity for work ; (5) Medical aid. CHAPTER I THE BASIC WAGE The basic wage is the wage from which is calculated the compensation payable to accident victims or their dependants; it should therefore measure as accurately as possible the loss which the workman has suffered. In case of permanent total incapacity, the loss is the total amount of wages which the workman would probably have earned in his occupation if the accident had not occurred. In case of death the loss is the difference between the total amount of wages which the workman would probably have earned and the portion of that total which corresponds to the workman's own consumption. In case of partial incapacity, the loss is the difference between the total amount of wages which the workman would have received if he had not been incapacitated and the total amount of his earnings during the period of incapacity. The evaluation of the economic loss involves a forecast of the workman's future in his trade. An accurate forecast is of course impossible. The total amount which the workman will earn in the course of his life depends on his wage, bis occupation, his degree of skill, the regularity of his employment, and the movement of the rate of wages. While statistics enable the normal duration of working life at each age to be approximately calculated, it is yet impossible to foresee fluctuations in wage rates and the cost of living, or interruptions of employment due to general or partial crises in production, or due to labour disputes. The impossibility of forecasting future wages renders it necessary to take as the basis of calculation the only factor available, namely the wages of the workman at the time of the accident or during a certain period previous to the accident. Such is the system adopted in all laws save the British law, which makes provision for the correction of the basic wage in accordance with future fluctuation in wage rates (see page 274). It is, however, not always exactly the regular earnings of the workman which is the basis for calculating compensation; for in a — 183 — large number of laws his earnings are subject to maximum and minimum limits. This .system, whereby the future is deemed to resemble the past, may be acceptable for a workman whose industrial training is completed and whose known earnings are fairly representative of the earnings which he might expect under normal conditions. The situation is different for an apprentice who receives a very low wage or none at all. In this case, therefore, a special basic wage is required. From these considerations it results that the problem of the basic wage includes the examination of the four following questions : (1) The elements composing the basic wage; (2) The mode of computing the basic wage; (3) The limits of the basic wage; (4) The basic wage of apprentices. § 1. — The Elements Composing the Basic Wage In general, the definition of wages for the purpose of workmen's compensation corresponds with the ordinary meaning of the term : it means the price of labour and includes every valuable consideration which forms part of that price. This is the widest definition ; it covers, unless the contrary is stated, payments received not only from the employer but from third parties. An important essential of any element of the basic wage would seem to be it regular character, which enables it to be counted upon by the workman. Nowhere does a law expressly exclude payments in kind, and it may be safely assumed that they are to be reckoned as part of the basic wage in the case of laws where there is no provision to that effect. It is obviously necessary that, in order that any element of remuneration may be included in the basic wage, it must be capable of being estimated in money. The Indian Act is explicit to this effect; and in Great Britain, for instance, it has been decided that the value of tuition to an apprentice is not capable of being estimated in money and is therefore not part of the basic wage. Many laws specify that the money value of payments in kind is to be determined according to local prices (Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland (former German territory), Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay): — 184 — Shares in profits are expressly included in the definitions of the basic wage contained in the laws of Austria, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Luxemburg, Norway, Poland, the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, and Sweden. The Courts in France and Great Britain have decided that they are to be included. But though not expressly included in all definitions shares in profits, like payments in kind, are nowhere expressly excluded and in practice are generally admitted by the Courts as part of the basic wages in those countries where they find no mention in the laws. The inclusion of gratuities from third parties (tips) in the basic wage seems to be almost equally universal. In several countries, however, it is expressly provided or has been decided by the Courts that gratuities will only be included if they are of a regular character or if they affect the amount of remuneration agreed upon (Austria, Chile, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Serb-Croat-Slovene King-' dom, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay). In India such gratuities would be excluded, as the rules for computing the basic wage allow only for the inclusion of wages due from the employer. The treatment of family allowances is not identical in all countries. It has been argued against their inclusion in the basic wage that they do not represent a payment in respect of services rendered but in respect of family responsibilities, and that they are a form of liberality and therefore distinct from wages. Nevertheless, in the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom they are expressly included in the basic wage. In France the lower Courts have disagreed on the matter; the Court of Appeal in two decisions dated 2 May and 6 November 1923 found that family allowances are to be considered as part of wages whenever they are mentioned in the contract of service or in the workshop regulations. Differences are to be noticed too in the practice with regard to payment for overtime. It is specifically included in Chile, France, and Queensland; in Spain its inclusion is subject to its being of a regular character and in South Africa to its being both regular and performed at the ordinary rate of wages. In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom it appears to be excluded. A certain number of laws merely indicate what elements are not to be taken into account in computing the basic wage. Such is the case for Alberta, the Australian Commonwealth, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New South Wales, New Zealand, Ontario, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. In these countries, as also in Queensland and South Africa, the laws — 185 — provide that sums paid by the employer to the workman to cover any special expenses entailed on the workman by the nature of his work are to be excluded. The laws of several countries do not give any definition of the composition of the basic wage (Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Roumania, Saskatchewan). § 2. — The Mode of Computing the Basic Wage The basic wage is intended to be computed in such a manner as best to measure the economic loss suffered by the workman in consequence of the incapacity for work resulting from the injury. It is assumed, in the case of adults at least, that they would have continued to earn in the future what they earned in the immediate past. Simple enough in the case of a workman whose rate of earnings is approximately invariable for a long period, the computation may become difficult where the workman has recently changed his grade, or the level of wages has been altered, or the activity of the undertaking has varied in intensity, or the trade is a purely seasonal one, or accidental interruptions in the operation of the undertaking have occurred, and so on. The variety of possible cases is limitless; they admit, however, of approximate assimilation to a few principal types capable of being provided for in legislation. The latter has indeed to furnish a guide for the solution of all the problems which may arise, but it cannot contemplate the details of every individual case. Legal rules for computation are thus a compromise reconciling theory, intent on ascertaining accurately the economic loss to the workman, and practice, desirous of simple and expeditious methods. The subject will be treated in the following order: We shall consider, in turn (1) The methods of computation adopted in the countries — by far the greater number — where the basic wage is calculated from earnings during the year's employment, examining also how the cases of employment over a shorter period or intermittent employment are dealt with in these countries. (2) The methods used in the few countries where the period over which earnings are averaged is other than a year, or where the basic wage is fixed independently of actual earnings. (3) The computation of the basic wage for temporary incapacity where special provisions exist for that purpose. — 186 — COMPUTATION IN COUNTRIES WHERE P E R I O D OVER WHICH EARN- I N G S ARE AVERAGED IS NORMALLY ONE YEAR In the great majority of countries it is the rule to compute the basic wage from the earnings of the injured workman in the undertaking in which the accident occurred during the year preceding the accident if he was so long employed there; but if he were employed for a shorter period, earnings may be averaged over such period and regard may or may not be had as well to the earnings of similar workmen during the remainder of the year (Alberta, Argentina, Australian Commonwealth and States, Belgium, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Irish Free State, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Newfoundland, Norway, Ontario, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Quebec, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay). (i) / / Workman has been Employed for one Year in Undertaking in which Accident occurred In this case the basic wage may be total earnings during the year: this procedure is followed in the majority of countries under consideration. In the absence of special provisions to the contrary (described below under (hi)) the basic wage as thus calculated is adversely affected by abnormal interruptions of work, and favoured by periods of exceptional activity. On the other hand, the basic wage may be average daily earnings of the injured workman for the days on which he worked multiplied by some figure representing the number of days on which the undertaking may be presumed to have operated during a normal year; under this method the effect of accidental interruption, as well as of unusually intense employment, is eliminated from the computation. Such is the practice in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Poland, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom where a continuously operated undertaking is presumed to work on 300 days in the year, and in Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where it is presumed to work on 295, 280 and 260 days respectively. Slight variations of this method are encountered in Italy, Netherlands, and Roumania. In the Netherlands the basic wage is a daily rate obtained by dividing the workman's actual earnings by the number of days on which he worked, but not more than 313. In Roumania the basic wage is an annual rate obtained by multiplying average earnings for the days on which the workman was at work by the actual number of days on which the under- — 187 — taking was operated, subject to a minimum of 300. In Italy the basic wage is actual earnings during the year, but not less than 300 times average daily earnings for the days on which the workman was at work. (ii) // the Workman has been Employed less than one Year in the Undertaking in which the Accident occurred For this case the laws provide one, or frequently two, alternative methods of computation to be used instead of those described above under (i). The two methods, while they each admit of variation in detail are essentially different. The first method assumes that the earnings of workmen similar to the injured may fairly be taken into account in computing the basic wage. The assumption made in the second method is that the basic wage can, at least in certain circumstances, be calculated with sufficient exactitude from the earnings of the injured during that portion of the year in which he was employed. In certain countries one or other of these methods is applied not only when the workman has been employed for less than a year, but when the workman has changed his grade of employment (e.g., promotion) less than a year previous to the accident (Alberta, Australian Commonwealth and States, Denmark, Great Britain, Irish Free State, New Zealand, Ontario); likewise, in South Africa, if a change takes place during the year in the terms of remuneration. The first method, in greater detail, is to compute the basic wage of the injured workman by having regard to the earnings of similar workers either (1) throughout the year before the accident (Alberta, Australian Commonwealth and States, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Ontario, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), South Africa, Uruguay), or (2) during the earlier portion of the year before the workman became employed in the undertaking (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Poland (former German territory), Portugal, Quebec, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland). The similar workman, from whose earnings the basic wage of the injured workman is to be calculated, must generally be of the same class, and have been employed in the same undertaking, or in a similar neighbouring undertaking. Minor differences of phrase are found in various legislations on this point, making the definition — 188 — narrower or wider. For example, the British law provides that the similar workman shall be a person in the same grade, employed at the same work or in the same class of employment, while the French law makes no reference to the place of employment of such workman and merely specifies that he must be of the same class as the injured. The second method is to deduce the basic wage from the earnings of the injured workman during the portion of the year for which he was employed in the undertaking: in general, the basic annual earnings as thus calculated bear the same proportion to earnings during the period of employment as the year does to the period, or (in countries where the year is presumed to contain a certain number of working days) as the number of working days in the year does to the number of days on which the workman was at work. Evidently, where the period of employment is short and earnings fluctuate considerably, the basic wage calculated on this method is liable to serious error. Hence it is usually provided as an alternative to the first method. The majority of countries which use it do so only in cases where it appears to yield an equitable average rate of earnings; in other cases they have recourse to the first method (Alberta, Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Ontario, South Africa). In Germany, Poland (former German territory), and Uruguay, where both methods are also admissible, the second method is only used if it should be impossible to apply the first. There are several countries which provide for the use of the second method only (Argentina, Chile, Esthonia, Finland, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg). (iii) If the Workman has been employed in a seasonal undertaking or intermittently during the year We have considered so far as concerns those countries in which the basic wage is normally annual earnings the case of workmen employed for a year or less in an ordinary undertaking. We now pass to examine the procedure for computing the basic wage in other less usual conditions, namely, where the workman was employed in a seasonal industry, or where his work was interrupted owing to sickness or intermittent operation of the undertaking. Seasonal, undertakings. — Examples of three solutions to the problem of computing the basic wage of workmen who are employed only for a season of the year are to be found in the different laws. — 189 — The first solution is to regard the seasonal workman in the same way as a workman employed for a portion of the year in a continuous undertaking, and to compute his basic wage as though his earnings during the active season were typical of his earnings during the dead season. This solution has the merit of simplicity and is decidedly generous to the workman (Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), and Portugal). The second solution is to add together the workman's earnings during the operation of the undertaking and whatever he may have been able to earn elsewhere during the dead season. Although, theoretically, the result obtained by this method would express more accurately the average earnings of the workman, yet, in practice, the earnings during the dead season must be very difficult to ascertain (Belgium, Cuba, France, Great Britain, Greece, Quebec, Switzerland). The Swiss law provides that the average rate of earnings outside the undertaking may, in no case, exceed the average rate of earnings inside it. The third solution is to determine the basic wage by reference to an arbitrarily fixed scale of wages, applicable to the workman's occupation. In Italy, tables of average or customary wages are drawn up for use as basic wage rates for classes of undertakings in which work is seasonal or intermittent. In Norway, the basic wage of seasonal workers is not less than the customary wages of workers of the same age and sex in the same district. It may be relevantly observed that in several countries the basic wage of agricultural workers is fixed by authority (France, Germany, Poland (former German territory)). A combination of the second and third solutions is met with in Esthonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (former German territory), and Roumania. In these countries the basic wage of seasonal workers is computed from their earnings while employed in the undertaking and, for the remainder of the year, from the daily wage of labourers, which is determined periodically for workers' insurance purposes by authority. In the remaining countries the determination of the basic wage of seasonal workers is either left to the discretion of the State Insurance Institution (Denmark, Finland) or is effected according to the methods applicable to a workman employed for less than a year, the laws containing no specific mention of the case of seasonal employment. Accidental or abnormal interruptions of work. — When the workman has been unemployed during part of the year owing to illness, — 190 — holidays, closing of the undertaking on account of trade depression, stocktaking or a fire, the important question arises how far these interruptions are to diminish the basic wage. The problem is solved very simply in those countries where the basic wage is computed b y multiplying the average earnings of the workman for the days on which he worked by the presumed number of working days in the year: here no interruption from whatever cause can affect the basic wage (Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom). The case is otherwise in those countries where, in principle, the basic wage is computed from actual earnings averaged over the whole year : here special provision is required to distinguish between interruptions which are allowed to influence the basic wage and those which are not. The New Zealand law, by providing that absence from work due to whatever cause shall not operate to reduce the basic wage, in effect solves the problem in the same way as the laws of the countries mentioned in the preceding paragraph. In other countries, on the contrary, a distinction appears to have been drawn between abnormal and normal causes of interruption, the consequent loss of earnings being allowed for or not respectively in the computation of the basic wage. In Alberta, Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland and Ontario, the law provides that absence from work, due to illness or other unavoidable cause, must not operate to reduce the basic wage. The Courts in Great Britain have decided that a breakdown or a fire in the undertaking, as well as illness, are such unavoidable causes, but t h a t stoppages due to trade holidays, bad trade and stock-taking and shorttime employment, are normal incidents, in respect of which no allowance can be made. The French law makes allowance for exceptional unemployment due, e.g., to illness, repairs to the factory, exceptionally bad trade. Exceptional unemployment is allowed for in Greece, and illness in Luxemburg and Switzerland. COMPUTATION IN COUNTRIES WHERE PERIOD FOR WHICH EARNINGS ARE AVERAGED IS OTHER THAN ONE YEAR There are a few countries in which the basic wage is not normally computed from the earnings of the workman during the preceding year but from earnings during a shorter or even a longer period. Thus, in Brazil and Peru, the basic wage is a yearly rate obtained — 191 — by multiplying by 300 the earnings of the workman on the day of the accident. In Japan (Factory Act), if a workman is paid a fixed sum annually or monthly, the basic wage is a daily rate obtained by dividing such sum by 360 or 30; if, however, he is paid at a time-rate, the basic wage is earnings during the month preceding the accident. The basic wage is also earnings during the preceding month in Bolivia and Hungary. In Austria a yearly rate is computed from earnings during the three months preceding the accident. The rules adopted in certain Canadian laws are very elastic, much discretion being left to the administrative authority; the basic wage may be computed from earnings at the time of the accident, or from earnings during one or more years preceding it, or from probable earning capacity at the time of the accident (British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia). In some countries fixed basic wages are prescribed for certain industries or localities, or for workmen of different ages. Under this method the fixed basic wage is attributed to the workman without regard to his actual rate of earnings or to the length of his employment. Such fixed basic wages are obtained by averaging and are revised from time to time. They can be applied in cases where actual earnings would be difficult to determine, or where there is little difference between the earnings of individual workmen. Thus, fixed basic wages are laid down for agricultural workers in France, Germany, and Poland (former German territory), and for fishermen in Norway. BASIC WAGE FOR TEMPORARY INCAPACITY Compensation for temporary incapacity is usually fixed at a daily rate, whereas compensation for permanent incapacity and death is usually in the form of an annual pension. Consequently, in several laws it is stipulated what fraction of annual earnings is to be considered as daily earnings, the latter serving as the basic wage for compensation of temporary incapacity. Thus in Denmark and Norway, annual earnings are divided by 300, and in Belgium and Sweden by 365, in order to arrive at the daily rate. Other laws, on the contrary, provide that the basic wage in case of temporary incapacity shall be daily earnings at the time of the accident, no doubt considering that the relatively small total amount of compensation normally paid for temporary incapacity makes the elaborate calculation of average earnings unnecessary (France, Greece, Italy, Quebec, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay). — 192 — § 3. — Limits of the Basic Wage The principle of occupational risk, taken in its strict sense, requires logically that the basis of calculation for compensation should be the regular earnings of the victim. However, in a large number of laws the basic wage may be in certain cases either below or above the workman's actual earnings. MAXIMUM LIMIT OF THE BASIC WAGE The imposition of a maximum limit to the earnings which are taken as the basis for the calculation of compensation results in the limitation of the amount awarded. To justify this important deviation from the principle of occupational risk the reason adduced is the desire to avoid subjecting employers to too heavy a financial burden where the better paid workmen are concerned, the latter being considered, in view of their high rate of earnings, to be able partially to cover their own risks. The portion of earnings which exceeds the basic wage may either (a) be left out of account altogether or (¿>) only be taken into consideration at a fraction of its value (generally a third or a quarter). (a) The first system is adopted in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canadian Provinces except Quebec, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain (for non-manual workers only), Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay. (b) The second system is preferred in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxemburg, Poland (former German territory), Portugal and Quebec. In France the fraction is reduced from one-quarter to ône-eighth in respect of the excess above a second and higher level. In a few countries there is no maximum limit of the basic wage (Bolivia, Ecuador, Esthonia, Guatemala, Japan, Lithuania, Panama, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), Russia and Salvador. Such is the case also in France, Greece, Italy, Quebec, Spain, and Uruguay, but only in so far as temporary incapacity is concerned. Sometimes one finds a maximum basic wage applicable in case of permanent incapacity and death, but a different maximum or no limit at all for the case of temporary incapacity. There are considerable discrepancies between the maximum basic wages — 193 — provided for these two cases in Finland and Roumania; which are doubtless to be explained by the fact that the limits have not been adjusted to the same extent to the general movement of wages. MINIMUM LIMIT OF THE BASIC WAGE The object of providing a minimum limit below which the basic wage, even if actual earnings are under this limit, cannot be allowed to fall, is to avoid awarding to certain accident victims compensation so small that they cannot live upon it. The countries whose laws provide for a minimum basic wage are Austria, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Esthonia, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland (former German territory), Roumania, Salvador, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden. In certain countries, as the result of the depreciation in currency, the minimum basic wage has ceased to have any practical importance while retaining its value as the expression of a principle. Differences are to be noticed in the minimum basic wages fixed for permanent and temporary incapacity respectively. Thus in Finland the minimum basic wage for temporary incapacity is four and a half times the minimum basic wage for permanent incapacity. The same reason may be advanced in explanation as the analogous discrepancy in the case of the maximum basic wage. BASIS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE LIMITS OF THE BASIC WAGE None of the laws states what criterion has been used in order to determine the maximum limit of the basic wage, though some of them contain precise provisions for fixing the minimum limit. It has not been possible within the scope of this report to undertake a study of the parliamentary papéis relating to the preparation of the laws of the various countries, nor to make a comparison between the real wages of the various classes of skilled workers and the maximum limits of the basic wage. It is therefore impossible to give any estimate of the practical importance of these limits. It must suffice to point out that during recent years the limits have been raised in several countries (for example, in Austria, France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland), and that the argument brought forward has been the necessity of bringing the limit into harmony with the average level of the wages of ordinary skilled workers. 13 — 194 — The minimum limit of the basic wage, which was introduced in order to avoid awarding too low a rate of compensation, is fixed in certain countries at the level of the ordinary earnings of unskilled labourers. Such indeed is the case in Esthonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Poland (former German territory), and Roumania. In the majority of other countries the law does not indicate what basis has been used for fixing the minimum limit. The variety of standards adopted is clearly shown by a comparison between the ratios of the maximum to the minimum • limits in certain countries where these limits are expressed in figures. Ratio of Minimum and Maximum Basic Wage in certain countries Country Austria Bulgaria Chile Denmark India Italy Norway Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. Sweden 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ratio to 10 to 4 to 5 to 2 to 10 to 6 to 4% to 20 to 5 § 4. — Basic Wage of Apprentices Compensation being calculated from wages, apprentices and workmen under age would, unless they were protected by the ordinary minimum basic wage or by special provision, receive little or no compensation. The situation of an apprentice differs from that of an adult workman not only in the amount of his wages, but in that the apprentice's wages at the time of the accident or previously, at least in case of permanent incapacity and death, afford no indication of the economic loss to himself or his dependants, since he would have received considerably higher remuneration on completing his training. Hence the method of computing the basic wage from past earnings, which can be justified in the case of adults, is inadmissible when applied to apprentices. The majority of laws make some provision for meeting the case of apprentices. They can be classed in six groups according to the methods which they adopt. (1) The basic wage of an apprentice is the earnings of a fully trained workman (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, New Zealand, South Australia, Sweden, Uruguay). — 195 — (2) As from a certain date after the accident or as from the age at which they would have completed their training, apprentices are compensated on the basis of the earnings of fully trained workmen (Australian Commonwealth and States except South Australia, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Switzerland). (3) The earnings of an apprentice are deemed to be not less than those of the lowest paid workman in the same occupation (Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Panama, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), Portugal, Quebec. (4) Apprentices are assimilated to ordinary workmen and are deemed to receive the ordinary minimum basic wage (Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Peru, Poland (former German territory), Salvador, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain. In Norway apprentices have the benefit of a somewhat higher minimum basic wage than ordinary workmen. (5) When they reach successively the ages of 15 and 17, apprentices are compensated on the basis of the earnings of unskilled workmen of those ages (Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania). In Luxemburg apprentices are compensated as from the age of 16 on the basis of the earnings of unskilled adult workmen. (6) Apprentices receive compensation for total incapacity equal to the reduction in their actual earnings (India, South Africa). The methods adopted in the countries classified in the first two groups appear to be the fairest: a direct relation is established between the economic loss, i.e. wages which would have been earned in the future if the accident had not occurred, and the normal industrial development of an apprentice, who has the legitimate expectation of becoming a skilled workman. The special protection granted to apprentices in case of permanent incapacity by the introduction of a specified limit to the basic wage is not maintained in some countries where temporary incapacity is concerned. Such, for example, is the case in Brazil, and the Netherlands, where compensation for temporary incapacity is calculated according to actual earnings, so that if the apprentice receives no remuneration he is not entitled to compensation. — 196 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred — Earnings during year divided by number of working days. Earnings during period of employment divided by number of days on which he worked. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth (Seamen and Workmen) New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. Queensland and Victoria Acts include overtime earnings. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of employment ; or average weekly earnings during year of workman in same grade at same work in same undertaking, or of workman in same grade in same class of employment and (not in Commonwealth Acts) in same district. AUSTRIA Payments in kind, shares in profits, supplementary payments of all kinds, and regular tips are included, Earnings during year. Earnings during period of employ ment plus average earnings of workmen of same class during rest of year. COUNTRY ARGENTINA BELGIUM BOLIVIA — — — BRAZIL Payments in kind are included. 300 times daily earnings at time of accident 300 times daily earnings at time of accident. — 197 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE ' Other methods of computation. Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Maximum basic wage Minimum basic wage — None, but maximum compensation for death and total incapacity. — Apprentices : lowest wage of workmen of same class and industry. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade in which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not affect basic wage. None, but maximum compensation in all cases. None, but minimum compensation for death and (not in Commonwealth and New South Wales Acts) total incapacity. None, but proportion of compensation to earnings is bigher in case of workmen under 21 and compensation may be increased at review (not in South Australia Act, which provides that basic wage of workmen under 21 or apprentices is probable earnings at 21 or. on completion of training if accident had not occurred). Basic wage is four times earnings during 13 weeks before accident. If workman was employed less than 13 weeks, basic wage is average earnings during 13 weeks of workmen of same class in same or similar undertaking. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is 50 times average weekly earnings during last period of operation. First four weeks of incapacity: 30,000 crowns a day. Thereafter: 18,000,000 crowns a year. First four weeks of incapacity: 270 crowns a day. Thereafter: 1,800,000 crowns a year. Apprentices: lowest wage of workmen of same class. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is earnings during period of operation plus earnings during rest of year. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings obtained by dividing annual earnings by 365. 7,300 francs a year. If earnings were variable, basic wage is earnings during month before accident. — Remarks 2,400 milreis a year. Apprentices and workmen under 16: not less than lowest wage of workmen of same class, or 1,500 francs a year, whichever is higher. 2 bolivianos 50 centavos a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. Apprentices: not less than lowest wage of workmen of same class. But compensation for temporary incapacity must not exceed actual earnings at time of accident. — 198 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred BULGARIA Payments in kind, board and lodging are included. — — CANADA Alberta Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. Average weekly earnings Average weekly earnings during period of employment ; or average weekly earnings during year of workman in same grade at same work in same undertaking, or of workman in same grade in same class of employment in same district. COUNTRY British Columbia —~ Manitoba " New Brunswiok — — — Ontario Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of employment ; or average weekly earnings during year of workman in same grade at same work in same undertaking, or of workman in same grade in same class of employment in same district. Quebec Payments in kind are included. Earnings during year. Earnings during period of employment plus average earnings of workmen of same class during rest of year. Nova Sootia — 199 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE (COTlt.) Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks Basic wage is average daily earnings during 4 months before accident. 61 levas a day. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade in which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not affect basic wage 2,000 dollars a year. 15 levas a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. None, but compensation for death is independent of earnings. Basic wage is regular earnings at time of accident; or average annual earnings in previous years; or probable annual earning capacity at time of accident. Ditto Ditto Workmen under 21 : any probable increase in earnings is taken into account. Ditto Ditto Ditto Workmen under 21 : not less than earnings at time of accident; compensation may be Increased at review. Ditto Workmen under 21 : any probable increase in earnings is taken into account. Ditto None, but compensation may be increased at review. Basic wage ¡s regular earnings at time of accident or previously. 1,500 dollars a year. Basic wage is regular earnings at time of accident; or average annual earnings in previous three years; or probable annual earning capacity at time of accident. 1,200 dollars a year. Where it seems more equitable, compensation may be based on earnings at time of accident. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade in which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not afTect basic wage. 2,000 dollars a year. Ditto Ditto If workman was employed intermittently, basic wage is earnings while work went on plus earnings during rest of year. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident. 1,000 dollars a year; one-quarter of earnings between 1,000 and 1,500 is taken into account. None, but minimum compensation for death. Apprentices: lowest wage of workmen In same undertaking. i ... — 200 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation COUNTRY CANADA (coni.) Saskatchewan Yukon Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred — — — — — — 300 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during period of employment. CHILE Payments in kind, piece-work and overtime earnings, bonuses, shares in profits, and regular tips are included. CUBA Payments in kind are included. Ditto Earnings during period of employment plus onehalf of earnings which injured workman would have received during rest of year, or plus one-half of earnings of other workmen of the same class during rest of year. CZECHOSLOVAKIA Payments in kind and shares in profits are included. 300 times average daily earnings. Average earnings during year of workmen of same class in same or similar neighbouring undertaking. DENMARK Payments in kind, shares in profits, use of house and rent allowance are included. Earnings during year. Basic wage is estimated by Workers' Insurance Council. Earnings during year. ECUADOR " - 201 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage (COnt.) Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age 600 pesos a year or 2 pesos a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. Remarks Basic wage is earnings during previous three years, either of injured workman, or of other workmen in same grade in simila'r employment. None, but maximum compensation in all cases Compensation is fixed by law, independent of earnings. 3,000 pesos a year or 10 pesos a day. If workman was employed intermittently, basic wage is earnings while work went on plus earnings during rest of year. 1,095 pesos a year. Apprentices and workmen under 18: not less than lowest wage of ordinary workmen in same undertaking. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is 300 times average daily earnings during period of operation. Accidental interruptions of work do not affect basic wage. 12,000 crowns a year. Apprentices: lowest wage of workmen of same class, but not more than 5,400 crowns, or less than 2,250 crowns a year. If apprentice's earnings exceed 5,400 crowns, basic wage is his actual earnings. If workman was not employed during year in same grade and at same wages for normal hours of work, or if he was unemployed, or employed in a seasonal undertaking, basic wage is estimated by Workers' Insurance Council. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is V3m of annual earnings. 2,400 crowns a year. Temporary incapacity : 9 crowns a day. Basic wage is earnings at time of accident, or earnings of workmen at similar work in same district. 1,200 crowns a year. 50 centavos a day in the plains, 100 centavos a day in the mountains. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. Ditto . _ 202 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less t h a n i year in u n d e r t a k i n g in which accident occurred ESTHONIA P a y m e n t s in kind, shares in profits, and lodging (deemed equal t o 10-20% of money wages) are included. 295 times average daily earnings for days on which w o r k m a n was at work. 295 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during period of employment. FINLAND Payments in kind and shares in profits are included. E a r n i n g s during year. E a r n i n g s during period of employment. FRANCE Overtime earnings, bonuses, family allowances, shares in profits, board, lodging, clothes, use of garden, and regular tips are included. Sums paid t o workmen to cover special expenses entailed by n a t u r e of work are excluded. Ditto E a r n i n g s during period of employment plus average earnings of workmen of same class during rest of year. GERMANY Payments in kind, shares in profits, and t i p s are included. 300 times average daily earnings for d a y s on which w o r k m a n was at work. If t h e usual n u m b e r of working days of undertaking was more or less t h a n 300, multiplication is made with this number. E a r n i n g s during period of employment plusaverage earnings of workmen of same class and skill in same or similar neighbouring undertaking during rest of y e a r ; or average daily earnings during period of emp l o y m e n t multiplied by n u m b e r of working days of u n d e r t a k i n g . GREAT BRITAIN Board, lodging, clothes, tips, and all remuneration capable of being estimated in money are included. Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by n a t u r e of work are excluded. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of e m p l o y m e n t ; or average weekly earnings during year of workman in s a m e g r a d e at same work in same undertaking, or of workman in same grade in same class of employment in s a m e district. COUNTRY — 203 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE (COTlt.) Other methods or computation. Maximum basic wage Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is average daily earnings during period of operation multiplied by number of working days in that period plus a sum obtained by multiplying the local daily wage for unskilled workmen by the difference between 295 and the number of working days of the undertaking. 295 times local daily wage for unskilled adult workmen. If workman was em900 marks a year; oneployed in seasonal un- third of earnings in dertaking: basic wage is excess is taken into estimated by Insurance account. Temporary inCouncil. Basic wage for capacity: 15 marks a temporary incapacity is Sday. l /m of yearly earnings. If workman was employed intermittently, basic wage is earnings while work went on plus earnings during rest of year. Exceptional unemployment from causes beyond control of workman does not affect basic wage. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident or, if such were variable, earnings during previous month divided by number of days on which he worked. 4,500 francs a year; one-quarter of earnings between 4,500 and 15,000 and one-eighth of earnings over 15,000 are taken into account. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is earnings during period of operation plus a sum obtained by multiplying the local wage for unskilled adult workmen by the difference between 300 and the number of working days in period of operation. 1,800 marks a year; one-third of earnings in excess is taken into account. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade in which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not affect basic wage. 300 marks a year. Minimum basic wage is fixed separately for children between 12 and 15, young persons between 15 and 17, and adults over 17 : it is 295 times local daily wage for unskilled workmen in those age classes. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to workmen under 21. Apprentices and workmen under 16: not less than lowest wage of workmen of same class in same undertaking, but compensation of workmen under 16 for temporary incapacity must not exceed actual earnings. 300 times local daily wage for adult workmen. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices and workmen under 21. None, but minimum None, but maximum compensation in all cases. compensation for death. None, but compensation of workmen under 21 may be increased at review. — 204 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation COUNTRY GREECE Composition Payments in kind are included. II workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred Earnings during year. Earnings during period of employment plusaverage earnings of workmen of same class (luring rest of year. HUNGARY (Industry) (Agriculture) — — INDIA Any privilege or beneAverage monthly earnfit capable of being ings. estimated in money is included. Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. 30 times total earnings during last continuous period of employment divided by number of days in that period. IRISH FREE STATE Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of employment; or average weekly earnings during year of workman in same grade at same work in same undertaking, or of workman in same grade in same class of employment in same district. ITALY ( Industry) Bonuses, payments in kind, and lodging are included. Earnings during year, but not less than 300 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work. 300 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during period of employment. — — (Agriculture) — 205 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. (cOilt.) Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Maximum basic wage Minimum basic wage If workman was employed Intermittently, basic wage is earnings while work went on plus earnings during rest of year. Exceptional unemployment from causes beyond control of workman does not affect basic wage. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident. 1,666 drachmae a year; one-quarter of earnings in excess taken into account. None, but minimum compensation for death and permanent incapacity. Basic wage is 300 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during four weeks before accident. 18,000,000 crowns for incapacity of 50 % or more; 12,000,000 crowns for incapacity of 21-49 % ; 2,100,000 crowns for incapacity of not more than 20%. Compensation is fixed by statute, independent of earnings. — — — A continuous period of employment Is one which has not been interrupted by a period of absence from work of more than 14 days. 83 Y, rupees a month. 8 rupees a month. None, but proportion of compensation to earnings is higher in case of workmen under 15. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade in which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not affect basic wage. None, but maximum compensation in all cases. None, but minimum compensation for death. None, but proportion of compensation to earnings is higher in case of workmen under 21, and compensation may be increased at review. Remarks Tables of average or customary wages drawn up after consultation with employers and workmen are used in industries which operate irregularly or seasonally or where work is paid by the piece. Compensation depends on age and sex and not on earnings. 6,000 lire a year. — Apprentices and workmen under 21 : lowest wage of workmen of same sex and class, but not less than 500 drachmae a year. Apprentices: lowest wage of fully qualified workmen employed at same work in same or similar undertaking. Workmen under 18: lowest wage of workmen over 18 employed at same work in same or similar undertaking. 1,000 lire a year. — Apprentices : lowest wage of workmen in same industry oroccupation. — 206 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation COUNTRY JAPAN (Factory Act) Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred Payments in kind and other allowances from employer may be included. (HealDi Insurance Act) LATVIA Payments in kind, shares in profits, and lodging (deemed equal to 10-20% of money wages) are included. 280 times average daily earnings during year for days on which workman was at work. 280 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during period of employment. LITHUANIA Payments in kind and lodging (deemed equal to 20 % of money wages) are included. 260 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work. 260 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work during period of employment. LUXEMBURG Payments in kind and shares in profits are included. Earnings during year if workman was at work on not less than 300 days. If number of days on which workman was at work is less than 300, basic wage is earnings during period of employment divided by number of working days of undertaking and multiplied by 300. NETHERLANDS ( Industry) (Agriculture) Payments in kind, lodging, and regular tips are included. Earnings during year divided by number of days on which workman was at work but not more than 313. Average daily earnings of similar workman in same or neighbouring undertaking during year. This method is applied if workman was sick for 7 or more days during year. — 207 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage (cOilt.) Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks If workman was paid a fixed wage, basic wage is that fixed wage. If workman was paid by the piece or hour, basic wage is average daily earnings for 30 working days before accident. If workman was employed for less than 30 days, basic wage is average daily earnings for full day's work during period of employment. None for manual workers. 1,200 yen a year for non-manual workers. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is average daily earnings during period of operation multiplied by number of working days in that period plus a sum obtained by multiplying the local daUy wage for unskilled adult workmen by the difference between 280 and the number of working days in period of operation. 150,000 roubles a year. If workman was employed in seasonal undertakings basic wage is average daily earnings during period of operation multiplied by number of working days in that period plus a sum obtained by multiplying the local daily wage for unskilled adult workmen by the difference between 260 and number of working days in period of operation. Absence due to sickness does not affect basic wage: workman is deemed to receive average daily earnings on days of sickness. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is earnings of similar workman during week before accident. 1,500 francs a year; one-third of earnings between 1,500 and 3,750 francs is taken into account. 8 gulden a day. 280 times local daily wage for unskilled adult workmen. Minimum basic wage is fixed separately for children between 12 and 15, young persons between 15 and 17 and adults over 17; it is 280 times local daily wage for unskilled workmen in those age-classes. 260 times local daily wage for unskilled adult workmen. Minimum basic wage is fixed separately for children between 12 and 15, young persons between 15 and 17, and adults over 17: it is 260 times local daily wage for unskilled workmen in those age-classes. 300 times local daily wage for unskilled adult workmen. Apprentices and workmen under 16: daily wage forunskilled young workmen. Apprentices and workmen under 21 : not less than lowest wage of fully qualified workmen in same industry or occupation. In case of death minimum basic wage is 1.50 gulden a day. But compensation for temporary incapacity is based on average daily earnings for week before accident. — 208 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation COUNTRY Composition If workman was employed 1 year In undertaking in which accident occurred NETHERLANDS (coni.) (Seamen) Ditto Earnings during year divided by 309. Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work are excluded. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of employment; or average weekly earnings during yearof workman in same grade at same work in same undertaking or of workman in same grade in same class of employment in same district. Ditto Ditto Ditto NEWFOUNDLAND NEW ZEALAND NORWAY ( Industry) (Seamen) Payments in kind, shares in profits, and use of house or land are included. ~~ (Fishing) Earnings during year. — If workman was employed less than i year in undertaking in which accident occurred Earnings during year of workman of same class employed in same or similar neighbouring undertaking. — — PANAMA — — — PERU — * Earnings during year. 300 times daily earnings at time of accident, less exceptional remuneration and payment for over-time. — 209 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage (COM.) Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks Tables of wages drawn up by Royal Decree. Average weekly earnings must be based on earnings of workman in grade In which he was employed when accident occurred. Absence from work due to illness or other unavoidable cause does not affect basic wage. Absence from work, whatever the cause, does not affect basic wage. Ditto None, but maximum None, but minimum compensation in all cases. compensation for death. Ditto None, but proportion of compensation to earnings is higher in case of workmen under 21 and compensation may be increased at review. Ditto Apprentices and workmen under 21 : minimum basic wage for permanent incapacity is £2 a week, and probable increase in earnings is taken into account. 450 crowns a year. Apprentices : male, 750 crowns a year; female, 500 crowns a year. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is not less than customary wages of workmen of same age and sex in same district. Basic wage for temporary incapacity i/a» of annual earnings. 2,000 crowns a year. Basic wage is fixed by law separately for each rank in a ship's crew, independent of actual earnings. 2,700 crowns a year for captains of ships of 300 tons or more. 750 crowns a year for members of the regular crew below the rank of ordinary seamen. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. Basic wage of fisherman under 60 is 1,200 crowns a year; that of fisherman over 60 is 1,000 crowns a year. — — — Basic wage is wages on the day of the accident. — — 120 pounds a year. 1 balboa a day. Fixed by regulations for different regions and industries:it varies from 40 centavos to 1 sol 50 centavos a day. Apprentices : lowest wage of workmen in same industry. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. 14 — 210 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman wns employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred Payments in kind, shares in profits, and tips are included. 300 times average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work. Earnings during period of employment plus average earnings of workmen of same class and skill in same or similar undertaking during rest of year; or average daily earnings during period of employment multiplied by number of working days of undertaking. Payments in kind, and shares in profits are included. 300 times average daily earnings. Average earnings during year of workmen of same class in same or similar neighbouring undertaking. PORTUGAL Ditto Earnings during period of employment plus earnings of workmen of same class during rest of year. ROUMANIA Average daily earnings for days on which workman was at work multiplied by number of working days of undertaking, but not less than 300. Earnings for days on which workman was at work plus earnings of workmen of same class in same or similar undertaking during rest of year. COUNTRY POLAND Former German Territory Former Austrian and Russian Territories RUSSIA Payments in kind, and use of house are included. — 211 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. (cOilt.) Maximum basic wage Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age 1800 zloty a year. One-third of earnings in excess is taken into account. 300 times local daily wage for adult workmen. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices and workmen under 21. Remarks If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is earnings during period of operation plus a sum obtained by multiplying the local wage for unskilled adult workmen by the difference between 300 and the number of working days in the period of operation. If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is 300 times average daily earnings during period of operation. Accidental interruptions of work do not affect basic wage. Apprentices : lowest wage of workmen of same class. - If workman was cmployed intermittently, basic wage is average daily earnings for days on which he was at work. Interruption of work from causes beyond control of workman do not affect basic wage. Basic wage of pieceworkers is computed from their earnings during previous 3 years, whether employed or not. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is average daily earnings during previous month. 700 .escudos a year; one-half of earnings in excess is taken into account If workman was employed in seasonal undertaking, basic wage is average daily earnings during period of operation multiplied by number of working days in that period plus a sum obtained by multiplying average daily earnings of unskilled workmen by the difference betweer, 300 and the number of working days in the period of operation. 8 lei a day plus cost of living allowance of 200 %. Temporary incapacity: 50 lei a day. Basic wage is average monthly earnings during 3 months before accident, Basic wage for temporary incapacity is the scheduled wage-rate for workmen of same class, but not less than actual earnings at time of. accident. Apprentices and workmen under 16: lowest wage of adult workmen of same class in same undertaking. 300 times average daily earnings of adult unskilled workmen in same district. Temporary incapacity: yt leu'a day. — 212 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation COUNTRY SALVADOR Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than l year in undertaking in which accident occurred Ditto SERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM All payments to which workman is entitled under his contract oí service for normal hours of work, cost of living and family allowances, shares in profits, board, lodging, use of land, rent allowance, and regular tips are included. II employed for 30 weeks or more, 300 times average daily earnings. If not employed for 30 weeks, average earnings for period of employment plus average earnings of workmen at similar work in same or similar neighbouring undertaking during period required to complete 30 weeks. SOUTH AFRICA Sums paid to workman to cover special expenses entailed by nature of work, and remuneration for overtime work not habitually performed are excluded. Average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings during period of employment, plus average weekly earnings during rest of year either of injured workman in different undertaking at similar work at same terms of remuneration, or of other workmen at similar work at same terms of remuneration in same undertaking. SPAIN Remuneration in any form for work on account of employer, overtime pay, bonuses on work, board, lodging are included. All remuneration except at fixed or piece rates must be regular, otherwise it is excluded. Earnings during year. SWEDEN All remuneration received from employer and shares in profits are included. Ditto Earnings during period of employment plus earnings of other workmen of same skill at similar work in same district during rest of year, or plus earnings of injured workman in different undertaking during rest of year if his earnings were higher than those of the said other workmen. — 213 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage (COtlt.) Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks Basic wage of pieceworkers is computed from average earnings of workmen of same class at same or similar work. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident. 40 dinars a day. None, but maximum compensation in all cases. Basic wage of pieceworkers may be computed from average earnings of workmen at same work at same terms of remuneration. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is '/as of annual earnings. None for manual workmen. 15 pesetas a day for non-manual workmen. 2,400 crowns a year. 50 centavos a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. 2 dinars a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. If earning capacity of apprentice is reduced more than yit or if he dies in 18th year, pension is increased by basing it on average earnings of fully paid workman of same age employed at work for which apprentice was training. None, but proportion of compensation to earnings may be increased in case of low-paid workmen. None, but proportion of compensation to earnings is higher in case of workmen under 21. 2 pesetas a day. Ordinary minimum basic wage applies to apprentices. 450 crowns a year. Workmen under 18: not less than probable annual earnings at 18, if workman had not been injured. \ — 214 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Computation Composition If workman was employed 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred If workman was employed less than 1 year in undertaking in which accident occurred SWITZERLAND Regular additional allowances are included. Ditto Earnings during period of employment plus earnings of workman of same class in same or similar neighbouring undertaking during rest of year. URUGUAY Payments in kind, board, lodging, regular bonuses and tips are included. Ditto Earnings during year of workman of same class in same or similar neighbouring undertaking. COUNTRY — 215 — TO COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC WAGE Other methods of computation. Maximum basic wage (concluded) Minimum basic wage Basic wage of apprentices and workmen under age Remarks If workman was employed intermittently, basic wage is earnings while work went on plus earnings during rest of year, but rate of earnings outside undertaking must not exceed rate inside. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident. 6,000 francs a year. Temporary incapacity : 21 francs a day. Unpaid workmen : lowest wage of ordinary workman in same undertaking. Workman not earning wages of fully qualified workman : basic wage is deemed to be such wages as from time when he would probably be earning them if he had not been injured. If computation by other methods is impossible, basic wage is 300 times average daily earnings. ir workman was paid by the piece, basic wage is 300 times average daily earnings during previous 3 months. Basic wage for temporary incapacity is daily earnings at time of accident. 750 pesos a year. • Apprentices and workmen under 21 : basic wage for permanent incapacity is 300 times average daily earnings of ordinary workman in same or similar neighbouring undertaking, such ordinary workmen to be fully qualified but not exceptionally skilled ; basic wage for temporary incapacity is actual earnings. CHAPTER II THE FORM OF COMPENSATION The value of compensation in use depends not only on its amount but also to a certain extent on the form in which the payment is made to the beneficiaries. Compensation may take two forms: a lump sum, paid once and for all, or periodical payments, called pensions or allowances according as they are of a permanent or temporary character. In this chapter are examined firstly the conditions which, it would seem, the form of compensation should fulfil in the cases of death and of incapacity; and secondly, the provisions as to form contained in the laws of the different countries. § 1. — The Conditions which should be fulfilled by the Form of Compensation The considerations which should affect the form of compensation are the interest of the beneficiary, t h a t of the employer, and administrative convenience. They differ according as the case is one of death, temporary incapacity, or permanent incapacity. T H E FORM OF COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH In case of accident resulting in death, compensation may be paid in the form either of a pension or of a lump sum. The capital value of the pensions awarded to dependants, especially widows and orphans, is generally a considerable sum, and there is a certain degree of risk in handing over the control of it to inexperienced beneficiaries who might expend it rapidly and improvidently, and. finding themselves then without resources, have to seek relief from the poor law authorities. There are some situations in which the award of a lump sum may be advisable in order to cover some unavoidable charge, or to enable some productive outlay to be undertaken: a lump sum might be required, for example, in order to pay off a mortgage — 217 — or a debt so as to avoid seizure, or in order to provide education for children. It would seem therefore, that a system for supervising the use of capital payments should be organised THE FORM OF COMPENSATION IN CASE OF TEMPORARY INCAPACITY Where temporary incapacity for work, which is generally of short duration, is concerned, the payment of compensation in the form of a daily or weekly allowance appears to be required. It is a simple and handy system which is fully justified by the necessity of enabling the rate of compensation to be modified at any time in accordance with the earning capacity of the victim, until the injury is completely healed and its consequences have been determined. THE FORM OF COMPENSATION IN CASE OF PERMANENT INCAPACITY For permanent incapacity, as in case of death, compensation may take the form either of a lump sum or of a pension. If the incapacity is of a slight character, the amount of the capital value of the pension is small; its misuse is therefore not so much to be feared. Moreover, as the workman retains a large proportion of his earning capacity he will not fall into destitution. Again, the award of a lump sum will avoid the relatively high administrative expense entailed by the payment of pensions in periodical instalments. In cases where serious reduction in earning capacity is involved, the capital value of the compensation may be quite large. The victim of the accident is generally better fitted to handle a considerable sum than the dependants in case of death. At the same time, though the risk that the money will be unwisely used is lessened, it nevertheless subsists, and is all the more important because the small earning capacity of the workman makes it always necessary to supplement his earnings. The payment of compensation in the form of a lump sum or the partial or total commutation of the pension into capital may often be advantageous to the accident victim where the object is to enable him to regain a situation in industry. For example, the money might be used to purchase a farm, a shop or a set of tools, or to pay for a course of vocational re-training. It is, however, necessary to obtain an assurance that the money will be wisely employed, and to take into account the individual qualities of the workman and his age. — 218 — § 2. — Provisions of the Laws concerning the Form of Compensation In case of temporary incapacity the form of compensation is in all countries a temporary allowance, paid either daily or weekly. In case of permanent incapacity or death, a lump sum is awarded almost as frequently as a pension. The lump sum which the employer is required to pay is sometimes handed over directly to the beneficiaries and sometimes deposited with a public fund which pays to them the annuity corresponding to the value of the sum. Likewise, where it is the general rule for compensation to be in the form of a pension, the employer may under certain conditions, either at his own option or by agreement with the beneficiaries, discharge his liability totally or partially by the payment of a lump sum. Taking into account these possible combinations, one may arrange the laws of the various countries in three groups. First group: The employer or insurance institution pays a lump sum which is delivered directly to the beneficiaries. Incapacity and death: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Greece, India, Italy (in case of death; and in case of incapacity of not more than 50 per cent.), Japan, Quebec and Saskatchewan, together with Panama, Peru and Spain. In the last three countries the employer has the option of paying a lump sum or a pension. Incapacity only: Australian Commonwealth and States except Queensland, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland and New Zealand. In these countries there is no legal distinction between temporary and permanent incapacity, and compensation for incapacity is primarily in the form of a weekly allowance. Nevertheless, it seems that in practice the allowance for incapacity is generally commuted for a lump sum where the injury is likely to be permanent. In these countries there are two methods of commutation, in respect of which they fall to be included both in this and in the second group. According to one method, the employer and workman may at any time agree to commute the allowance for a lump sum paid direct to the workman. Second group: The employer or insurance institution pays a lump sum to a judicial autlwrity or a fund, whose duty it is to make the payment to the beneficiaries. (a) The payment to the beneficiaries is made in such manner as the judge, to whom the lump sum has been entrusted, determines to be in the best interests of the beneficiaries. — 219 — Incapacity and death: Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. In all these countries except the Australian State of Queensland and South Africa, there are, as has been stated above, two methods of commuting the allowance payable in case of incapacity for a lump sum. One method has already been mentioned. According to the other method the employer has the option after six months of commuting the allowance for a lump sum fixed by arbitration, and handed over to the judge to be disposed of as the latter decides. (¿>) The payment to the beneficiaries is made in the form of a pension. Incapacity and death: Argentina and Denmark. Incapacity only: Italy (serious incapacity only). Third group : The employer or insurance institution pays a pension to the beneficiaries. (a) The pension can in no case be commuted for a lump sum. Incapacity and death: Bulgaria, Cuba, Guatemala, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, and Uruguay. Death only: Finland, France, Hungary, Germany, Luxemburg, Poland (former German territory), Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, and Sweden. (b) The pension can be wholly commuted for a lump sum if the beneficiary furnishes evidence that the lump sum will be wisely utilised. Incapacity and death: Austria, Canadian Provinces except Quebec and Saskatchewan, Czechoslovakia and Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories). In Germany and Poland (former German territory) commutation can only take place in case of incapacity of less than 20 per cent. In Esthonia and Latvia the pension cannot be commuted without the approval of the insurance institution, but it is not clear from the laws whether evidence as to wise utilisation is required. Incapacity only: Sweden. (c) The pension can be partially commuted for a lump sum if the beneficiary furnishes evidence that the lump sum will be wisely utilised. Incapacity and death: Belgium (one-third of the pension may be commuted). Incapacity only : France and Norway (one-quarter of the pension may be commuted). — 220 — {d) The pension can be wholly commuted for a lump sum, the beneficiary not being required to furnish evidence that the lump sum will be wisely utilised. Incapacity and death: Lithuania. Incapacity only: Austria, Esthonia, Latvia, Luxemburg, Roumania, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom (in case of incapacity of not more than 15 to 30 per cent., according to country); Belgium, Chile, Finland, France, Norway, and Switzerland (in case of pensions of almost negligible amount). In spite of their differences the laws exhibit a fairly clear tendency towards the payment of compensation in the form of a pension. Half a century ago payment in the form of a lump sum was the general rule; the private companies preferred this system because it enabled their financial obligations on account of claims to be determined quickly, precisely and finally, and their liability to be liquidated with a minimum of administrative expense. Workmen's compensation legislation has introduced the pension step by step, at first as a secondary mode of payment alternative to the lump sum, then as the principal form of compensation, with a greater or smaller faculty of commutation for a lump sum, and at last in certain countries as the sole form of payment. This evolution is to be explained by the desire, differing in degree from one country to another, to suit the form of compensation to the needs of the beneficiaries so as to produce the most satisfactory result from a social point of view; by the development of compulsory insurance with institutions possessing their regional and local branches; and by the continual improvement in the methods of effecting payments at the home, especially by the intermediary of the post office. CHAPTER III COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Death in consequence of an industrial accident gives rise to exceptional expenditure in respect of funeral costs, and occasions an economic loss to the persons who were maintained by the deceased, or were entitled to demand pecuniary aid from him in case of need, or finally would have inherited any savings which he might have made if the accident had not occurred. The amount of compensation can be fixed with reference to two different principles: according as a wider or narrower meaning is assigned to the idea of economic loss, the persons entitled to compensation may be either the heirs as defined by the civil law, or persons actually dependent on the deceased for their maintenance. In the former case, the amount of compensation is directly related to the earnings and the age of the victim of the accident. In the latter case, the amount of compensation is fixed in relation to the pecuniary aid which the dependants were receiving or would have received, i.e. in relation to the age of the victim and the wages he was earning on the one hand, and to the number of persons presumed to be economically dependent upon him on the other hand. The two elements which are met with in both systems are the age of the victim and his rate of wages. It is indeed evident that on these two factors depend to a large degree not only the pecuniary aid which the dependants could expect but also the amount which the victim might have been able to save if the accident had not occurred. In fact the majority of the laws in force have regard both to the principle of compensation for economic loss and to the principle of economic dependence, giving greater weight sometimes to one and sometimes to the other. In this chapter will be examined in succession: (1) the categories of relatives entitled to compensation; (2) the total amount of compensation; (3) the distribution of compensation among the relatives, and (4) allowances for funeral expenses. § 1. — The Categories oí Relatives entitled to Compensation In general, the categories of relatives entitled to compensation show a deviation from the categories established for the purpose — 'Ill — of intestate succession. The modification is mainly due to the intention of assigning special importance to dependence, whether proved or presumed, as a condition for the award of compensation. Usually, the effect of this modification is to restrict the number of persons entitled to compensation; such, however, is not always the case, for under the inlluence of the conception of dependence as a principal qualification, compensation may be extended to persons who have no right to inherit under the rules of intestate succession. The inclusion of the widow and young children among those entitled to compensation is, of course, universal ; usually the award is unconditional, their situation of dependence being presumed. Almost all the laws accord compensation in addition to some or all of the following categories of relatives: parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, and near relatives by marriage. In respect of these categories of relatives, proof of dependence has always to be furnished. A few laws specify that, in the absence of any relatives entitled to compensation, persons M'ho were dependent on the deceased, but not related to him, may be compensated instead. In the following paragraphs, each category is dealt with in turn. Widow or Widower Countries may be divided into four groups, according to the conditions under which they award compensation to the widow or widower. (a) The widow only is entitled to compensation: no proof of dependence is required (Ecuador, Esthonia, Guatemala, Japan (Factory Act), Latvia, Lithuania, Roumania, Salvador). (b) The widower, as well as the widow is entitled to compensation : no proof of dependence is required. (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, France, Greece, India, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Quebec, Sweden). (c) The widower, as well as the widow is entitled to compensation: no proof of dependence is required from the widow, but compensation is only allowed to the widower if he was dependent or if he is incapacitated for work (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay). (d) The widower as well as the widow is entitled to compensation, but proof of dependence is required in either case: (Australian Commonwealth and States, Belgium, Canadian Provinces except Quebec, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, South Africa). In Russia both the widow and the widower must be incapacitated for work, or have children under 8 dependent on them. — 223 — Although, as we have seen, proof of dependence is not required from widows in the majority of countries, it is nevertheless clear from other provisions affecting the widow's compensation that the existence of dependence is presumed ; for where that presumption is destroyed, the right to compensation ceases. Thus a provision to be found in many lands denies compensation to the widow who was divorced, or separated from deceased at the time of the accident. Moreover, except in Belgium, it is a universal rule in countries where compensation is in the form of a pension to discontinue the payment when the widow re-marries, but at the same time to award a lump sum, equal to two or three years' pension. The question whether a woman living with the deceased workman as his wife should be compensated as though she had been legally married to him has recently been receiving considerable attention, especially in France. At the present time there is, it is believed, only one law, that of the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, which accords to the unmarried widow the same compensation as a married widow. Children The situation of children in respect of compensation is analogous to that of the widow : in most countries (except in those mentioned under (a) below) they are presumed to be dependent unless the presumption is destroyed. Three groups of countries can be distinguished according as the award of compensation is conditional upon dependence, upon the operation of an age limit, or is unconditional. (o) Compensation is conditional upon proof of dependence (Australian Commonwealth and States, Canadian Provinces except Quebec, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, South Africa). (b) No proof of dependence is required, but compensation can only be awarded if the child is below a certain age. The age limit is as follows in the different countries: Argentina Austria Belgium Bulgaria Chile Cuba Czechoslovakia Denmark Ecuador Esthonia Finland France 22 15 16 21 16 18 15 18 16 15 16 16 Germany Greece Guatemala Hungary India Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxemburg Netherlands Norway Peru 15 21 12 16 15 18 15 15 15 16 15 16 Poland Portugal Quebec Roumania Russia Salvador Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom Spain Sweden Switzerland Uruguay 15 14 16 16 16 16 16 18 16 16 16 — 224 - There is no age limit at all in Brazil and Japan, and no age limit for unmarried daughters in Greece and India, and in none of these countries does dependence have to be proved. A number of laws exempt from the operation of the age limit children who are physically or mentally incapacitated. Illegitimate children are almost everywhere treated on the same footing as legitimate children. Grandchildren, Brothers and Sisters Unlike those of children, the claims of grandchildren, brothers and sisters are only admitted on proof of dependence. The age limit imposed is the same except in Argentina, where it is reduced from 22 to 16 in the case of grandchildren, brothers and sisters. No age limit is, however, provided in Great Britain and its Dominions. Grandchildren are usually dependent when they are orphans and under a few laws they can only be compensated if they are such. Parents and Grandparents Proof of dependence is required in the case of parents and grandparents in every country where they are among the possible beneficiaries, except Brazil, India, and Switzerland. In Ecuador and Spain it is further specified that they must be over 60 years of age. § 2. — The Total Amount of Compensation The total amount of compensation generally depends in the first instance on the earnings of the deceased; it is expressed either as a fraction or as a multiple of the basic wage. Further, in a large number of countries, the compensation, whether fraction or multiple of earnings, must remain within statutorily determined maximum and minimum limits. The normal relation between the basic wage and the total amount of compensation will now be examined, together with the maximum and minimum limits of the latter. T H E RELATION BETWEEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION AND THE BASIC W A G E When compensation is paid in the form of a pension, it is generally expressed as a fraction of the basic wage; and when it is paid as a lump sum, it is expressed as a multiple of the basic wage. The following table shows the relation between the total amount of compensation and the basic wage for the two forms of compensation. — 225 — Country Argentina Australia (8 laws) Bolivia Brazil Denmark Ecuador Great Britain Greece India Irish Free S t a t e Italy Japan Newfoundland New Zealand Panama Quebec Salvador Saskatchewan South Africa Spain 1 Lump sums in multiples of annual earnings 3 2 4 5 1 31 5 2% 3 5 Yz 3 3 2 4 2 3 2 2 Country Austria Chile Cuba Czechoslovakia Esthonia Finland France Germany Guatemala HungaryLatvia Lithuania Luxemburg Netherlands Norway Peru P o l a n d (former Austrian and Russian territories) P o l a n d (former German territory) Portugal Roumania Russia Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom Sweden Switzerland Uruguay Pensions in percentages of annual earnings 66% 60 60 66% 66% 60 60 60 60 66% 66% 66% 60 60 50 33 66% 60 60 66% 66% 100 66% 60 66% Plus family allowance for children under 15. A few countries have been omitted from the above table because they do not lend themselves to the classification. In Belgium the total amount of compensation does not depend only on earnings, but also on the age of the deceased at the time of his death; the law provides for the payment of a capital sum sufficient to provide a pension of 30 per cent, of the deceased's earnings, the amount of the capital varying in relation to the deceased's expectation of life. In Bulgaria, the law provides for a pension of specified amount corresponding to the wage-class in which the deceased was placed for the purpose of accident insurance; the proportion of pension to earnings varies from over 100 per cent, in the case of the lowest class to less than 50 per cent, in the case of the highest, i.e. the hest-paid workers. This method has been adopted in order to 15 — 226 — favour the lower-paid workers and to avoid awarding them excessively small pensions. The idea of need has here considerably influenced the application of the principle that compensation should be a fixed proportion of the economic loss. Finally, in several Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia) the compensation is not calculated according to the earnings of the deceased : the dependants (widow and children) are entitled to pensions the amount of which is fixed by law, no doubt with a view to guaranteeing to them a minimum of subsistence. The idea of need is in this case paramount, and the principle of repairing the actual economic loss occasioned by a fatal accident has been abandoned. Nevertheless, compensation based upon earnings remains the general rule in present-day legislation. This relation is fairly constant in the majority of countries where pensions are concerned. The lump sums, on the contrary, represent multiples of the basic wage which vary considerably from country to country: the relation most frequently adopted is three times the annual earnings. The practical significance of these relations cannot be discussed here, but an endeavour will be made to show, at least in the case of a pension of two-thirds of earnings, how that proportion is generally justified. The dominating principle in the old laws is that there should be a certain proportion between the amount of compensation and the extent of the economic loss caused by the accident. It has already been explained above that in case of death the loss consists in the difference between the wages lost and the portion of the wages which the deceased would have applied to the satisfaction of his own needs, if he had continued to live. The first factor, namely, the basic wage having, been determined, according to the legal provisions described in a previous chapter, one may enquire whether the second factor can be calculated. The difficult task of determining the expenditure incurred on account of each member of a workman's family has been attempted, and the results of some enquiries into family budgets will be briefly stated. The estimates of the portion of the earnings which the workman consumes himself are generally based on food consumption, and evidently the application of ratios based on food to other articles of consumption such as clothing, rent, fuel and light, can only be made subject to considerable reservation. — 227 — In the "United States 1 careful studies of food consumption have been made from which it appears that, taking the food consumed by an adult male (of 15 years or more) as basis, the ratios for the different members of a family are as follows: Food consumption Adult male » female Child 11-14 years » 7-10 » » 4-6 » & 3 years and under 1.00 0.90 0.90 0.75 0.40 0.15 If the ratios given above are added, the total is 4.10 units for a family consisting of one adult male and five dependants as specified, and the proportion of his food consumption to that of the family as a whole is 1 to 4, or 25 per cent. In a family budget enquiry conducted in the United States a during 1918 and 1919, and covering 12,000 families in 92 of the chief industrial centres, the average number of persons per family was found to be 4.9 and the equivalent of this, in terms of adult males, was 3.32, so that the adult male consumed 30 per cent. A committee which examined the average food consumption of working class families in Great Britain 8 found that the average number of persons in the families investigated was 5.6, which was considered to represent 4.37 adult males, so that the adult male consumed 23 per cent. A method of estimating food consumption which has been used in certain European countries is based on the "quet", which is the consumption of a new-born child. The consumption of an individual is regarded as increasing one-tenth of a "quet " in each year, up to the age of 25 years in the case of a man, and 20 years in the case of a woman. Thus a family consisting of an adult male, an adult female and three children of 14, 9 and 5 years, would comprise a total of 12.3 units of consumption, of which the adult male would represent 3.5 units or 28 per cent. From these enquiries it would appear that the removal of the head of a family of five persons consisting of two adults and three children will occasion a reduction of between 25 and 30 per cent. in the consumption of food. It might, however, be pointed out that other expenses, in particular, rent, lighting and heating, will 1 UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LABOUR STATISTICS: Cost of Living in the United States. No. 357. Washington, 1924. 2 Ibid. 3 Great Britain : Report of Working Class Cost of Living Committee. Cd. 8980. London, 1918. — 228 — not dimmish to the same extent. Hence one may ask whether the removal of the head of a family will involve a reduction in expenditure of 25 to 30 per cent., or whether it will not rather involve a reduction of less than 25 per cent. If the second form of the question be answered affirmatively, the economic loss in case of a fatal industrial accident would be higher than the two-thirds of earnings allowed by the majority of the laws mentioned above, with the exception of the Serb-Croat-Slovene law. The percentage representing the reduction in the family expenditure consequent upon the death of an adult will vary with the number of persons in the family, and the economic loss will be the greater, the more numerous the family concerned. The restriction of compensation to two-thirds of earnings, which is probably less than the actual economic loss, may be explained by the fact that the legislator has had to take account of the principle of occupational risk and the limitation of compensation which is the consequence of that principle. Indeed, as has been stated elsewhere, the principle of occupational risk, giving right to compensation, as it does, where the death is not due to the employer's fault and even where it is due to the unintentional negligence of the victim, has extended the scope of the risk cove-red and the financial responsibility of the employer, and has thus led to the provision of compensation of statutorily limited amount, which is doubtless lower than full compensation for the economic loss actually suffered. Statistics as to the distribution of accidents according to the responsibility involved in their causation are of too uncertain and contradictory a character for it to be possible to deduce from them what the equitable difference would be between full compensation and compensation as limited by statute. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM LIMITS OF TOTAL COMPENSATION It has already been shown in Chapter 1 (The Basic Wage) that many laws limit compensation by providing a maximum and a minimum for the basic wage according to which compensation is calculated. These limits restrict the operation on the basic wage of the percentage in case of a pension or the multiple in case of a lump sum, which already constitute in themselves a limit. The object is always the same: to prevent the award of excessively small amounts to the lowest-paid workmen and to avoid placing upon the employers too -heavy a financial burden in respect of the better-paid workmen. — 229 — The Maximum Limit of Total Compensation The level at which the maximum limit of the total compensation is fixed has a very important influence on the practical value of compensation. Indeed, the percentage of the basic wage which represents compensation may be very high (90 per cent., for example) without giving rise to a very heavy payment, if the free operation of the percentage is prevented by the imposition of a maximum limit which is below the average leA^el of the earnings of skilled workmen. The total amount of compensation is subjected to a maximum limit in the following countries: Argentina, Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Quebec, Saskatchewan and South Africa. Compensation is limited by the fixing of a maximum limit for the basic wage in the following countries, as has been mentioned in the first chapter: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canadian Provinces except Quebec and-Saskatchewan, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland (former German territory), Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay. Finally, there is no limit to the total amount of compensation in Bolivia, Ecuador, Esthonia, Guatemala, Japan (Factory Act), Lithuania, Panama, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), Russia, Salvador and (for manual workmen only), Spain. The Minimum Limit of Total Compensation Provisions for minimum compensation are to be found in about two-thirds of the laws. Here also the minimum is determined by the minimum limit of the basic wage, or is a sum expressly specified in the law. The countries employing the former method have been enumerated in the chapter on the basic wage; they are Austria, Bolivia Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Esthonia, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland (former German territory), Salvador, Serb-CroatSlovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden. Minimum compensation is specified in the laws of the Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Greece, Japan, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Quebec. — 230 — § 3. — The Distribution of Compensation among the Relatives The maximum and minimum limits of compensation having been dealt with, one may proceed to examine how compensation is distributed among the various categories of dependants. Compensation can be distributed by two distinct methods, according as the share of the dependant is or is not determined by law. According to the first method compensation up to the maximum amount which the law permits is distributed by the judge, or other public authority administering workmen's compensation, in such shares as seem most equitable in the circumstances, taking into account the extent to which each relative was in fact maintained by the deceased. The dominant principle here appears to be compensation according to need. Relatives are classed as totally or partially dependent. If any total dependant is left, the maximum compensation is awarded. Partial dependants are admitted to share with total dependants. If, however, partial dependants only are left, the maximum may or may not be awarded, according to the discretion of the judge (Australian Commonwealth and States, India, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Quebec, Saskatchewan, South Africa). The same method of distribution is applied in Great Britain, but additional compensation beyond the ordinary maximum is awarded if the total dependants include children under 15. The law provides for the payment of three years' earnings in the case of death, and, in addition, the sum of the weekly payments represented by a pension of 15 per cent, of annual earnings in respect of each child under 15 years from the death of the parent until that age is reached. There is no provision. however, that this additional sum shall be allotted to the child. The remaining countries adopt the second method. For each relative, according to the category to which he belongs (widow or idower, child, parent, etc.), the law prescribes a specific percentage annual earnings. The claims of the relatives are satisfied in a certain order of precedence up to the maximum total amount which the law permits. The existence of the condition of dependence is generally presumed in the case of the widow and children, but has to be proved in the case of other relatives. Under the first method the question of precedence among the relatives does not arise. Under the second method, on the contrary, the provision of an order in which claims are to be satisfied is essential. In all the countries which use the second method, the widow or widower and child occupy a privileged position legally secured to — 231 — them. Their claims must be fully satisfied before those of other relatives can be considered; but the relict and children generally enjoy the same precedence, and, in the event of there being numerous children, either the shares of the widow or widower and the children are reduced in the same proportion, or the shares of the children only are reduced. However, in certain countries grandchildren are admitted to share with children provided that they were dependent on the deceased (Ecuador, Greece, Italy). In Argentina and Brazil grandchildren are compensated by right of representation (per stirpes). In Belgium grandchildren share by right of representation with children, but only in the absence of the widow or widower. The law of Uruguay is unique in placing grandchildren, brothers, sisters and cousins on the same footing as children. The widow or widower, the children and, in certain countries, as we have seen, other minors assimilated to children, thus have the first place in the order of precedence. How are the succeeding places filled ? There is much diversity in the order of precedence adopted in the various countries for relatives other than the widow or widower and children. Nevertheless in most countries ascendants occupy either first or first and second places after the widow or widower and children. Brothers and sisters usually occupy the final place. Difference of principle is specially apparent in the rank given to the claims of grandchildren; sometimes, as already mentioned, they have the same rights as children, sometimes they follow and sometimes they precede ascendants; but they invariably come before brothers and sisters. The laws which provide for the distribution of compensation to each category of relatives in shares fixed by statute can be divided into two groups according as either the total compensation is awarded whatever the number of dependants, or only the statutory share is awarded to each dependant even though the total compensation is not exhausted—the case arises when the accident victim leaves few dependants. The first method is followed in Argentina. Belgium, Greece, Italy and Japan (Factory Act). The second method is adopted by the majority of countries, and, in particular, by the following : Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canadian Provinces except Quebec and Saskatchewan, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, SerbCroat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay. — 232 — A table has already been given showing the total compensation in each country. It would be possible to prepare tables showing the proportion of that total due to each relative in any conceivable case, but, owing to the very large number of possible combinations and the complications introduced by precedence, the space required would be prohibitive. At the same time it may be interesting to compare the percentage of the total compensation allotted under the different laws in a few simple cases. PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL COMPENSATION Country Argentina Austria Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Chile Cuba Czechoslovakia Ecuador Esthonia Finland France Germany Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxemburg Netherlands Norway Peru Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories) Poland (former German t e r r i tory) Portugal Roumania Salvador Serb - Croat - Slovene Kingdom Spain Sweden Switzerland Uruguay Widow and three children only left Widow Children Three orphans only left 25 30 60 50 40 33% 33% 30 50 50 50 25 40 30 30 40 50 50 25 40 40 33% 75 67% 40 50 60 66% 41% 6 7 Vi 50 50 50 58% 75 60 70 67% 60 50 50 75 60 60 66% 100 90 100 66% 100 100 83% 90 83% 100 100 100 100 100 75 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 30 100 66% 100 50 50 30 50 50 N o t fixed 50 33% 100 33% 30 100 50 50 33% 100 40 91 30 67% 90 30 25 33% 33% 25 75 58% 66% 75 100 100 100 100 31 50 33% 40. 30 69 50 66% 60 53 100 100 75 100 90 331/3 Other relatives only left 33% 66% — 25 33% 42 37% 33% 45 — 233 — § 4. — Allowances for Funeral Expenses The funeral expenses of the deceased are paid over and above other compensation in every country except Australia, Great Britain, India, Irish Free State, Newfoundland and South Africa, where they are paid only in the absence of any dependants, and in Italy, where the law contains no mention of them. A maximum limit is always specified. These maxima exhibit a very wide variation. A simple method of comparing them is to express them as ratios of the respective maximum annual earnings taken as the basis for compensation in the case of death. This procedure, of course, ignores the difference in funeral costs in relation to the general cost of living in various countries, which may be very considerable. The manner of conducting a funeral is largely settled by custom; thus, if custom prescribes a simple funeral the maximum expenses allowed in respect of it may well be low relative to the maximum basic wage, and conversely. Nevertheless, the fact of the existence of this wide variation is interesting in itself, and some examples of the ratios referred to may be given, although no sure conclusions as to the adequacy of the amounts allowed can be drawn from them. Considering first the countries in which funeral expenses are paid in addition to other compensation, we find that the ratio of the maximum amount which can be allowred for such expenses to the maximum annual earnings is as follows in the various countries:— 1 Argentina Netherlands / 12 V20 1 Belgium New Zealand. /b /100 Brazil Norway V40 v* Bulgaria Peru Vo Ve Canada (8 provinces) Russia V12 Chile Czechoslovakia Denmark Finland Hungary v -v» M V15 Via V12 v« Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom 1/J(I Sweden Vio 1 Switzerland /150 Uruguay V19 Vs If the figure for New Zealand be neglected, since the sum awarded is intended to cover medical as well as funeral expenses, these ratios show a variation from V 6 to 1 /150, which is truly astonishing. In the countries where funeral expenses are allowed only if no other compensation is payable the ratio is on the average rather higher. The sum awarded is intended to cover medical as well as funeral expenses. The ratios are as follows: I r i s n F r e e st£ Australia (8 laws) Vs'Vs *te 1/10 1 Great Britain /ia Newfoundland 1 ¡ l 0 India V20 South Africa V6 — 234 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING Maximum and minimum t o t a l (a) pension, or (b) l u m p sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum PROVISIONS RELATING (a) C o m m u t a t i o n of pension for l u m p sum, or (b) Disposal of l u m p sum Funeral expenses ARGENTINA (b) Thousand times. daily earnings, but not more t h a n 6,000 pesos. (o) L u m p sum is invested in purchase of annuities. Not more than 100 pesos. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth (Seamen and Workmen) New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia (6) 200 pounds ». (6) Three years' (b) Compensation earnings, b u t not is dealt with as more t h a n 500 pds 2 . judge directs *. Less any p a y m e n t s i nade before d e a t h . Not more t h a n 30 pounds, payable only if no other compensation is d u e 5 . AUSTRIA (a) 6 6 % % of annual earnings, but not more t h a n 12 million crowns a year. (a) Commutation by agreement with relative if poor law a u t h o r i t y responsible for him consents. 10 % of annual pension. BELGIUM (b) L u m p sum equivalent t o capital of life a n n u i t y of 30 % of annual earnings based on age of workman at death. BOLIVIA (6) Two years' earnings. (a) 1,200,000 crowns a year. (b) Shares of relict and ascendants are invested in purchase of life annuities. Shares of other relatives are invested in purchase of temporary annuities ceasing when beneficiary reaches 16 years. Relict and ascendants may request judge to commute not more t h a n 33 V3 % of pension for lump sum. (6) 1,500 bolivianos in respect of deceased working 300 days a year. (5) L u m p sum is paid direct to beneficiaries. 75 francs. Not more t h a n 100 bolivianos. i The term 'relict' is used throughout in this table to mean 'widow or widower', in order to save space — s New South Wales, and Western Australia: 500 pounds; Queensland, South Australia and Victoria 600 pounds; Tasmania, 400 pounds.— s New South Wales and Queensland: 300 pounds; Tasmania am Victoria: 200 pounds; South Australia and Western Australia: 400 pounds. — * These provisions are th — 235 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation to relict i Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Relict, children under 22, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16, brothers and sisters under 16. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. If no descendants or Relict and each child ascendants are left, re- share whole sum equallict receives whole sum. ly. Orphans share whole If descendants or ascend- sum. ants are left, relict and each of them share whole sum equally. Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, stepfather, stepmother, half-bro thers, half-sisters. All must be dependent 6 . Judge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is three years' earnings. If only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is fixed by judge*. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 15, brothers and sisters under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15 % of annual earnings. Each orphan rereives 20 %. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings in following order of precedence : parents, grandparents, and grandchildren, brothers and sisters. Relict, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16, brothers and sisters under 16. Relatives other than children must be dependent. If several children are left, relict receives 60 % of whole sum. If only one child or other relatives are left, relict receives 80%. If no other relatives are left, relict receives whole sum. If children and relict are left, children share 40% of whole sum. If one child and relict are left, child receives 20% Orphans share whole sum. If no relict is left, grandchildren share whole sum with children by right of representation. If no relict or children are left, whole sum is awarded to grandchildren and ascendants. If only brothers and sisters are left, they share whole sum. Persons having legal claim to maintenance. Compensation is distributed among relatives in accordance with provisions of Civil Code. Grandchildren are compensated by right of representation. If no descendants are left, each parent or grandparent shares whole sum equally with relict. If no descendants or relict are left, parents or grandparents share whole sum. If no other relatives are left, brothers and sisters share whole sum. ame in all Australian Acts. — 5 New South Wales and South Australia: 20 pounds;6 Queensland : 0 pounds; Tasmania: 30 pounds; Victoria: 75 pounds; Western Australia: 100 pounds. — These profitons are the same in all Australian Acts except Commonwealth (Workmen) Act which includes mother-inaw and South Australia Act which includes step-brother and step-sister. — 236 — COMPARATIVE TABLE Maximum and m i n i m u m t o t a l (a) pension, or (b) l u m p sum COUNTRY Minimum Maximum BRAZIL (b) Three years' earnings, but not more than 7,200 muréis. SHOWING PROVISIONS (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) D i s p o s a l o ! l u m p sum Ditto RELATING Funeral expenses 100 milreis. Less a n y p a y m e n t s made before death. 50 times daily earnings. BULGARIA (a) Total pension is same as t h a t payable to workman so incapacitated as to need an a t t e n d a n t . I t is graduated as follows: Daily earnings Annual pension (levas) (levas) 15 and under 3.600 16—30 4,800 31—45 6,000 46—60 7,500 61 and over 9,000 CANADA Alberta (a) R a t e of total pension is fixed by s t a t u t e at 65 dollars a m o n t h . (a) Commutation at discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. Not more than 100 dollars. Ditto (a) Commutation at discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board if requested by relatives. Ditto Manitoba (a) R a t e s of pension to relict and each child are fixed by s t a t u t e . (a) Commutation at, discretion of W o r k - ' men's Compensation Board if agreed to by relatives; lump sum to be applied as Board directs. Not more t h a n 150 dollars. New Brunswick (a) Rates of pension ' to relict and each child are fixed by s t a t u t e , but total pension must not exceed 55 % of annual earnings; m a x i m u m 825 dollars a year. (a) Commutation at discretion of W o r k men's Compensation Board. Not more t h a n 100 dollars. British Columbia — 237 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled t o compensation Í to Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren. None need be dependent. I f children a r e left, relict receives 50 % of whole sum. If no other relatives are left, relict receives 66 y3% of whole s u m . Children share 50 % of whole sum. Orphans share 66?;,%. Grandchildren are compensated by right of representation. If no relict or descendants are left, ascendants share 66 % % of whole sum. If no relatives are left, a dependant receives 33 y, % . Widow, incapacitated widower, sons under 21, unmarried d a u g h t e r s u n d e r 21, parents, unmarried brothers and sisters under 21. Relatives o t h e r t h a n widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 40 % of t o t a l pension. Pension ceases on remarriage. E a c h child receives 30 % of total pension. E a c h orphan receives 50%. Widowed mother ¡s compensated as child. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, each parent, brother, and sister receives 30 % of total pension, t h e s h a r e of each being reduced if the m a x i m u m total pension would be exceeded. Widow, incapacitated widower, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, stepfather, stepmother, half-brothers, half-sisters. All must be dependent. Relict receives 35 dollars a m o n t h . Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage, when lump sum of 480 dollars is paid. E a c h child under 16 receives 7.50 dollars a m o n t h ; m a x i m u m of 30 dollars for all such children. E a c h orphan under 16 receives 12.50 dollars; m a x i m u m of 50 dollars for all such orphans. If no relict or children under 16 are left, other relatives share not more than 65 dollars a m o n t h of which parents share n o t more t h a n 30 dollars. P a y m e n t s can continue only so long as w o r k m a n , had he lived, would h a v e maintained relatives. Ditto Ditto If no relict or children under 16 are left, other relatives share not more t h a n 45 dollars a m o n t h of which p a r e n t s s h a r e not more t h a n 30 dollars. P a y m e n t s can continue only so long as workman, had he lived, would have maintained relatives. Ditto Relict receives 30 dollars a m o n t h . Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when l u m p sum of two y e a r s ' pension is paid. E a c h child u n d e r 16 receives 7.50 dollars a month. E a c h orphan under 16 receives 15 dollars. Pension continued till 18 years for education. If no relict or children under 16 are left, other relatives share not more t h a n 40 dollars a m o n t h . P a y m e n t s can continue only so long as w o r k m a n , had h e lived, would h a v e maintained relatives. Ditto Ditto E a c h boy under 16 and girl u n d e r 18 receives 7.50 dollars a m o n t h . E a c h male orphan under 16 and female orphan under 18 receives 15 dollars a month. If no relict, boys under 16, o r girls u n d e r 18 a r e left, other relatives m a y be compensated at a r a t e proportional to their pecuniary loss. P a y m e n t s can continue only so long as workman, h a d he lived, would h a v e maintained relatives. Ditto | Compensation relict (COnt.) — 238 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (b) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses CANADA (coni.) Nova Scotia (a) Rate of total pension is fixed by statute at 60 dollars a month. (a) Commutation at discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. Not more than 75 dollars. Ontario (a) Rates of pension to relict and each child are fixed by statute, but total pension must not exceed 66% % of annual earnings — maximum 1,333.33 dollars a year, nor be less than 12.50 dollars a week for relict and one or more children. (a) Commutation at discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board, in the interest of relatives. Not more than 125 dollars. Quebec (6) Four times annual earnings, but not more than 3,000 dollars. (6) Lump sum is paid direct to relatives. Not more than 50 dollars. (b) 1,500 dollars. Less any payments made before death. Saskatchewan (6) Three years' earnings, but not more than 2,500 dollars. Ditto Less any payments made before death. Yukon (6) Amount of lump sum is fixed by statute at 2,500 dollars, less any payments made before death. CHILE (a) 60 % of annual earnings, but not more than 1,800 pesos a year. CUBA (a) 60 % of annual earnings, but not more than 657 pesos a year. (a) 360 pesos a year. (b) Compensation is dealt with as judge directs. Not more than 200 pesos. Not more than 30 pesos. — 239 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation relict to (COilt.) Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Ditto Relict receives 30 dollars a month. Widow's pension is reduced to 20 dollars on re-marriage and ceases 25 months thereafter. Each child under 16 receives 7.50 dollars a month; maximum of 30 dollars for all such children. Each orphan under 16 receives 15 dollars; maximum of 60 dollars for all such orphans. If no relict or children under 16 are left, other relatives share not more than 45 dollars a month of which parents share not more than 30 dollars. Payments can continue only so long as workman, had he lived, would have maintained relatives. Ditto Relict receives 40 dollars a month; and lump sum of 100 dollars. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of two years' pension is paid. Each child under 16 receives 10 dollars a month. Each orphan under 16 receives 15 dollars. If no relict or children under 16 years are left, other relatives may be compensated at a rate proportional to their pecuniary loss. Payments can continue only so long as workman, had he lived, would have maintained relatives. Relict, children under 16, parents, grandparents. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Judge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, stepfather, stepmother, half-brothers, half-sisters. All must be dependent. Ditto Ditto Ditto Relict, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16, incapacitated persons. Persons other than relict and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension may be commuted on re-marriage at option of relict for lump sum of 5 years' pension. Children share 40 % of annual earnings. Orphans share 60 %. No child may receive more than 20 %. If no children are left, ascendants and descendants share 30 % of annual earnings. If no relict, ascendants or descendants are left, incapacitated persons share 20%. Relict, children under 18, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, half-brothers, half-sisters. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage. One child receives 15 % of annual earnings, two or three children share 25 %. Four or more children share 4 0 % . Orphans share 50 %. If no relict or children are left ascendants or brothers and sisters share 30 % of annual earnings. — 240 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (b) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum Funeral expenses CZECHOSLOVAKIA (a) 66%% of annual earnings, but not more than 8,000 crowns a year. DENMARK (b) Five times annual earnings, but not more than capital of life annuity of 50 % or annual earnings based on age of workman at death, or 12,000 crowns, whichever is less. ECUADOR (b) One year's earnings; no absolute maximum.. (b) 150 sucres in respect of workers in the plains, 300 sucres in respect of workers in the mountains. (On assumption that year contains 300 working days.) (b) Lump sum is paid direct to relatives. Not more than 50 sucres. ESTHONIA (a) 66%% of annual earnings; no absolute maximum. (a) 66%% of average earnings of unskilled workers of same sex and age-class as deceased. (a) Commutation at request of relatives with consent of insurance institution for lump sum of 10 years' pension (adults), and pension multiplied by number of years during which it must be paid, but not more than 10 (minors). Not 20, than daily FINLAND (a) 80 % of annual earnings up to 900 marks ; 26 % % of portion of annual earnings in excess ef 900 marks. (a) 240 marks a year. FRANCE (a) 60 % of annual earnings up to 4,500 francs; 15 % of portion of annual earnings between 4,500 and 15,000 francs; 7 '/2 % of annual earnings in excess of 15,000 francs. (a) Commutation by agreement with relative if poor law authority responsible for him consents. (b) 3,000 crowns. (b) Compensation is dealt with as Workers' Insurance Council directs. Not more than 900 crowns. 200 crowns. less than nor more 30 times earnings. 6 % % of annual earnings, but not less than 50 marks. Not more than 200 francs. — 241 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation relict to (cont.) Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Widow, incapacitated widower, children u n d e r i 5, p a r e n t s , grandparents, grandchildren under 1 5, brothers and sisters under 15. Relatives other t h a n widow and children must he dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on r e - m a r r i a g e when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15 % of a n n u a l earnings. E a c h orphan receives 20 %. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20% of annual earnings in following order of precedence : parents, grandparents and grandchildren, brothers and sisters. Relict, children, other relatives under 18. Relatives other t h a n widow must be dependent. If children are left, s i a r e of relict is fixed by Workers' Insurance Council. If no children are left, relict receives whole s u m . Share of children is fixed by Workers' I n surance Council. Orphans share whole s u m . If no relict or children are left, shares of other relatives are fixed by Workers' Insurance Council. Widow, children under 16, parents, orphan grandchildren. Relatives other t h a n widow and children must be dependent. If widow only is left, she receives six m o n t h s ' earnings. If widow and children are left t h e y share one year's earnings. Orphans share 10 m o n t h s ' earnings. Grandchildren are compensated as children. Widow, children under 15, parents, grandparents, orphan brothers and sisters under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Widow receives 33 y, % of a n n u a l earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. E a c h child receives 1 6 % % of annual earnings. E a c h orphan receives 25 %. If pensions of widow and children do not exhaust t o t a l pension, ascendants share remainder up to 1 6 % % of annual earnings, and b r o t h e r s and sisters also 1 6 % % b o t h categories having same rights. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, other relatives. Relatives other t h a n widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 40% of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marrlage when lump sum of two years' pension is paid. E a c h child receives 20 % of annual earnings. E a c h orphan receives 40 %. If no relict or children are left, shares of other relatives are fixed by Insurance Council. Relict, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16. Relatives other t h a n relict and children must, be dependent. One child receives 15 % Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings; two of annual earnings. children share 25 % ; Pension ceases on r e marriage when lump sum three children share or more of three years' pension . 35 % ; four children share 40 %. is paid. Each orphan receives 20%. If no relict or children are left, other relatives share 30 % of annual earnings. 16 — 242 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (f>) lump sum COUNTRY (o) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses Maximum Minimum GERMANY (a) 60 % of annual earnings up to 1,800 marks; 20% of portion of annual earnings in excess of 1,800 marks. (a) 60% of local wage for adults. GREAT BRITAIN (6) Three years' (b) 200 pounds earnings, but not plus family almore than 300 pds, lowance. plus family allowance. Maximum total compensation : 600 pounds. Less any payments made before death. (b) Compensation is dealt with as judge directs. Not more than 15 pounds. Payable only if no other compensation is due. GREECE (6) Five times annual earnings up to 2,000 drachmae; 1 Vi times portion of earnings in excess of 2,000 drachmae. (6)6,000 drachmae. (b) Lump sum is paid direct to relatives. Not more than 60 drachmae. HUNGARY ( Industry) (a) 66%% of annual earnings. (Agriculture) INDIA 6 % % of annual earnings, but not less than 50 marks. Not more than 40 times daily earnings. Not more than 200,000 crowns. Payable only if no other compensation is due. (b) Lump sum is fixed by statute. (b) 30 times month(b) 240 rupees ly earnings, but not more than 2,500 rupees. Less any payments made before death. (6) Lump sum is paid direct to relatives. Not more than 50 rupees. Payable only if no other compensation is due. — 243 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation relict to (coni.) Compensation to orphans Compensation to other relatives Each child, orphan or not, receives 20 % of annual earnings. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings in following order of precedence : parents, grandparents, grandchildren. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents, orphan grandchildren under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid (to widow only). Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, stepfather, stepmother, half-brothers, half-sisters. All must be dependent. Judge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is three years' earnings. If only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is fixed by judge. If in addition to totally dependent relatives children under 15 are left, compensation is three years' earnings plus additional sum in respect of each child calculatedas follows : 15% of product of average weekly earnings and numberof weeks which will elapse between death of parent and child's fifteenth birthday, average weekly earnings being not more than 2 pounds nor less than 1 pound. If in addition to partially dependent relatives children under 15 are left, a proportionate additional sum is payable. Relict, unmarried sons under 21, unmarried daughters, parents, grandparents, unmarried grandsons under 21, unmarried grand-daughters, unmarried brothers under 18, unmarried sisters under 21. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. If no other relatives are left, relict receives whole sum. If descendants are left, relict receives 40 %. If ascendants are left, relict receives 50 %. If brothers and sisters are left, relict receives 60%. Children share 60 % of whole sum. Orphans share whole sum. Grandchildren are compensated as children. If relict but no descendants are left, ascendants share 50 % of whole sum. If no relict or descendants are left, ascendants share whole sum. If relict but no descendants or ascendants are left, brothers and sisters share 40 %. If no other relatives are left, brothers and sisters share whole sum. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15% of annual earnings. Each orphan receives 30%. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings in following order of precedence: parents, grandparents, grandchildren. Legal heirs. Legal heirs share 300,000 crowns in ordinary cases or 500,000 crowns in specially deserving cases. If more than two children under 14 are left, these sums are increased by 30,000 or 50,000 crowns respectively for the third and successive children under 14 up to maximum of 420,000 or 700,000 crowns respectively. Relict, sons under Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation determines distribution of com15, unmarried daugh- pensation among relatives. ters, married daughters under 15, parents, paternal grandparsnts, orphan children under 15 of son of deceased, brothers and sisters under 15, unmarried sisters. None need be dependent. — 244 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (o) pension, or (b) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum IRISH FREE STATE (lb) Three years earnings, but not more than 300 pounds. Minimum (b) 150 pounds. (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (ft) Disposal of lump sum (b) Compensation is dealt with as judge directs. Less any payments made before death. ITALY ( Industry) (Agriculture) RELATING Funeral expenses Not more than 10 pounds. Payable only if no other compensation is due. (6) Five times an(6) 5,000 lire. nual earnings, but not more than 30,000 lire. (6) Amount of lump sum is prescribed by statute and depends on age, sex and number of relatives of deceased workman. It is graduated as follows: (6) Lump sum is Age of Male Female direct to reladeceased (Lire) (Lire) i paid tives. 12-15 3,000 2,250 15-23 6,000 3,000 1 23-55 7,500 3,750 55-65 4,500 2,250 Compensation is increased 10% up to maximum of 50 % in respect of widow and each child under 15. JAPAN (Factory Act) (Health Insurance Act) (6) More than 170 days' earnings; no absolute minimum. — 10 yen. 20 times daily earnings but not more than 20 yen. — — — LATVIA (a) 66%% of annual earnings, but not more than 100,000 roubles a year. (a) 66%% of average annual earnings of unskilled workers of men of same sex and age-class as deceased. (a) Commutation at request of relatives with consent of insurance institution, for lump sum of 10 years' pension (adults) and pension multiplied by number of years during which it must be paid, but not more than 10 (minors). Not 20, than daily LITHUANIA (a) 66%% of annual earnings, but not more than a statutory amount. Ditto (a) Commutation by agreement with relatives for lump sum of 10 years' pension (adults) and pension multiplied by number of years during which it must be paid, but not more than 10 (minors) S t a t u t o r y amount differing according as deceas ed was adult or minor. less than nor more 30 times earnings. — 245 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH (COTlt.) Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation to relict Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Relict, children, parJudge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. ents, grandparents, If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is three years, grandchildren, broth- earnings. ers, sisters, step-childIf only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is fixed by ren, step-father, step- judge. mother, half-brothers, half-sisters. All must be dependent. Grandchildren are compensated as children. If relict but no descendants are left, ascendants share 50 % of whole sum. If no relict or descendants are left,ascendants share whole sum. If relict but no descendants or ascendants are left, brothers and sisters share 40 %. If no other relatives are left, brothers and sisters share whole sum. If no other relatives are left, relict receives whole sum. If descendants are left, relict receives 40 %. If ascendants are left, relict receives 50 %. If brothers and sisters are left, relict receives 60 %. Children share 60 % of whole sum. Orphans share whole sum. Compensation is divided into shares producing pensions of equal amount to each child under 12, which are reduced by 50 % when child's age reaches 12. Widow, children, Relict receives whole parents, grandparents, sum. grandchildren, brothers and sisters, other dependants. All must be living in house of deceased at time of death. Orphans share whole sum. If no widow or orphans are left, other relatives share whole sum in following order of precedence : parents, grandchildren, grandparents, brothers and sisters, other dependants, males excluding females and the elder excluding the younger in each category. — — — Widow, children under 15, parents, grandparents, orphan brothers and sisters under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Widow receives 33 >/3 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 16%% of annual earnings. Bach orphan receives 25 %. If pensions of widow and children do not exhaust total pension, ascendants share remainder up to 16 % % of annual earnings, and brothers and sisters also 16 % %, both categories having same rights. Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Relict, children under 18, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 18, brothers and sisters under 18. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. — — 246 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (6) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum LUXEMBURG (a) 60 % of annual earnings, up to 1500 francs; 20% of portion of annual earnings between 1,500 and 3,750 frs. Plus cost of living allowance. (a) 60 % of average annual earnings of unskilled workman. Plus cost of living allowance. NETHERLANDS ( Industry) (Agriculture) (a) 60% of daily earnings, but not more than 4.80 gulden a day. (Seamen) Ditto NEWFOUNDLAND (6) Three years' earnings, but not morethan 1,500 dollars. (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (o) Disposal of lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses 6 % % of annual earnings, but not more than 80 nor less than 40 francs. 30 times daily wage, but not more than 240 gulden. (6) 750 dollars. (6) Compensation is dealt with as judge directs. Not more than 50 dollars. Payable only if no other compensation is due. (b) Compensation is dealt with as Court of Arbitration directs. Not more than 50 pounds. Less any payments made before death. NEW ZEALAND (6) 156 times weekly earnings, but not more than 750 pounds. (6) 200 pounds. Less any payments made before death. — 247 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH (COM.) Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation to relict Compensation to orphans Compensation to other relatives Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents, orphan grandchildren under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage, when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child, orphan or not, receives 20% of annual earnings. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings in following order of precedence: parents, grandparents, grandchildren. (Cost of living allowance is not paid in respect of pensions of ascendants.) Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, parents, grandparents, orphan grandchildren under 16, parents-in-law. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 30 % of daily earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of two years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15% of daily earnings. Each orphan receives 20%. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives are compensated in following order of precedence: (1) parents share 30 % of daily earnings; (2) grandparents share 30 % ; (3) Each grandchild receives 20 % ; (4) parents-inlaw share 30 %. Widow, children under 16, parents, grandparents, parents-inlaw. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Widow receives 30 % of daily earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of two years' pension Is paid. Ditto If pensions of widow and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives are compensated in following order of precedence: (1) parents share 30% of daily earnings; (2) grandparents share 30 % (3) parents-in-law share 30%. Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, step-father, step-mother, halfbrothers, half-sisters. All must be dependent. Judge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is three years' earnings. If only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is fixed by judge. Relict, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, stepchildren, step-father, step-mother, halfbrothers, half-sisters. Relatives other than widow and children under 16 must be dependent. Court of Arbitration determines distribution of compensation among relatives. If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is 156 times weekly earnings. If only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is Oxed by Court of Arbitration. — 248 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (b) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum NORWAY ( Industry) (a) 50 % of annual earnings, but not more than 1,000 crowns a year. (a) 225 crowns a year. (Seamen) (a) 50 % of basic wage, but not more than 1,350 crowns a year. (a) 375 crowns. ( Fishermen) (a) Rate of pension is fixed by statute and depends on age. It is 600 crowns a year in respect of deceased under 60 and 500 crowns in r ;spect of deceased over 60. PANAMA (b) Two years' earnings; no absolute maximum. PERU (a) 33 % of annual earnings, but not more than 40 pounds a year. Pension is increased was woman or child POLAND Former German Territory (a) 60% of annual earnings up to 1800 zloty; 20% of portion of earnings in excess of 1800 zloty. Former Austrian (a) 66 % % of annual earnings. and Russian Territories PORTUGAL (a) 60 % of annual earnings up to 700 escudos; 30% of portion of earnings in excess of 700 escudos. (b) 600 balboas in respect of deceased working 300 days a year. (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses 50 crowns. Not more than 50 crowns in Norway or 100 crowns abroad. Not more than 75 crowns. (b) Employer has option of substituting for lump sum pension of 25 % of annual earnings. (a) Commutation at (a) Minimum varies from 4 to option of employer for lump sum of two 15 pounds a year accordingto region years' earnings. 25 % if deceased under 18. Amount depends on social position of workman. Two months' earnings. 6 % % of annua] earnings. (a) 60 % of local wage for adults. (a) Commutation by agreement with relative if poor law authority responsible for him consents. Not more than 66 y3 % of monthly earnings. Not more than 15 times daily earnings. — 249 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation relict to (COllt.) Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage^ when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15 % of annual earnings, maximum of 30 % for all children. Each orphan receives 20% ¡maximum of 50% for all orphans. If pension of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, parents or grandparents share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings. Widow, children under 15, parents, grandparents. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Widow receives 20 % of basic wage. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Ditto Ditto Widow, children unWidow receives 50 % der 15, parents, grand- of total pension. parents. Pension ceases on reNone need he de- marriage when lump pendent. sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child 25% of total maximum of all children. Each orphan 40%. Widow, children unWidow receives 11 % der 16, parents, grand- of annual earnings. parents, grandchildPension ceases on reren under 16. marriage. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Children share 22 % of annual earnings. Orphans share 33%. If no children are left, grandchildren are compensated as children. If no widow or descendants are left, ascendants share 30 % of annual earnings. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents, orphan grandchildren under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid (to widow only.) Each child, orphan or not, receives 20 % of annual earnings. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings in following order of precedence: parents, grandparents, grandchildren. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 15, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 15, brothers and sisters under 15. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15% of annual earnings. Each orphan receives 20%. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20% of annual earnings in following order of precedence: parents, grandparents, and grandchildren, brothers and sisters. Relict, sons under 14, daughters under 16, parents, grandparents, persons under 14. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. One child receives 15 % of annual earnings; two children share 25 % ; three children share 35 % ; four or more children share 40 %. Each orphan receives 20%. If no children are left, other relatives share 40% of annual earnings. receives pension; 50 % for receives If pensions and of relict children do not exhaust total pension, parents or grandparents share 40 % of total pension. — 250 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or (6) lump sum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal ot lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses RO UM AN IA (o) 60 % of annual earnings, but not more than 1,440 lei in respect of deceased working not more than 300 days a year, plus cost of living allowance of 150 % . Amount varying from 100 to 350 lei according to earnings of deceased, plus cost of living allowance of 1,000 lei. RUSSIA (a) 66 % % of average monthly earnings. Not more than 1 month's earnings. SALVADOR (6) Two years' earnings; no absolute maximum. (6) 300 pesos in respect of deceased working 300 days a year. Not more than 40 pesos. SERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM (a) 100% of annual earnings, but not more than 12,000 dinars a year. (a) 600 dinars a year. 30 times daily earnings, but not more than 1,200 dinars. SOUTH AFRICA (6) Two years' earnings, but not more than 500 pounds. (6) Compensation is dealt with as judge directs. Not more than 40 pounds. Payable only If no other compensation is due. (6) Employer has option of substituting for lump sum pension calculated as follows: (1) 40% of annual earnings to relict and children or grandchildren, or (2) 20% to relict only, or (3) 10% to parents or grandparents. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage. Amount varies from 100 to 200 pesetas according to size of town. Less any payments nlade before death. SPAIN (6) Two years' earnings ; no absolute maximum. (b) 1,200 pesetas in respect of deceased working 300 days a year. — 251 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH (cOilt.) Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation to relict Compensation orphans to Compensation to other relatives Widow, children under 16. None need be dependent. Widow receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage. Relict, children under 16, parents, brothers and sisters under 16, adult relatives having children under 8 to support. All must be dependent and unable to work. One relative receives 33 % % of average monthly earnings. Two relatives share 50 % of average monthly earnings Three or more relatives share 66 % % of average monthly earnings. Widow, children under 16, parents over 60, grandparents over 60, orphan grandchildren under 16. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Widow receives years' earnings. two If widow and children are left, they share two years' earnings. Orphans share two years' earnings. Grandchildren are compensated as children. If no relict or descendants are left, parents or grandparents share six months' earnings. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16, brothers and sisters under 16. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 33%% of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 25 % of annual earnings. Each orphan receives 33%%. If pension of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 33 % % of annual earnings in following order of precedence : parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters. Children share 40 % of annual earnings. Orphans share 60 %. Judge determines distribution of compensation among relatives. Relict, children, parents, grandparents, If any totally dependent relatives are left, compensation is two years' earngrandchildren, broth- ings. ers.slsters, step-childIf only partially dependent relatives are left, compensation is not more than ren, step-father, step- three times annual value of benefits received from deceased by such relatives. mother, half-sisters, half-brothers. All must be dependent. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 18, parents over 60, grandparents over 60, orphan grandchildren under i&. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives year's earnings. one If relict and children are left, they share two years' earnings. Orphans share two years' earnings. If no children are left, grandchildren are compensated as children. If no relict or descendants are left, parents or grandparentsreceive 10 months' earnings, if there are two or more; seven months' earnings if there is only one. — 252 — COMPARATIVE TABLE Maximum and minimum total (a) pension, or(6) lumpsum COUNTRY Maximum Minimum SWEDEN (a) 66 y, % of annual earnings, but not more than 1,600 crowns a year. (a) 300 crowns a year. SWITZERLAND (a) 60 % ol annual earnings, but not more than 3,600 francs. URUGUAY (a) 66%% of annual earnings, but not more than 500 pesos a year. SHOWING PROVISIONS (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (o) Disposal of lump sum RELATING Funeral expenses 10 % of annual earnings, but not more than 100 crowns. (a) Commutation by agreement with relatives. Not more than 40 francs. Not more than 40 pesos. — 253 — TO COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Relatives entitled to compensation Compensation relict to (concluded) Compensation to orphans Compensation to other relatives Relict, children under 16, parents. Relatives other than relict and children must be dependent. Relict receives 25 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child, orphan or not, receives 16 54% of annual earnings. If no relict or children are left, parents receive 25 % of annual earnings. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters under 16. None need be dependent. Relict receives 30 % of annual earnings. Widow's pension ceases on re-marriage when lump sum of three years' pension is paid. Each child receives 15% of annual earnings. Each orphan receives 25%. If pensions of relict and children do not exhaust total pension, other relatives share remainder up to 20 % of annual earnings. Widow, incapacitated widower, children under 16, parents, grandparents, grandchildren under 16, brothers and sisters under 16, cousins under 16. Relatives other than widow and children must be dependent. Relict receives 20 % of annual earnings. Pension ceases on remarriage when lump sum of two years' pension is paid. One child receives 15 % of annual earnings; two children share 25%; three share 35%; four or more share 40 %. Each orphan receives 20%. Grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and cousins are compensated as children. If no other relatives are left, ascendants share 30 % of annual earnings. CHAPTER IV COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK The amount of compensation in case of incapacity for work depends on the severity and duration of the injury, and is based upon an evaluation of the resulting incapacity. The subject will be treated under the following heads: (1) The classification of incapacity; (2) The evaluation of incapacity; (3) The waiting period ; (4) The amount of compensation ; (5) The review of compensation. § 1. — The Classification of Incapacity The incapacity for work caused by industrial accidents varies both in degree of severity and in duration, and with these two criteria a classification of incapacity can be established as follows : (1) Permanent total incapacity ; (2) Permanent partial incapacity ; (3) Temporary total incapacity; (4) Temporary partial incapacity. Incapacity is said to be permanent when, after the injury has fully healed, the accident is found to have resulted in a definitive reduction in earning capacity. The relations between the workman on the one hand and the employer or insurance institution on the other are thenceforward modified. Generally the medical treatment ceases and the form and amount of compensation alter. Permanent incapacity may be either total or partial. It is total when the workman is considered as being unable to engage regularly in any remunerative occupation (e.g. if he loses both eyes or both arms). It is partial when the workman is considered as able to obtain a wage, diminished to a greater or less extent, either in his former occupation or in another. Incapacity is temporary when, in view of the nature of the injury, there is reason to think that after a longer or shorter period recovery will be complete, and no definitive reduction in earning — 255 — capacity will result. It is in practice a very difficult matter in many cases to determine whether the incapacity is temporary or not. Except where severe mutilations, such as the loss of an eye, an arm or a leg, are concerned, it is often impossible to forecast the development of the injury, since a period of several years may elapse before an injury assumes its final condition. Legislators, desirous of safeguarding the rights of the accident victim, and convinced moreover of the value of an expeditious settlement of the liability of the employer or insurance institution, have provided that, on the expiry of a certain period, the incapacity shall be considered to have reached its final condition, as having disappeared altogether, or as having become permanent. The distinction between total and partial is less important where temporary rather than permanent incapacity is concerned. In practice, the injured workman is usually unable, while medical treatment is going on, to engage in his employment and earn his wages. Nevertheless, in the case of certain injuries the development of which is slow, there is a possibility that the workman might undertake light work, since the incapacity might in fact be only partial. Three main groups of countries can be distinguished according to the system of classification of incapacity, which they employ, namely : (1) Permanent total, permanent partial, and temporary total; (2) Permanent total, permanent partial, temporary total and temporary partial; or (3) Total and partial. First group. — In the first, and by far the largest group, three kinds of incapacity are recognised: permanent total, permanent partial, and temporary, all temporary incapacity being considered as total (Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Esthonia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Quebec, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay). The distinction between permanent and temporary incapacity can be established by various methods, and a subclassification of this group of countries can be made according to the method they adopt. (a) Under the simplest method a temporary allowance is replaced by a pension when the injury has healed, no absolute limit being imposed for the duration of the allowance; only then — 256 — are total and partial incapacity differentiated (Bulgaria, Chile, France, Italy, Japan, Panama, Quebec, Roumania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay). (b) Under another method the allowance is replaced in some countries by a lump sum and in others by a pension on the expiry of the period of medical treatment or of a certain time limit, whichever occurs sooner (Peru, 3 years ; Greece, 2 years, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Guatemala, Salvador, South Africa, 1 year; Finland, 120 days; Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, 10 weeks ; Netherlands, 6 weeks 1 ). In all these countries except Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Finland, the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom and the Netherlands, compensation is paid primarily in the form of a lump sum. (c) A third method provides that the allowance for a certain number of weeks shall be paid by a sickness insurance institution. If the injury has healed at the end of that time, but incapacity still subsists, the accident insurance institution becomes responsible for continuing the payment of compensation; and a permanent pension adjusted to the degree of incapacity takes the place of the allowance. But if the injury has not healed at the end of that time, the allowance is replaced by a provisional pension payable by the accident insurance institution. The countries in which this system is in operation are: Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories) where the period during which the sickness insurance institution is responsible for compensation is four weeks; Denmark, Esthonia, Germany, Latvia, Luxemburg and Poland (former German territory) where the period is 13 weeks; and Hungary and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, where the allowance is paid for 10 weeks, though in the latter country the expenses fall on the sickness insurance institution for the first four weeks only. Second group. — There is a group of countries in which a distinction between total and partial is made throughout the duration of incapacity, so that the possibility that the workman may be able to earn some income before the completion of medical treatment is provided for (Belgium,Brazil, Canadian Provinces except Quebec and Saskatchewan, Finland, India, Greece, Norway, Peru, Portugal and Sweden). Third group. — Finally, separate mention must be made of a special group of countries whose legislation is based on the British 1 If on the expiry of 6 weeks the degree of incapacity cannot yet be finally fixed, a provisional pension is awarded. — 257 — Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 (Australian Commonwealth and States, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland and New Zealand). In these countries incapacity is not distinguished as permanent and temporary, but only as total and partial. Nevertheless, the legislation of all these countries provides for the commutation of the allowance for a lump sum at the option of the employer, after incapacity has lasted six months. This system results in the consideration of incapacity as being permanent after the expiry of six months, in those cases where the employer prefers to commute the allowance. § 2. — The Evaluation of Incapacity In order to adjust compensation to economic loss it is necessary to evaluate the loss. The extent of the loss depends on the degree to which the workman's potential earning capacity has been diminished by the injury. In the following paragraphs will be studied the bases and methods of evaluating incapacity for work. THE BASES OF EVALUATION The evaluation of the consequences of accidents may be effected with the object of determining either physical disability, incapacity in respect of the workman's habitual occupation, or incapacity on the general labour market. The Evaluation of Physical Disability The degree of disability is measured solely with reference to the physical ability of a normal man; to each organ or to each function is assigned a certain value depending on its importance in the general physical economy of an adult individual. The value of an organ has no relation to the occupational conditions, so that the loss of an eye is evaluated at the same figure whether the person concerned is a watchmaker or farm worker. Evaluation on a physical basis has been widely used in fixing war pensions, particularly in Belgium, France, Great Britain and Italy. It is, however, obvious that physical disability is different from economic disability and that therefore some other basis is needed for evaluating industrial accident injuries. The Evaluation of Occupational Incapacity Occupational incapacity in its strict sense is evaluated solely with reference to the consequences of the accident on the workman 17 — 258 — in the exercise of his habitual occupation. The same injuries may produce incapacity widely different in degree according to the occupation; thus, the loss of the left arm, which forces a fitter to change his trade, is to a clerical worker insignificant from an occupational standpoint. The workman's habitual occupation certainly constitutes an important factor in the determination of the degree of incapacity, especially where old men are concerned, but it cannot be accepted as the only basis of evaluation because legislators have taken the view that it is the duty of an accident victim to turn his remaining working capacity to the best account, and, if necessary, change his occupation. The Evaluation of Incapacity on the General Labour Market On the basis of incapacity on the general labour market the results of the accident are measured, not by reference to a particular occupation, but with regard to the reasonable possibilities of work which the general labour market may offer the workman in view of the nature and severity of his injury, his trade experience, his age, and all other factors which might affect his recovery of a place in industry. This system, in which the dominant motive is to employ fully all the workman's productive ability, has been adopted in all workmen's compensation laws. THE METHODS OF EVALUATION The evaluation of earning capacity on the general labour market can be effected by two methods. By the first method, which is of an empirical character, the degree of incapacity is measured by the actual difference between earnings before, and earnings after the accident. By the second method incapacity is presumed to exist in a certain degree corresponding to the nature and severity of injury. Evaluation according to the Reduction in Earnings In order to measure the reduction in earnings it is of course necessary to determine both earnings before, and earnings after the accident. The computation of earnings before the accident does not present any serious difficulty; in the great majority of cases it is possible to obtain information as to the actual remuneration of the workman during the basic period prescribed by the law. — 259 — The determination of earnings after the accident is,- on the contrary, in the majority of cases very difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes the workman is earning nothing at the time when the law provides that the degree of incapacity shall be settled, either because he has not yet returned to work or because he has given' up working for wages in order to engage in business on his own account. Sometimes, again, the workman's actual earnings do n'otf properly represent his actual ability to earn. He may, by mischance, or lack of initiative, or on account of the employment situation,, not yet have succeeded in finding the work in which he will obtain: the highest wages;, he may further not yet have fully re-adapted himself physically so as to render his maximum efficiency, as is very frequently the case when incapacity is deemed by the law to be permanent before the medical development of the injury is completed. It is only possible to determine the earnings which really represent the permanent earning capacity of the workman after the accident if the final settlement of the claim does not take place until the medical development of the injury and the functional and vocational re-adaptation have been completed, which, in practice, will require for many cases a space of several years. A desire to settle expeditiously the financial liability of employers or insurance institutions has led to a search being made for another method of measuring incapacity, under which actual earnings after the accident, while remaining the most important factor in the assessment, are not the sole criterion. Evaluation according to the Nature and Severity of the Injury Under this method, the degree of incapacity is no longer measured according to the reduction in earnings, but estimated according to the nature and severity of the injury. Not the actual reduction in earnings is here in question, but the hypothetical reduction which might be considered to be the normal result of the injury. The evaluation of this probable incapacity requires a knowledge of the occupations which are compatible with each kind of injury, and of the productive capacity of the injured workman in each of these occupations. The process of evaluation implying, as it does, in each case a careful investigation of the physical abilities and the principal movements required in the exercise of each trade, renders the task of the judge a very difficult one. In many countries it has been attempted to facilitate evaluation — 260.— by constructing a schedule consisting of a list of injuries in which, opposite each injury, is shown the degree of incapacity normally resulting from it. The perfect schedule would resemble a dictionary; it would cover all occupations and all injuries, and give the degree of incapacity corresponding to each injury in the exercise of each occupation; it would, moreover, take into account the age and special skill of the individual. Its construction would be a work of extraordinary amplitude and detail, in view of the increasing specialisation of modern industry. At the present time only one schedule of this nature, much simplified indeed, is officially utilised ; it is that of the State of California1. This schedule brings into relation the following elements: the nature and severity of the injury (267 sorts of injury), the occupation (52 groups of occupations), and age (31 age-categories for persons aged from 15 to 75), and provides for more than twelve million possible combinations. The other schedules in use, especially in Europe, are of a much simpler and less developed character. They contain two columns, the first of which is a list of injuries, while the second shows the degree of incapacity, expressed as a percentage of total incapacity, which normally results from each injury. The percentages represent average values applicable to all accident victims suffering from the same injury, whatever their age, general health, former occupation, and aptitude for taking up a fresh occupation. The degree of incapacity, as thus fixed, is in reality to a large extent the degree of physical incapacity. The rigid application of such schedules entails such injustice that generally they are used as guides, having, not an imperative, but an indicative value, so that the judges or experts concerned are at liberty either to disregard the figures, or else to vary their assessment within specific limits for each injury, being thus able to allow for age, former occupation, aptitude for new occupation, and all other elements susceptible of difference in individuals. The variations from the average percentages of incapacity are, however, generally small, and the experts usually tend to follow closely the schedule, even where it is purely a guide, so that in practice physical incapacity remains the principal factor in the evaluation of economic loss. 1 Schedule -for Rating Permanent Disabilities under the Workmen's sation Act, 1914. California State Printing Office, San Francisco. Compen- — 261 — CLASSIFICATION OF COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO METHOD OF EVALUATION ADOPTED It is hard to discover what is the actual practice followed in certain countries in evaluating incapacity. The vagueness of the laws is perhaps intentional, the purpose being to permit elasticity of administration and enable the methods to be developed in accordance with experience. It is quite clear, however, that in principle the degree of incapacity is assessed with reference to probable earning capacity in the occupations in which the workman can reasonably be expected to find employment. The majority of countries can be classified into three groups: (1) For the evaluation of incapacity in the case of certain specified injuries, an official schedule, having imperative force, is used, which shows for each injury the appropriate degree of incapacity; the evaluation of incapacity due to other injuries is left to the discretion of the judge or other authority (Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Esthonia, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Peru, Queensland, South Australia, Spain, Victoria, Western Australia). (2) A schedule showing the degree of incapacity corresponding to each of a certain number of specified injuries is used as a guide in practice by the administrative or judicial authorities, but it is not legally recognised. In theory the degree of incapacity is in all cases decided by the judge or other authority in the exercise of his discretion. Such schedules, having an indicative but not imperative value, are believed to be in use in many countries: among them are Austria, Chile, Czechoslovakia, France and Germany. (3) The judge or other authority decides the degree of incapacity according to the circumstances of each individual case. No schedule is used. The law affords no guidance as to evaluation except that it must be in accordance with the reduction in earning capacity (Australian Commonwealth, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New South Wales, South Africa, Tasmania). The laws of some countries specify what circumstances in particular must be taken into account in assessing the degree of incapacity. For example, in Chile, Denmark and Finland regard must be had to any special skill required in the victim's habitual occupation before the accident. In Finland, again, the influence of the victim's physical and mental development, age and sex must be taken into consideration. It may be of interest to give the percentages of incapacity assigned to various injuries in the schedules embodied in the legislation, or utilised in the administration, of certain countries: — 262 — Percentage of incapacity Nature of Injury Argentina Loss of b o t h ey«s, b o t h limbs, b o t h feet, h a n d a n d foot, m e n t a l powers paralysis Loss of right a r m » » left » » » right h a n d » » left » » » leg » » foot » » sight of one eye Total deafness Deafness of one ear Loss of right t h u m b » » left » » » right forefinger » » left » » » little finger 100 60 60 60 60 60 50 42 42 12 30 30 24 18 13 Brazil France — 100 70-75 60-70 60-65 55-60 60-65 25-50 25-33 40-45 15-20 20-25 18-20 15 12 7-8 50-60' 50-60 45-60 40-60 55-60 45-60 60 — — 20-4020-40 15-40 10-40 5-20 Italy — • 85 80 70 70 60-75 50 35 — 20 30 25 20 15 12 Victoria 100 80 75 70 65 75 60 30 50 10 30 25 20 15 12 § 3. — The Waiting Period The great majority of laws (about three-quarters) specify that incapacity lasting less than a certain small number of days (between 3 and 7) does not entitle to compensation. The very provision of a waiting period as well as its plan and length are the result of compromise. On the one hand the workman's right to compensation is essentially the same whether his incapacity lasts 1, 10 or 100 days; on the other hand there is the inexpediency of compensating for incapacity of A'ery brief duration. One object of such provision is to avoid putting administrative. machinery into motion on account of trifling injuries. If no waiting period were provided the way would be open for a large volume of small claims which would place the employer or insurance institution in the difficult dilemma of either making an investigation whose cost would be disproportionately great in relation to the amount of compensation concerned or paying without question, which might involve much unjustifiable expense. A second object of the waiting period is to discourage malingering by making the workman bear the loss of wages during the first few days of incapacity. Thus, if incapacity lasts 12 days and no compensation is paid for the first 4 but full compensation for the last 8, then the average rate of compensation is 66 2 / 3 per cent. of the earnings. It follows that the rate of compensation for temporary incapacity cannot be considered without reference to — 263 — the length of the uncompensated waiting period, since its value increases in proportion to the shortness of the waiting period and the length of the period of incapacity. Waiting periods can be arranged on three plans : (1) Incapacity lasting less than n days is in no case compensated ; if it lasts n days it is compensated from the nth day; (2) Incapacity lasting less than n days is not compensated; if it lasts n days it is compensated from the nth day; if it lasts n plus m days it is compensated from the first day; (3) Incapacity lasting less than n days is not compensated; if it lasts n days it is compensated from the first day. Examples of each of the three plans are to be found in the laws of the different countries. All three plans achieve the purpose of avoiding handling of claims for trifling injuries. With regard to malingering, however, it is difficult to estimate their comparative success. It is clear that under the second and third plans there is an inducement to the workman to prolong his incapacity to n plus m days and n days respectively. The substitution of the second for the first plan in France and Great Britain in 1905 and 1906 respectively has been followed by an increase in the proportion of accidents lasting n plus m days or longer.* The first plan does not suffer from the same defect but it presents the disadvantage of throwing on the workman the whole burden of the wage loss for the duration of the waiting period, however serious the injury may ultimately prove to be; but this defect can be mitigated by making the waiting period very short. It may be observed that one of the most recent workmen's compensation laws, the 1923 Act of Great Britain, provides that no compensation is payable for the first three days unless the incapacity lasts four weeks. The following tables corresponding to the three plans described above indicate the practice of the various countries in regard to the waiting period ; a fourth table contains a list of the countries where no waiting period is imposed. 1. Incapacity lasting less than n days is in no case compensated; if it lasts n days\it is compensated from the nth day. Country C a n a d a : Quebec Denmark Finland Germany India Uucnnipensatcd 1 period (no dating back) | 7 days 3-7 » l 2 » 3 » 10 » Country Italy (agriculture) Luxemburg Norway (industry) Switzerland Uncompensated period (no dating back) 10 d a y s 2 » 3 »2 2 » i The sickness insurance funds have the option of Axing the waiting period between the2 limits of 3 and 7 days. If workman is not covered by sickness insurance Acts, waiting period is 10 days. — 264 — 2. Incapacity lasting less than n days is not compensated; if it lasts n days it is compensated from the nth day ; if it lasts n plus m days it is compensated from the first day. Uncompensated period Country Australia Commonwealth (seamen) Canada Alberta France Great Britain Greece Irish Free State Newfoundland Roumania Uruguay 3. Compensation begins first day if incapacity lasts 7 days 14 days 3 4 3 4 7 7 3 7 10 11 28 11 14 14 8 31 » » » » » » »> o • » » » » » » » Incapacity lasting less than n days is not compensated ; if it lasts n days it is compensated from the first day. Country Argentina Australia New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Canada British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Nova Scotia Ontario Saskatchewan Compensation begins first day if incapacity lasts 7 days 7 3 3 3 7 3 4 8 7 » » » » » » » » » 4 4 7 l » » 7 i, 7 7 » » Country Cuba Czechoslovakia Guatemala Hungary Italy (industry) Lithuania Netherlands New Zealand Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom South Africa Sweden Compensation begins first day if incapacity lasts 14 days 4 »1 7 4 6 4 3 3 » ». » » » » 4 7 4 » » »> » Under the new Workers' Insurance Act, 1924 (not yet in force), incapacity lasting less than 4 days is not compensated; if it lasts 4 days it is compensated from the fourth day; and if it lasts 15 days it Is compensated from the third day. — 265 — 4. Incapacity is always compensated from the first day Australia :: Commonwealth (workmen) Brazil Bulgaria Chile Ecuador Esthonia Japan Latvia Panama Peru Portugal Russia Salvador Spain § 4. — The Amount of Compensation The amount of compensation varies with the nature and degree of the incapacity for work; it will be examined separately in the following cases: permanent total incapacity, permanent partial incapacity, temporary incapacity, and the special case of the very seriously injured who require the constant attendance of another person. THE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION FOR PERMANENT TOTAL INCAPACITY In the case of permanent total incapacity the economic loss is, as we have seen, equal to the total of the wages which the injured workman would have received in the course of his working life if the accident had not occurred. Mention has already been made of the impossibility of accurately evaluating this loss, of the consequent necessity in practice of assuming t h a t the future will resemble the past and of calculating compensation on the basis of annual earnings. The amount of compensation is a fraction of the basic wage or a multiple thereof, according as the compensation is paid as a pension or a lump sum. It is to be observed, in judging the practical importance of these percentages and multiples, t h a t their operation in the calculation of compensation is very often limited by the existence of maximum and minimum limits to the basic wage. The Amount of the Pensions The pension is almost always lower than the basic wage, as is shown in the following table. — 266 — Country Australia (except New South Wales and Victoria) New South Wales and Victoria Austria Belgium Bulgaria •Canada Alberta New Brunswick Nova Scotia British Columbia Manitoba Ontario Quebec Chile Cuba Czechoslovakia Esthonia Finland .France Percentage 50 66% 66% 50 50-80 55 55 55 62% 66% 66% 50 50 66% 66% 66% 66% 66% Country Germany Great Britain Guatemala Hungary Irish Free State Latvia Lithuania Luxemburg Netherlands Newfoundland New Zealand Norway (industry) Peru Poland Portugal Roumania Russia Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom Sweden Switzerland Uruguay Percentage 66% 50-75 60 66% 50 66% 66% 66% 70 50 58 60 33 66% 66% 66% 66% 100 66% 70 66% An examination of the percentages given in the above table shows that the pension is in most countries between one-half and two-thirds of earnings, that the proportion most frequently adopted is two-thirds, and that in one country only, the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, is the compensation equal to the economic loss. The percentage only operates fully when the maximum limit of the iasic wage does not come into play. The argument used to justify the difference between the pension and the earnings is the same whether the case is one of incapacity or of death, namely the principle of occupational risk and the payment of compensation on a fixed scale which is the consequence of that principle: the employer who bears the cost of accidents due to the workman's fault (about 20 per cent, of the total according to the rather unsatisfactory statistics available) cannot be required to pay compensation in full. It is asserted moreover that the fact of leaving a portion of the Joss to be borne by the workman will stimulate him to be more «areful and to comply with safety regulations. This argument does not appear to have much weight, for one can hardly admit that workmen bear in mind consciously or subconsciously during their work how much compensation they will recense if injured, and that their degree of carefulness is inversely proportional to the amount of compensation. On the contrary, it would be more reasonable to think the great majority of accidents — 267 — ascribed to the workman's negligence is the result of ignorance, familiarity with dangerous processes, and the desire for rapid output. The Amount of the Lump Sums Lump sums are fixed without reference to the age of the victim, and vary considerably from country to country, as is indicated in the following table : Years' earnings Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada (Saskatchewan) Denmark . Ecuador Greece 1 2 3 3' 2 3 3 10 2 6 Years earnings India Italy (industry) Japan Panama Salvador South Africa Spain 3% 6 %* 1% 3 2 3 2 1,000 days'earnings More than 150 days'earnings. Or perhaps 2'/« : the text of the law is not clear. The lump sum most frequently adopted is thus that which is equal to three years' earnings. It corresponds in the case of a workman of average age, e.g. 35 years, to a pension of 20 per cent. of the basic wage, far lower than the 66 2 / 3 per cent, which is the rate most frequently adopted in countries where pensions are paid. It is therefore manifest t h a t in general lump sum compensation is less favourable than pension compensation, except where elderly workmen are concerned and the lump sum exceeds six years' earnings. T H E AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION FOR PERMANENT PARTIAL INCAPACITY In case of permanent partial incapacity the economic loss consists of the amount by which earnings have been reduced in consequence of the accident. This amount could be determined by comparing actual earnings before and after the accident, but in fact the rule in almost all laws is to calculate it according to the degree of incapacity for work, which is estimated with or without the aid of a schedule. The compensation is either a fraction or a multiple of the reduction in the basic wage, according as the payment is made in the form of pension or a lump sum. The Amount of the Pensions The amount of the pension in case of permanent partial incapacity is the same fraction of the wage-loss as in case of permanent total — 268 — incapacity. Hence in general it varies from one-half to two-thirds of the reduction in earnings, and the most usual fraction is twothirds (see table on page 266). The fact that compensation is partial and not integral is a consequence of the theory of occupational risk, as in the case of permanent total incapacity. Moreover, it is thought that if the injured workman is left to bear a portion of the loss he is stimulated to make greater efforts to increase his earnings either by re-adapting himself to his old trade or by learning a new one. Under this method of calculating compensation the injured workman obtains a total income (earnings plus pension) which is lower in proportion as the incapacity is more serious, as is shown in the table given below. The assumption has there been made that the compensation is equal to 66 2/3 per cent, of the reduction in earnings and that actual earnings after the accident correspond with the estimated degree of incapacity. The total income is expressed as a percentage of earnings before the accident. Degree of Incapacity Pension Post accident earnings Income 100 80 60 40 20 66% 531/3 40 26 V, 13 y 3 20 40 60 80 66% 731/3 80 862/3 931/3 Thus, the total income of the injured workman is 93!/3 per cent. of earnings before the accident for incapacity of 20 per cent., and 73V3 per cent, of earnings for incapacity of 80 per cent. If the fraction of the reduction in earnings used in the calculation of compensation for partial incapacity is less than the fraction. of earnings used in the calculation of compensation for total incapacity, it is clear that a sudden difference in the total income occurs at the point where serious partial incapacity becomes total. Such is the case in Cuba, France, Portugal, and Uruguay, where compensation for permanent total incapacity is 662/3 per cent, of the basic wage, while for permanent partial incapacity it is only 50 per cent, of the reduction in the wage, The disproportion between the rate of compensation and the need to which it should correspond is increased by the fact that in general the workman has greater difficulty in obtaining regular employment (even at a low wage) according as his injury is more severe. — 269 — The Amount of the Lump Sums The lump sum is calculated by multiplying the amount by which earnings have been reduced by the same factor as is used in case of permanent total incapacity. This factor varies from one-half to ten, and the figure most frequently adopted is three (see table on page 267). Lump sums, as they are fixed without regard to the age of the victim, are, as has been pointed out in dealing with permanent total incapacity, less favourable to the victim than pensions, except where elderly workmen are concerned and the factor is higher than six. T H E AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION IN CASE OF TEMPORARY INCAPACITY In case of temporary incapacity the economic loss entailed is usually the complete loss of wages. As the incapacity is of relatively short duration, it is reasonable to expect the workman would not change his occupation and that his rate of wages would not have altered if the accident had not occurred. Thus, earnings at the time of the accident accurately represent the economic loss. Hence in many countries compensation is a fraction of the daily earnings of the victim, calculated according to earnings on the day of the accident as in Brazil, according to earnings during the month before the accident as in France. The principle of occupational risk, which imposes on the employer the cost of compensating those accidents for which he is not directly responsible, and the award of compensation on a fixed scale, which results from t h a t principle, afford the explanation of the fact t h a t compensation is less than the wage-loss. The difference between compensation and wage-loss, which was noted in the case of permanent incapacity is even more marked in case of temporary incapacity. The percentages of earnings awarded in the various countries for temporary (total) incapacity are as follows: Country Percentage Argentina Australia, (except New South Wales and Victoria) New South Wales and Victoria Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Country Canada: Alberta, New Bruns50 wick. Nova Scotia British Columbia 66% Manitoba, Ontario 66%-80 Quebec 50 Chile 50 Cuba 50 Chechoslovakia 50-80 Percentage 50 55 62% 66% 50 50 50 66% — 270 — Country Percentage Denmark 66% Ecuador 50 50-66% Esthonia Finland 66% France 50 Germany (1-4 weeks) 50 (5-13 „ 66% "Great Britain 50-75 Greece 50 Guatemala 60 Hungary50 India 50 Irish Free State 50 Italy (industry) 50 Japan (Factory Act) (1-4 months) more than 50 (after 4 months) 331/3 Latvia 66%-100 Lithuania 50 Luxemburg (1-4 weeks) 50 Country Percentage Luxemburg (5-13 weeks) 66% Netherlands 70 Newfoundland 50 New Zealand 58 Norway (industry) 60 Panama 50 Peru 33 Poland 60 Portugal 66% Roumania 35-50 Russia 100 Salvador 50 Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom 66% South Africa 50 Spain 75 Sweden (first 35 days) about 6 thereafter 66% Switzerland 80 Uruguay 50 Whereas in case of permanent incapacity the usual rate of pension was 66 2/s per cent, of earnings, the scale of compensation for temporary incapacity is generally 50 per cent. The following practical considerations are commonly adduced to justify this difference: the necessity of avoiding malingering by making the workman bear a larger share of the loss; and the possibility t h a t the workman may be able to eke out the compensation with his savings during a short period. A certain number of countries, as we have already seen, distinguish between total and partial temporary incapacity; with two exceptions, all of these countries award as compensation for partial incapacity a percentage of the reduction in earning capacity which is the same as the percentage of the basic wage awarded for total incapacity (Belgium, Brazil, Canadian provinces except Quebec and Saskatchewan, Finland, Greece, Norway (industry)). The exceptions are Peru and Portugal which award for partial incapacity 50 per cent, of the reduction in earning capacity and for total incapacity 33 per cent, and 66 2 /3 per cent, of the basic wage respectively. THE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION FOR VERY SERIOUSLY INJURED WORKMEN REQUIRING THE CONSTANT ATTENDANCE OF ANOTHER PERSON In certain cases of very severe incapacity the economic loss is greater than the earnings of the victim, and the need greater after than before the accident. This is the case of a workman who is — 271 — so seriously injured that he is unable to perform the essential: actions of life without assistance, and consequently requires constant attendance. The pension is usually the sole means of livelihood, not only of the workman but of his attendant, and thus the accident may sometimes result in the loss of the earnings of two persons. A special rate of compensation for this particular case appears therefore to be justified not only on juridical and economic grounds,. but by considerations of elementary humanity. At the present time, however, a special rate of compensation for very seriously injured workmen is awarded only in the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, Roumania, Russia, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. Usually the class of victims who receive special compensation is given a very broad definition in the formulae employed in the laws. These formulae are as follows: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Luxemburg, Poland, Sweden An injured workman who is so helpless that he requires th& attendance and care of another person. Bulgaria and Russia An injured workman who is totally incapacitated for work and requires the attendance of another person. Esthonia and Latvia An injured workman who suffers from total helplessness requiring the care of another person, from lunacy, from completeblindness, or from the loss of both hands or both legs. Netherlands An injured workman who is so helpless that he requires regular attendance and care, and whose pension is insufficient for his maintenance. Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Hungary An injured workman who is totally incapacitated for work and requires regular attendance and care. — 272 — Roumania An injured workman who requires the permanent care of another person. Switzerland An injured workman who requires the presence of a nurse and other special care. The most important element in these formulae, which exhibit a considerable resemblance to one another, is certainly the necessity of the constant presence of another person. Nevertheless, appreciable differences must result in practice from the manner in which the legal text is interpreted by the Courts, the insurance institutions and the authorities which evaluate the degree of incapacity. For example, it is possible that the condition of total incapacity for work, prescribed in Bulgaria, Esthonia, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, does not always coincide with the necessity of the attendance of another person, and that thus some victims would not be awarded the higher rate of compensation to which they would probably be entitled in other countries. The award of a special rate of compensation to the very seriously injured may be either compulsory or optional. It is compulsory in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Poland and the Serb-CroatSlovene Kingdom. It is optional in Roumania, Sweden and Switzerland. The amount of compensation may be either uniform in all cases and precisely fixed by the law, or it may vary according to the requirements of each case individually, only the maximum being fixed by the law. The compensation is uniform and equal to the victim's wages in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, Hungary, Latvia, Luxemburg, and Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories), and Russia. The additional pension is therefore equal to half the pension for total incapacity. In Bulgaria the rate of pension varies with the wage class in which the injured workman was placed for the purpose of insurance: Daily wages Up to 15 leva 16 to 30 » 31 to 45 » 45 to 60 » 61 and over Annual pension 3,600 leva 4,800 » 6,000 » 7,500 » 5.000 « — 273 — The maximum limit only of the total compensation is prescribed in the laws of the other countries : it is equal to 100 per cent, of wages in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland (former German territory), Roumania, Sweden and Switzerland, and 1331/a per cent, of wages in the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom (in this last country compensation for total incapacity is equal to 100 per cent, of the basic wage). The administrative or judicial authorities who are entrusted with the evaluation of incapacity may graduate the additional compensation (as long as the maximum is not exceeded) so as to allow for the variation in the cost of attendance, for earning capacity in those rare cases in which it subsists, and especially for the character (e.g. constant or intermittent) of the assistance which has to be rendered. § 5. — The Review of Compensation A provision for the review of compensation is to be found in the majority of laws, and especially in those which adopt the pension form of payment: its object is to adjust the rate of compensation to changes in the circumstances of the injured. During temporary incapacity the need for adjustment does not arise, since generally there is no question of the degree of temporary incapacity. It is either total or it does not exist. It is then to cases of permanent incapacity that the provision for review applies. The term " permanent " as applied to incapacity must not be taken in its strictest sense: "quasi-permanent" would be more exact. The ordinary grounds which entitle a workman, employer, or insurance institution to demand a review are that some essential change has taken place in the conditions which determine the decision fixing the amount of compensation, for example the physical consequences of the accident may turn out more or less serious than was supposed, or the victim may, subsequently to the award, die from a cause traceable to the accident. Especially where the compensation is assessed in accordance with actual earning capacity and not upon a statutory schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity, the rate of pension may be varied up or down to take account of the skill acquired by the workman or unexpected difficulty in obtaining employment. To avoid vexatious proceedings and to afford the workman security in the receipt of his pension a number of laws specify that review shall cease to be possible after the lapse of a certain 18 — 274 — number of years since the date when the pension was fixed (Belgium 3 years; Brazil 2 years; Quebec 4 years; Esthonia 3 years; France 3 years; Latvia 2 years; Lithuania 3 years), or the date of the accident (Chile 2 years; Italy 2 years; Peru 3 years). Moreover several laws provide that a demand for review will only be entertained once a year (Esthonia, Latvia, Uruguay) or once every three years (Bulgaria). In Germany, after two-years, review can only take place once a year. Though many countries have adopted temporary measures to meet the situation created by the post-war rise in prices, Great Britain, it is believed, is unique in incorporating in its permanent legislation provision for varying the rate of compensation in accordance with changes in the level of wages since the date of the award. In this country, by a recent amendment of the law, a weekly payment is to be reviewed at the request of employer or workman if the rate of wages in the workman's pre-accident occupation falls or rises by more than 20 per cent, during the twelve months preceding the review, and is to be correspondingly decreased or increased. In a number of countries the device of review is employed to relieve hardship which apprentices would suffer if compensation for permanent incapacity were to remain based on their earnings at the time of the accident. Thus in the case of persons injured when under 21 compensation may be increased after the lapse of 6 or 12 months from the date of the accident to the amount which they would be entitled to at the date of review if they were then adults earning the wages they would probably be receiving if they had not been injured (Australian Commonwealth and States except South Australia, Great Britain, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario). A similar procedure is followed in Switzerland. In three Baltic countries the pensions of persons under 15 and 17 are successively raised when the ages of 15 and 17 are reached to the amount which would be awarded to unskilled workmen of these ages (Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Provision for raising the rate of compensation of apprentices is also made by the laws of India and Luxemburg. In countries where a lump sum is awarded for permanent incapacity and paid direct to the beneficiary, the review of compensation is only practicable in cases of aggravation of the results of the accident ; that is to say it is possible to increase a lump sum but not to reduce it, since the workman cannot be expected to repay the sum which he may already have spent. A provision for review is rendered less necessary because in almost all these — 275 — countries the sum awarded for permanent total incapacity is equal to or greater than that awarded for death, so that if the accident eventually has fatal results no additional compensation would be payable. In fact Brazil is the only one of these countries where review is provided for, and there compensation for death is greater than that for permanent total incapacity. In Italy a lump sum payable for permanent incapacity of 50 per cent, or more is retained by the National Social Insurance Fund which pays a monthly allowance to the workman. At any time before the expiry of two years the lump sum may be reviewed and if the workman has died or if his physical condition has altered, the sum is varied to correspond with the new circumstances. On the expiry of two years the lump sum, as modified at a review and after deduction of the amounts paid in monthly allowances, is invested in the purchase of an annuity. — 276 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING (Exclusive COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of i n c a p a c i t y Determination of permanent incapacity New South Wales Queensland Minimum Specified injuries : schedule of corresponding degrees of incapacity. Other inj u r i e s : evaluation according t o reduction in earning capacity. Incapacity re(6) 6,000 pesos. (6 A d u l t s : no maining when inprovision. j u r y has healed, Apprentices: b u t not later See Basic Wage. t h a n 1 year after accident, is deem- Less a n y p a y m e n t s made for ed p e r m a n e n t . t e m p o r a r y incapacity. All injuries: evaluation according t o earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. (o) 40s. a week but not more t h a n £750 in all; 10s. for persons under 21 earning less t h a n 20s. a week. I n c a p a c i t y lasting 8 d a y s is compensated from eighth d a y ; if it lasts 14 d a y s it is compensated from first d a y . Ditto (a) 30s. a week; 10s. for persons under 21 earning less t h a n 20s. a week. I n c a p a c i t y lasting 7 days is compensated from first d a y . Ditto (o) 60s. a week, but not more t h a n £750 in all; 15s. for persons under 21 earning less t h a n 20s. a week. I n c a p a c i t y lasting 7 days is compensated from first d a y . AUSTRALIA Commonwealth (Workmen) (Seamen) of M a x i m u m and minimum (a) pension or (6) l u m p sum for p e r m a n e n t total incapacity Maximum ARGENTINA TO I n c a p a c i t y last Specified injuring 3 d a y s is com- ies: schedule of pensated from c o r r e s p o n d i n g first d a y . a m o u n t s of compensation. Other injuries: no provision. (o) Specified injuries: £750. (a) Other injuries: 70s. a week including family allowance, b u t not more t h a n £750 in all. (a) 20s. a week for adult workman ; 40s. for w o r k m a n with dependent wife, parents, brother or sister. — 277 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK medical aid) Amount of compensation Permanent incapacity Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (6) lump sum Partial : Function of reduction in earnings represented by (o) pension, or (6) lump sum Temporary incapacity Total : Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award (¡>) 1,000 times (6) 1,000 times 50% of daily All temporary daily earnings. reduction in dai- earnings. incapacity is ly earnings. deemed total. (f>) Lump sum is invested in purchase of annuity. (a) 50% of week- (a) Not more ly e a r n i n g s ; than 100% of 100% for persons r e d u c t i o n in under 21 earn- weekly earnings. ing less than 20s. a week. No distinction between permanent and temporary incapacity. (a) Commutation at option of employer after 6 months for lump sum sufficient to purchase annuity of 75 % of pension. Lump sum applied as judge d i r e c t s . Commutation by agreement at any time for lump sum paid direct to workman. Review at any time. Persons under 21 : Compensation may be increased at review more than 12 months after accident to 50 % of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Dit to (i>) Lump sum paid for specified injury is applied as judge directs. Ditto (o) 6 6 % % of weekly earnings; 100% for persons under 21 earning less than 20s. a week. (6) Specified in. uries: compensation is fixed by statute for each injury. (a) 50% of week- (a) Not more ly earnings. Up than pension for t o 100 % for total incapacity. workman earning less than 80s. a week. Family allowanc,e of 5s. a week for each child unt !er 14; maximum allowance of 30s. Review at any time. Persons under 21 : compensation may be increased at review more than 12 months after accident to 66 % % of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. Review at any time. Persons under 21 : compensation may be increased at (a) Commuta- review more than tion by agree- 12 months after ment at any time accident to 50 % for lump sum of probable earnapplied as judge ings at date of directs. review if accident had not occurred. — 278 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination of permanent incapacity of Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (6) lump sum for permanent total incapacity Maximum Minimum (a) 30s. a week for single workmen; 40s. for married workmen or widowers with children. AUSTRALIA (continued) South Australia Ditto Specified injuries: schedule of corresponding amounts of compensation. Other injuries: evaluation according to earnings in some "suitable occupation after accident. (o) £5 a week including family allowance, but not more than £700 in all. Tasmania Ditto All injuries : evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. (a) 50s. a week, (a) 20s. a week but not more for adult workthan £500 in all: men. 20s. for persons under 21 earning less than 20s. a week. Victoria Western Australia Incapacity last- Specified injuring 7 days is ies : schedule of c o m p e n s a t e d corresponding from first day. degrees of incapacity. Other injuries : evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. Incapacity lasting 3 days is compensated from first day. Ditto (a) 40s. a week, but not more than £600 in all; 15s. for persons under 2i earning less than 20 s. a week. Ditto (o) 30s. a week (a) 70s. a week, including family or weekly earnallowance, but ings, whichever not more than is less. £750 in all. — 279 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK {COTlt.) medical aid) Amount of compensation Permanent incapacity Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (b) lump sum Partial: Function of. reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (o) lump sum (a) 50 % of week- (a) Not more ly e a r n i n g s ; than 100% of in 100 % for per- reduction sons under 21 weekly earnings. earning less than 20s. a week. Temporary incapacity Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance Ditto Family allowance of 7s. 6d. a week for each child under 14. (a) Not more (a) 50 % of weekthan 100% of ly" earnings ; in 100% for per- r e d u c t i o n sons under 21 weekly earnings. earning less than 20s. a week. (a)15662/t% of weekly earnings. (o) 50 % of weekly earnings. Ditto Ditto Family allowance of 7s. 6d. a week for each child under 16. Ditto Ditto Ditto (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation If change occurs in conditions which determined award (a) CommutaReview at any tion a t o p t i o n time. of employer or workman after 6 months for lump sum fixed by arbitratororjudge, to be applied as judge directs. Commutation by agreement at any time for lump sum approved by Court and paid direct to workman. (a) Commutation at option of employer or workman after 2 months for lump sum fixed by judge, to be applied as judge directs. Commutation by agreement at any time for lump sum approved by Court and paid direct to workman. Review at any time. Persona under 21 : compensation may be increased at review more than 12 months after accident to 50 % of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. (a) Commutation at option of employer after 6 months for lump sum fixed by judge, to be applied as judge directs. Commutation by agreement at any time for lump sum approved by Court and paid direct to workman. Review at any time. Persons under 21 : compensation may be increased at review more than 12 months after accident to 66'/io/o of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. Ditto Review at any time. Persons under 21 : compensation may be Increased at review more than 12 months "after accident to* 50% of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. — 280 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination oí permanent incapacity Compensation forflrst 4 weeks is paid by Sickness Insurance and thereafter by Accident Insurance. of Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (¡>) lump sum for permanent total incapacity Maximum Minimum (a) 12 million crowns a year; 18 million crowns for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant. (a) 1,200,000 crowns a year; 1,800,000 crowns for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant. AUSTRIA Incapacity lasting 4 days is compensated from first day. All injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earnings. In practice schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity is used as a guide. BELGIUM Incapacity lasting 8 days is compensated from first day. All injuries : Incapacity is evaluation ac- deemed permanent as from cording to reduction in earnings. date fixed by agreement or by judge. (a) 3,650 francs (a) Adults: no a year. provision. Apprentices and persons under 16: 750 francs a year, BOLIVIA Incapacity lasting 7 days is compensated from first day. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed, but not later than lSyear after accident, isdeemed permanent. (¡>) 1,500 bolivianos in respect of workman working 300 days a year. BRAZIL BULGARIA Specified injuries: schedule of corresponding degrees of incapacity. Other injuries: evaluation by judge with medical advice. Ditto Permanent incapacity: schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed is deemed permanent. (f>) 7,200 mil- (o) Adults: no reis. provision. Apprentices : see Basic Wage. Less any payments made temporary incapacity. for (a) Pension for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant is paid according to following scale: Daily v>age 15 and 16-30 31-45 46-60 61 and Annual pension (leva) under 3,600 4,800 6,000 7,500 over 9,000 — 281 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (cont.) medical aid) Amount of compensation Temporary incapacity Permanent incapacity Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (b) lump sum (a) From beginning of fifth week 66y3% of annual earnings; 100% for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant. Partial: Function of reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (6) lump sum Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award is Review at any (a) From begin- During first 4 Incapacity (a) Commutaning of fifth week weeks, 66 »/a % to deemed total un- tion by agree- time. 66 % % of reduc- 80 % of daily til injury has ment if poor law authority responhealed tion in annual earnings. sible for workearnings. man consents. Commutation of pension for incapacity of not more than 16 % % for lump sum of not more than 3 years' pension. 50 % of reduc(o) 50 % of an- (a) 50% of re- 50% of daily tion in daily nual earnings. duction in an- earnings. earnings. nual earnings. (6) Two years' (b) 18 months' earnings. earnings. Allowance is All temporary is paid on follow- incapacity deemed total. ing scale: "•«» ** Review within 3 years of agreement or judgment fixing pension. (o) Lump sum is paid direct to workman. Review within 2 years of judgment fixing compensation. All temporary incapacity is deemed total. Ditto (6) Three years' (6) 5 to 60% of 50 % of reduc- 50 % of reduction in daily earnings. compensation for tion in daily earnings. total incapacity. earnings. (a) F r a c t i o n (corresponding to degree of reduction in earning capacity) of pension paid to workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant, but not less than 1,200 leva a year. (a) Commutation of not more than 33%% of permanent pension at discretion of judge, if requested by workman. Commutation of pensions of less than 60 francs at request of person concerned. Ä ance. (leva) 15 and under 12 16-30 16 31-45 20 46-60 25 61 and over 30 Addition of 1 leva a day for each child. Review at any time. Condition of workman is examined every 3 years. — 282 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination of permanent incapacity Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (6) lump sum for permanent total incapacity Maximum CANADA Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Incapacity lasting 4 days is compensated from fourth day ; if it lasts 10 days it is compensated from first day. All injuries : evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident, or according to injury, regard being bad to workman's fitness to resume habitual occupation or to re-adapt himself to another occupation. All injuries: Incapacity lastacing 4 days is evaluation c o m p e n s a t e d cording to earnfrom first day. ings in some suitable occupation after accident. Disfigurement may be compensated without regard to reduction in earning capacity. Ditto Ditto Incapacity last- Specified injuring 7 days is ies: schedule of corresponding compensated degrees of incafrom first day. pacity. Other injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earnings. Disfigurement may be com p e n s a t e d without regard to reduction in earning capacity of Minimum Incapacity is (o) 1,100 dollars (a) 10 dollars a deemed perman- a year. week or weekly ent as from date earnings, whichfixed by Workever is less. men's Compensation Board. Ditto (a) 1,250 dol- (a) 5 dollars a lars a year. week or weekly earnings, whichever is less. Ditto ía) 1,333.30 dol- (a) 6 dollars a week or weekly lars a year. earnings, whichever is less. Ditto (a) 825 dollars (a) 6 dollars a a year. week — 283 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (COTlt.) medical aid) Amount of compensation Permanent incapacity Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (ft) lump sum Partial : Function of reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (6) lumpsum Temporary incapacity Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial: Percentage of reduction In earnings represented by allowance (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award (o)55% of week- (a) 55% of re- 55% of weekly 55 % of reduc- (a) Commuta- Review at any ly earnings. duction in week- earnings. tion in weekly tion by agree- time. ly earnings. earnings. ment at any time. 62%% of re(o) 62 % % of (a) 62 H % of 62 y2 % of earnreduction in earn- ings. duction in earnearnings. ings. ings. Ditto Ditto 66 % % of earn- 66%% of reduction in earnings. ings. Ditto Review at any time. Persons under 21 : compensation may be Increased to amount which would be awarded on basis of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred. (a) 66%% of earnings. (a) 66%% of reduction in earnings. (a) 55% of earnings. (6) Not more 55 % of earn- 55% of reduc- (o) Commuta- Review at any tion in earnings. tion at discretion time. than 2,500 dol- ings. lars. of Workmen's Compensation Board at any time. (6) Pension may be substituted for lump sum if Board so directs. — 284 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive of COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination of permanent Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (6) lump sum for permanent total incapacity Maximum CANADA (coni.) Nova Scotia Ontario Ditto Permanent incapacity : evaluation in accordance with reduction in earning capacity, having regard to nature of injury and age of workman. Temporary incapacity : evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. Ditto (a) 660 dollars (a) 5 dollars a a year. week or weekly earnings, whichever is less. Ditto All injuries: e v a l u a t i o n according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. Ditto (a) 1,333.30 dol- (a) 12.50 dollars lars a year. a week or weekly earnings whichever is less. Quebec Incapacity lastAll injuries: ing 8 days is evaluation accompensated cording to reducfrom eighth day. tion in earnings. Saskatchewan Incapacity lasting 7 days is compensated from first day. Yukon Incapacity last- Specified injuring 14 days is ies: schedule of compensated corresponding amounts of comfrom first day. pensation. Other injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity. CHILE Minimum Incapacity is (a) Capital val- (a) Adults: no deemed perman- ue of pension provision. ent as from date not to exceed Apprentices: see fixed by agree- 3,000 dollars. Basic Wage. ment or by judge. _ Permanent incapacity: evaluation according to schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity having regard to age and habitual occupation of workman. (b) 2,500 dollars. Incapacity is (6) Amount of lump sum is fixed deemed perman- by statute at 3,000 dollars, less ent. not later than any payments made for temporary 6 months after incapacity. accident. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed, but not later than 1 year after accident, is deemed permanent. (a) Capital value of pension not to exceed that required to produce 1,800 pesos a year. (a) Capital value of pension not to be less than that required to produce 360 pesos a year. Any payments made for temporary incapacity are deducted from capital. — 285 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (cOilt.) medical aid) Amount of compensation Permanent incapacity Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (ft) lump sum Partial : Function of reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (6) lump sum Ditto (a) 55 % of reduction in earnings. Temporary incapacity Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance Ditto Ditto (a) 66 % % of 66%% of week- 66%% of re(a) 66%% of in ly earnings. weekly earnings. reduction duction in weekweekly earnings. ly earnings. (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of lump sum (a) CommutaReview at any tion at discretion time. Persons of Workmen's under 21 : comC o m p e n s a t i o n pensation may Board at any at review be intime for lump creased more sum to be ap- than 6 months plied as Board after accident to directs. amount which would be awarded on basis of probable earnings at date of review if accident had not occurred . Ditto (a) 50% of an- (a) 50 % of re- 50% of daily All temporary (a) Commutaduction in an- earnings, but not incapacity nual earnings. is tion at option of nual earnings. less than 4 dol- deemed total. workman. lars a day. No distinction between permanent and temporary, or total and partial incapacity. Compensation must not exceed 3 years' earnings or 2,000 dollars, whichever is larger. (6) Specified in- 50 % of daily All temporary incapacity is juries: compen- earnings. sation is flxed by deemed total. statute for each injury. Other injuries: fraction of compensation for total incapacity corresponding to degree of reduction in earning capacity (a) 60% of an- (a) Not more 50% of daily than 30 % of an- earnings. nual earnings. nual earnings. Ditto Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award (ft) Lump sum is paid direct to workman. Ditto Review within 4 years of agreement or judgment fixing compensation. — Ditto (a) Commutation of pensions of less than 120 pesos a year. Review within 2 years after accident. — 286 — COMPARATIVE COUNTRY Waiting period TABLE Evaluation of incapacity SHOWING Determination of permanent incapacity PROVISIONS Incapacity lasting 14 d a y s is compensated from first d a y . CZECHOSLOVAKIA Incapacity lastAH injuries: acing 4 days is evaluation cording t o reduccompensated tion in earning from first day. capacity. I n practice schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity is used as a guide. DENMARK L e n g t h of waiting period depends on regulations of Sick F u n d t o which workman belongs : in no case is allowance paid for incapacity not lasting more t h a n 3 days. ECUADOR P e r m a n e n t incapacity revaluation a c c o r d i n g to reduction in earnings. P e r m a n e n t incapacity : evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity having regard t o special skill in h a b i t u a l occupation of w o r k m a n . Incapacity re(a) 730 pesos a maining when in- year. jury h a s healed, but not later t h a n 1 year after accident, isdeemed p e r m a n e n t . Compensation for first 4 weeks is paid by Sickness Insurance and thereafter by Accident Insurance. of Minimum (o) A d u l t s : no provision. App r e n t i c e s: s e e Basic Wage. (o) A d u l t s : no (a) 8,000 crowns a y e a r ; 12,000 provision. Apcrowns for work- p r e n t i c e s : s e e man so incapaci- Basic Wage. t a t e d as to need an a t t e n d a n t . Incapacity is (6) 2 4 , 0 0 0 deemed p e r m a n - crowns. ent as from d a t e flxed by Workers' Insurance Council b u t , except in unusual circumstances, not l a t e r t h a n 1 year after accident. Compensation for first 13 weeks is paid by Sickness Insurance and thereafter by Accident Insurance. Incapacity remaining when injury h a s healed, b u t not later t h a n 1 year after accident, is deemed permanent. TO (Exclusive Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (b) lump sum for p e r m a n e n t t o t a l incapacity Maximum CUBA RELATING ) lump sum for p e r m a n e n t t o t a l incapacity Maximum NETHERLANDS (coni.) (Seamen) All injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity in t h e work suitable in view of t h e seaman's strength before t h e accident and his skill. (a) 5.60 gulden a day. Minimum NEWFOUNDLAND I n c a p a c i t y lasting 8 days is compensated from eighth d a y ; if it lasts 14 days it is compensated from first d a y . All injuries : evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. (a) 10 dollars a week. (a) A d u l t s : no provision. Workmen under 2 1 : 5 dollars a week or weekly earnings, whichever is less. NEW ZEALAND I n c a p a c i t y lasting 3 days is compensated from first d a y . (a) £3 15s. a week but not more t h a n £750 in all. (a) A d u l t s : no provision. Workmen under 2 1 : 23.2s. a week. NORWAY ( Industry) Incapacity lasting 4 days is c o m p e n s â t ed from fourth day. Specified injuries: schedule of corresponding degrees of incapacity. Other injuries: evaluation according to earnings in some suitable occupation after accident. All injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed is deemed permanent. (a) 1,200 crowns a year. (a) A d u l t s : 270 crowns a year. Apprentices: 450 crowns (men) and 300 crowns (women). Ditto Ditto (a) 1,620 crowns a year. (a) 450 crowns a year. Ditto Ditto (a) Amount of pension is prescribed by s t a t u t e and depends on age. I t is 720 crowns a year for fishermen under 60 and 600 crowns for those over 60. (Seamen) (Fishermen) Compensation is paid only for incapacity lasting after injury h a s healed. — 299 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (cOtlt.) medical aid) Amount of compensation T e m p o r a r y incapacity P e r m a n e n t incapacity Total- 1 Partial: represented by (a) pension, or (»lumpsum | represented by ( Tae n s i o n OTr \ 5 ^ ™ u m aêfer '€£- Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance ia) Commutation of pension for lump sum. or (6) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award (a) 70% of daily e arnings. Ditto No distinction between permanent and t e m p o r a r y incapacity. (a) 50% of weekly earnings; 100% for workmen under 21 earning less t h a n 5 dollars a week. (a) Not more t h a n 100% of reduction in weekly earnings. Ditto (o) Commutation at option of employer after 6 months for lump sum fixed by agreement or by judge, to be applied as judge directs. Review at any time. Workmen under 21 : Compensation may be increased at review more t h a n 12 m o n t h s after accident t o 50 % of probable earnings at d a t e of review if accident had not occurred. (a) 58 % of weekly earnings. (a) 58% of reduction in weekly earnings. Ditto (a) Commutation at discretion of judge for l u m p sum equal to present value at 5 % compound interest of aggregate of weekly p a y m e n t s which would probably become payable. Review at time. (a) Commutation of 25 % of pension at request of workman, if satisfactory evidence is given t h a t lump sum will be wisely applied. Commutation at request of workman of pension not exceeding 10% of annual earnings. (a) Commutation of 25% of pension at request of workman if satisfactory evidence is given t h a t lump sum will be wisely applied. Ditto Ditto Ditto Payments years. ceas e (a) 60 % of annual earnings. Ditto Ditto at end of 6 daily All incapacitv for first 10 days is deemed t o t a l . Thereafter 60% of reduction in daily earnings. Full wages as long as employment continues. While in hospital compensation as in case of d e a t h is payable to dependants. All temporary incapacity is deemed t o t a l . (a) 60% of re60 % of duction in annual earnings. earnings. Ditto No compensatic n for t e m p o r a r (a) 60% of reduction in annual incapacity. earnings. Reduction of less t h a n 20 % is not compensated. Ditto Ditto any — 300 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclus içe of COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination of p e r m a n e n t incapacity Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (6) l u m p sum for permanent t o t a l incapacity Maximum PANAMA Permanent inc a p a c i t y . evaluat i o n according to reduction in earning capacity. PERU List of injuries constituting permanent incapacity. POLAND Former Germ a n Territory Former Austrian and Russian Territories ROUMANIA I n c a p a c i t y remaining when injury h a s healed is deemed permanent. (a) 40 pounds a (a) See Basic I n c a p a c i t y re- year. . Wage. maining when injury h a s healed, but not later t h a n Compensation is increased 25 % if 3 years after acwas woman or child under cident, is deemed victim 18. permanent. I n c a p a c i t y lasting 3 d a y s is compensated from third day. All injuries : evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity on labour m a r k e t in general. In practice schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity is used as a guide. Compensation for first 13 weeks is paid by Sickness I n s u r a n c e and thereafter by Accident I n surance. Ditto All injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earning capacity. In practice schedule of injuries and corresponding degrees of incapacity is used as a guide. Compensation for first 4 weeks is paid by Sickness Insurance and thereafter by Accident Insurance. PORTUGAL Minimum (a) See Wage. All injuries: evaluation according to reduction in earnings. I n c a p a c i t y lasting 4 days is compensated from fourth d a y ; if it lasts 8 days it is compensated from first day. All injuries: evaluation by medical experts. Basic (a) A d u l t s : no provision. Apprentices : see Basic "Wage. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed is deemed permanent. T(aM,600 lei a year for workmen working not more t h a n 300 days a y e a r ; 2,400 lei for workmen so incapacit a t e d as to need an a t t e n d a n t . Plus cost-of-livi ig 200%. allowance of - — 301 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK medical (cOJlt.) aid) Amount of compensation P e r m a n e n t incapacity Temporary incapacity (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (6) Disposal of l u m p sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award Total : F u n c t i o n of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (6) lump sum Partial : Function of reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (b) lump sum (6) 18 m o n t h s ' earnings. (6) One year's earnings. Plus lump sum of 66 % % of reduction in annual earnings 1. 50 % of earnings. daily All t e m p o r a r y incapacity is deemed total. (a) 3 3 % of annual earnings. (a) 33 % of reduction in earnings. 33 % of earnings. daily 50 % of reduction in dally earnings. (a) Commutation at option of employer for l u m p sum of 2 years' earnings, paid direct t o workman. Review within 3 years of accident. (a) F r o m beginning of fourteenth week, 66 % % of annual earnings up2 to 1800 zloty; 22 /o % of annual earnings in excess of 1800 zlot y . 100% of annual earnings for workman so incapacitated as to need an a t t e n d ant. (a) F r o m beginDuring first 13 ning of fourteenth weeks 60 %. of week, fraction of daily earnings pension for t o t a l ' incapacity proportional to reduction in earning capacity. I n c a p a c i t y is deemed t o t a l until injury has healed. (0) Commutation of pension for incapacity of not more t h a n 20 % w i t h consent of workman. . Review at a n y t i m e within 2 years after accid e n t . Review n o t more t h a n once a year after expiry of 2 y e a r s . (a) F r o m beginning of fifth week, 66 % % of a n n u a l earnings ; 100% for workman so incapacit a t e d as to need an a t t e n d a n t . (a) From beginDuring first 4 ning of fifth weeks, 60 % of week, 66 % % of daily earnings reduction in earning capacity. Ditto (a) 6 6 % % of annual earnings up t o 700 escud o s ; 33»/ 3 % of earnings in excess of 700 escudos. ( a ) 50 % of reduction in earnings. 66 % % of daily earnings. (0) 66.%% of a n n u a l earnings; 100% for workmen so incapacit a t e d as to need an a t t e n d a n t . (a) 6 6 % % of reduction in annual earnings, plus cost-ofliving allowance v a r y i n g from 50% to 200% according t o degree of incapacity. Unmarried work- All t e m p o r a r y men : 3 5 % of incapacity is earnings; maxi- deemed t o t a l . m u m of 9 8 l e i a week. Married workmen : 50 % of earnings: maxim u m of 140 lei a week. Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial: Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance y Ì. v. • i Review at any (a) Commutation by agree- t i m e . ment if poor law authority responsible for workman consents. 50 % of reduction in daily earnings. (a) Commutation of pensions by agreement for incapacity of not more t h a n 30% without cost-ofliving allowance. Review a t a n y time. í j '¿It is not clear whether this provision applies also to cases of permanent total incapacity! but it would seem probable. . — 302 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive of COUNTRY Waiting period Evaluation of incapacity Determination of permanent incapacity Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (b) lump sum for permanent total incapacity Maximum Minimum RUSSIA — — Ditto — — SALVADOR — — Incapacity remaining when injury has healed, but not later than 1 year after accident, is deemed permanent. — (b) 15,000 centavos for workmen working 300 days a year. SERB-CROAT- Incapacity last- Permanent inSLOVENE ing 4 days is capacity: evaluat i o n according KINGDOM compensated to reduction in from first day. earning capacity. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed, but not later than 10 weeks after accident, is deemed permanent. (a) 1,200 dinar a year. 1,600 dinar for workmen so incapacitated as to need an attendant. (a) 600 dinar a year. 800 dinar for workmen so incapacitated as to need an attendant. All injuries : Incapacity lastacing 7 days is evaluation cording to reduccompensated tion in earning from first day. capacity. Incapacity remaining when injury has healed, but not later than one year after accident, is deemed permanent. (6) Adults: no provision. Workmen under 21 : £300. Less any pay nents made for temporary incapaicity. SOUTH AFRICA SPAIN Lists of injuries constituting permanent total and partial incapacity. Ditto (b) £750. (6) 1,200 pesetas for workmen working 300 days a year. — 303 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (cOilt.) medical aid) A m o u n t of compensation P e r m a n e n t incapacity Temporary incapacity (a) Commutation of pension for l u m p sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award Total: F u n c t i o n of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (ft) lump sum Partial : Function of reduction in earnings represented by (a) pension, or (b) l u m p sum Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance (a) 6 6 % % Of average monthly earnings; 100% for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant. (a) R a t e of pension depends on degree of incapacity and r e sources of injured. 100% of schedule wage-rate for class of workmen to which injured belongs, but not less t h a n actual earnings. Ditto — — (6) Two years' earnings. (b) 18 m o n t h s ' earnings. 50 % of earnings. daily Ditto — — (a) 100% of annual earnings. (a) 100% of re66 % % of daily duction in annual earnings. earnings. Ditto (b) Three years' earnings. (b) Three times reduction in annual earnings, but not more t h a n 50% of 3 years' earnings. W o r k m e n under 21 : minimum of £150. 50 % of weekly earnings. 100% or 30s. a week or weekly earnings, whichever is least, for workmen u n d e r 21 or workman unable to maintain himself and dependa n t s on 50 % of earnings. No a b solute m a x i m u m for first three months, but thereafter £3 a week. (b) One y e a r ' s 7 5 % of (b) Two years' earnings if inca- earnings. If de- earnings. pacitated for all gree of incapacioccupations. 18 t y for habitual is m o n t h s ' earnings occupation if incapacitated less t h a n 50 % for habitual oc- (women, and men over 60, 4 0 % ) , cupation. it is not compensated. daily Ditto Ditto (a) CommutaReview at a n y tion by agree- time. ment of pension for incapacity of n o t more t h a n 2 0 % , if poor law authority responsible for workman consents. (b) L u m p sum is applied as judge directs. — 304 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO (Exclusive of COUNTRY Waiting period SWEDEN Incapacity lasting 4 days is compensated from first d a y . SWITZERLAND Incapacity lasting 3 days is compensated from third d a y . URUGUAY Incapacity lasting 8 days is compensated from eighth d a y ; if it lasts 31 days, it is compensated from first d a y . Evaluation of incapacity P e r m a n e n t incapacity : evaluation according to r e d u c t i o n in earning capacity on labour m a r k e t in general, regard being had also to reduction in earning capacity in h a b i t u a l occupation and to age and sex. P e r m a n e n t incapacity : evaluat i o n according to reduction in earnings. Determination of p e r m a n e n t incapacity Maximum and minimum (a) pension, or (6) lump sum for p e r m a n e n t t o t a l incapacity Maximum Minimum I n c a p a c i t y remaining when injury has healed is deemed permanent. (a) 1,600 crowns a year. 2,400 crowns for workman so incapacitated as to need an a t t e n d a n t . (a) 300 crowns a year. 450 crowns for workman so incapacit a t e d as to need an a t t e n d a n t . I n c a p a c i t y is deemed permanent when it appears t h a t continuation of medical t r e a t ment will not improve e a r n i n g capacity of workman. (a) 4,200 francs a y e a r ; 6,000 francs for workmen so incapacitated as to need an a t t e n d a n t . I n c a p a c i t y remaining when injury has healed is deemed permanent. (a) 500 pesos a year. (a) Adults : no provision. Workmen u n d e r 21 : see Basic Wage. — 305 — COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK (concluded) medical aid) Amount of compensation Permanent incapacity Partial : Function of reduction in * earnings represented by (a) pension, or (b) lump sum Temporary incapacity (a) Commutation of pension for lump sum, or (b) Disposal of lump sum Review of compensation if change occurs in conditions which determined award Total: Percentage of basic wage represented by allowance Partial : Percentage of reduction in earnings represented by allowance During first 35 days, daily allowa n c e of 1-3.50 crowns, according to contribution of workman to compulsory State Pension Scheme; thereafter 66%% of daily earnings. All incapacity for first 35 days is deemed total; thereafter 66 % % of reduction in daily earnings. If reduction is less than 25 %, it is not compensated. (a) CommutaReview at any tion at request time. of workman with consent of Insurance Institution, in exceptional cases. (a) 70 % of annual earnings. 100% for workman so incapacitated as to need an attendant. (a) 70% loss of 80 % of daily earning power, earnings ; maxicorresponding to mum of 16.8 the loss of work- francs a day. ing capacity recognised. Temporary incapacity may be deemed total or partial, and the Act contains no provisions dealing with this point. In practice, compensation is reduced 25, 50 or 75 % according to the degree of incapacity. (a) All invalidity or survivors' pensions under 10 francs per month, or pensions where the benenciairies have been resident abroad for at least a year, may be redeemed at any time by the National Fund. (a) 66%% of annual earnings. (a) 50% of re50% of daily All temporary duction in an- earnings. i n c a p a c i t y is nual earnings. deemed total. Total: Function of basic wage represented by (a) pension, or (b) lump sum (a) 66 % % of (a) 66%% of annual earnings. reduction in an100% for work- nual earnings. men so incapacitated as to need an attendant. All pensions subject to review within three years oi award, and again at the end of the 6th, and 9th years respectively. If, at the date of the accident, the insured was not in receipt of the full wages current in his occupation, his annual earnings shall be calculated on the basis of such wages, from the date at which they would probably have been payable, had no accident occured. Review n o t more than once a year at request of employer or workman until incapacity has been finally determined. 20 CHAPTER V MEDICAL AID Injuries caused by industrial accidents, even where they do not result in permanent incapacity, almost always require medicai treatment, the object of which is to restore the health of the injured and to prevent or mitigate incapacity. The organisation of medical aid is therefore of prime importance at once for the injured workman who wants to regain his ability to work, for the employer or insurance institution whose liabilities are decreased in proportion as the degree of incapacity is less, and for society in general whose interest is to maintain the greatest amount of productive labour and to lighten the burden implied by the existence of invalids who are unable to work. It is therefore not to be wondered at that in almost all countries medical aid is considered as a normal element of compensation, as a right for the workman and a liability for the employer or insurance institution. There are, however, a few countries where accident victims are entitled to no medical aid, or to aid of an inadequate character. Such is the case in the Australian Commonwealth and States, India, Irish Free State, Italy, New Zealand, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and South Africa. The laws of these countries, except Italy and Quebec, are based on the British Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906. This Act has been supplemented in Great Britain, but not elsewhere in the British Empire, by sickness insurance, which provides medical aid to industrial accident victims. In Italy the National Accident Fund, which is the most important accident insurance institution, has organised medical aid on its own initiative and at its own expense. The medical aid provided in the various countries differs in quality, quantity, and form. Accordingly, the examination of the subject will be undertaken under three heads : (1) The elements of medical aid; (2) The limits of medical aid ; (3) The organisation of medical aid. — 307 — § 1.— The Elements of Medical Aid. Medical aid proper consists of the following elements: first aid, treatment by a general practitioner, the supply of drugs, hospital treatment, treatment by specialists, and treatment by special processes (thermal treatment, electro-therapy, etc.). Beside medical aid proper, there is vocational rehabilitation and the supply of artificial limbs and appliances, which in recent years have begun to assume an important place in compensation, but which raise special problems of an economic order. MEDICAL AID PROPER An examination of the texts of the most important laws and regulations does not always reveal the nature and extent of medical aid as it is actually granted to accident victims in various countries. It may vary considerably according to the judicial interpretation given to the text, according to the state of development of public health services, and according to the kind of medical services set up by employers, mainly in large undertakings. First aid is exceedingly important. The seriousness of an injury often depends on the character of the treatment given at the very beginning. First aid is specifically mentioned as an element of medical aid in the following countries : Bolivia, Brazil, the Canadian Provinces, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Great Britain, Italy, Peru, Roumania, Spain, and Sweden. Treatment by a general practitioner and the supply of drugs are provided for in every country where medical aid forms part of compensation. Although the laws are generally not explicit on this point, it is obvious that medical treatment includes surgical treatment where this is found to be necessary. Treatment by specialists or under special processes (hydrotherapy, electro-therapy, massage, etc.) are not expressly mentioned as a right in any law. Nevertheless, under the influence of recent progress in medicine, medical aid for accident victims is tending more and more to include treatment by specialists or under special processes. Institutions which have a monopoly of insurance, in countries where insurance is compulsory, may, in their discretion, provide any kind of special treatment with the object of lessening the degree of incapacity; such is the case, for example, in Austria, the Canadian provinces, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Germany, and Poland. — 308 — Hospital treatment is often indispensable in serious cases. It is expressly provided for in the laws of the following countries : Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canadian Provinces, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland. Hospital treatment involves an important financial question, namely, whether the allowance paid to the injured workman (generally one-half or two-thirds of his basic wages) should be discontinued, or at least decreased, during the period of treatment. The solutions to this problem differ from one country to another. (1) The allowance is suspended during hospital treatment if the workman has no dependants, in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Norway, Poland, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. (2) The allowance is reduced, whether the injured workman has a dependent family or not, in Bulgaria (reduction of between twothirds and three-quarters, according to wage-class), Sweden (reduction of not more than one-half), and Denmark (reduction varying according to the rules of the sickness funds which provide the treatment). In Switzerland the National Fund is authorised to deduct an amount not exceeding 75% of the unemployment benefits payable, or 50 % of that amount if there are dependants, to defray the cost of maintaining the insured in a hospital or nursing institution, or of nursing the patient at home. (3) The allowance is reduced instead of suspended when the injured workman has dependants, in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Norway, Poland and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. In Germany, Luxemburg and Poland (former German territory, if the hospital treatment occurs during the first thirteen weeks, the workman's dependants receive half the allowance; from the fourteenth week, they are entitled to a temporary pension equal to the pension which would be paid if the workman had died, i.e. 60 per cent, of earnings. In Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland (former Austrian and Russian territories) the dependants receive during hospital treatment at least half the allowance, i.e. 40 per cent, of earnings in Austria, 30 per cent, in Poland, and 33 */ 3 per cent, in Czechoslovakia and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. In Finland, during hospital treatment, the wife of the injured — 309 — workman receives 40 per cent, of the allowance and each child under sixteen years 20 per cent. In Hungary, the family of the injured workman receives half the allowance during hospital treatment. In the remaining countries the laws contain no provisions concerning the maintenance, suspension or reduction of allowances during hospital treatment, and there is every reason to believe that the allowance is maintained. ARTIFICIAL LIMBS AND VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION A large number of accident victims are unable, by reason of their injuries, to engage in remunerative work unless they are provided with artificial limbs or orthopaedic appliances, and unless they have undergone a course of vocational rehabilitation. In spite of their undoubted value, the questions of prosthesis and rehabilitation had until the war only been studied in a fragmentary manner and organised on a restricted scale. The most interesting work had been done in the Scandinavian countries and at Charleroi in Belgium. Uo attempt was, however, made to fit the disabled for competition on the general labour market; the object was rather to give him a regular occupation in workshops connected with hospitals and subsidised by the state, so as to enable him to preserve his self-respect. In fact the provision of work for the mutilated was no more than a superior form of social assistance. The world war suddenly increased the number of disabled by some ten million men, mostly young and belonging to the wageearning class. In view of the necessity of warding off the moral depression which often results from idleness, and of providing an addition to the disabled man's resources, indispensable on account of the low rate of pensions which was all the states could afford, and in view also of the necessity for the nation of maintaining and restoring the productive force of so large a number of workers, the problem of the rehabilitation of the war-disabled pressed urgently for a solution at the hands of public opinion, parliaments and governments. From the very beginning of the war researches were undertaken on all sides to discover the best methods for restoring the disabled to an active life. Prosthesis and rehabilitation became regular branches of the art and science of medicine: in every country a great net-work of national, regional, and local institutions was — 310 — organised with the assistance of the State, associations of workers, employers, and private individuals, and hundreds of centres for fitting artificial limbs, schools and re-training workshops were created. This technical and scientific progress was completed by progress in the domain of law. The supply of artificial limbs and vocational rehabilitation have come to be considered as a normal element of reparation — as an obligation for the State and as a right for the disabled. The results of this immense effort have given rise to much controversy, but on the whole the work has been a fruitful one. Hundreds of thousands of men have been able to take up a new trade. It has now been proved that, given a sound orthopœdic treatment, well-designed appliances and a properly organised system of re-training, a very large number of the disabled are capable of a productive efficiency little less than that of an able-bodied workman, if they are placed in a suitable occupation. It is therefore natural that the question of extending the benefits of artificial limbs and vocational rehabilitation to the disabled of industry should have received consideration. Nevertheless, while the schemes have been numerous, but little has been done in the way of practical realisation. Artificial limbs and orthopaedic appliances are usually only granted to accident victims in so far as they assist in the cure. The laws of the following countries provide for the supply of artificial limbs to accident victims: Alberta, Austria, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Manitoba, Netherlands, Ontario, Peru, Poland (former German territory), Roumania, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland. The texts of the laws are often indefinite as to the nature of the appliances; it is not clear whether they provide for the supply of a simple artificial appliance or for a more complicated and more efficient one. With regard to the repair and renewal of appliances, only four laws are known which contain provisions to this effect. They are those of Germany, Poland (former German territory), Luxemburg, and Austria. In Ontario the accident insurance institution is bound to repair appliances during the first year. In general it may be said that workmen's compensation legislation makes no provision for vocational rehabilitation, which is not an essential element of compensation and constitutes neither an obligation for the employer nor insurance institution, nor a right for the workman who becomes the victim of an accident. Never- - 311 — theless in several countries progress has been made in rehabilitation as the result either of legal enactment or of the initiative of large insurance institutions. In the following pages a short analysis is given of the situation in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. Austria The workmen's compensation law contains no provision for the organisation of vocational rehabilitation for accident victims; nor indeed is the matter mentioned in the rules of the insurance institutions. Nevertheless, the accident insurance institutions of Vienna, Gratz and Salzburg are accustomed to send those accident victims who require functional or vocational rehabilitation to the orthopaedic hospital attached to the Gratz Insurance Institution in Styria. The expenses of functional and vocational rehabilitation are defrayed by the insurance institutions which are responsible for the injured workmen concerned. During the process of rehabilitation the accident victims receive free hospital treatment at the Gratz centre, but they are not entitled to any daily maintenance allowance besides compensation which is due to them under the workmen's compensation law. It is estimated that the accident victims who had been rehabilitated before the beginning of the war numbered about 800. During the war the work of rehabilitating industrial accident victims was held up because the hospitals, and especially the rehabilitation centre at Gratz, had been placed at the disposal of the military authorities for the treatment of the wounded. Since 1919 the insurance institutions have made arrangements whereby the rehabilitation of accident victims is carried out by the same organisation as provides for the rehabilitation of the war-disabled. Belgium There are two provincial institutions for vocational rehabilitation ; the one at Brussels and the other at Charleroi. These institutions admit both the congenital defective and those disabled by accident. The expenses are met by subsidies from the provinces, communes, charitable organisations, hospitals and private individuals. France The workmen's compensation law contains no provision for the vocational rehabilitation of accident victims. At the same time efforts have been made to procure its advantages for them, on the one hand by admitting them to the rehabilitation centres set up for the war-disabled, and on the other hand by setting up a permanent general organisation for the functional and vocational rehabilitation of the physically defective. An Act of 5 May 1924 provides that persons disabled in industry may be admitted to the schools and other institutions which furnish vocational rehabilitation for the war-disabled on condition that they pay their own maintenance expenses. An order of 28 July 1924 has fixed the daily maintenance cost at 10 frs. so far as rehabilitation in an ordinary school is concerned, and at 15 frs. when the workman undergoes a special course of rehabilitation designed for those suffering from lung diseases. Further, the law of 5 May 1924 lays down that the results of vocational rehabilitation may in no case be taken into consideration to justify a reduction of the compensation which may have been awarded in virtue of the workmen's compensation law. These measures are too recent for it to be possible to prophecy what the attitude of accident victims will be with regard to rehabilitation. Germany The Federal Social Insurance Code does not impose upon accident insurance institutions any obligation to provide for the vocational rehabilitation of accident victims. Nevertheless, Article 843 of the Code, par. 3, permits the trade associations entrusted with the organisation of accident insurance to make arrangements to facilitate the placement of accident victims and to incur expenditure for that purpose. In virtue of this provision the rules of the trade associations provide, among other measures to facilitate the placement of accident victims, for the organisation of courses of vocational rehabilitation and for the establishment of permanent rehabilitation schools for certain branches of industry. A number of schools have thus been founded by the trade associations; they generally form special sections of the great surgical and orthopaedic centres and of the laboratories for functional re-adaptation, which belong to the trade associations. The reports on the operation of the special rehabilitation sections are printed in the general reports on the operations of the surgical and orthopœdic hospitals, and do not give any indication of the methods followed or of the results obtained. — 313 — After the war the trade associations for accident insurance have developed still further their activities in the domain of vocational rehabilitation. The Federal Law of 5 April 1920, on the compulsory employment of the severely injured in private undertakings and in public services, which requires each undertaking and each public service to include on its staff a certain percentage of disabled (generally 2 per cent.), applies equally to accident victims and to the wardisabled. In order to enable accident victims to take advantage of the situations with which they were thus provided, it was necessary that they should undergo a better system of rehabilitation. Consequently, at the beginning of 1922 the trade accident insurance associations came to an agreement with the regional offices for the assistance of the war-disabled. By the terms of this arrangement the regional offices for the assistance of the war-disabled are to undertake to provide, when required by the trade associations, the vocational rehabilitation of accident victims. With the object of reducing expenses and effecting a concentration of effort, the above mentioned agreement provides that, wherever there exist in the same locality two institutions belonging one to a trade association and the other to a regional office for the assistance of the wardisabled, these two institutions must be placed under one management. This provision secures the maintenance on a permanent basis of the sections for vocational rehabilitation which had been set up before the war in the large industrial centres by the trade associations. Italy The Italian workmen's compensation law which institutes compulsory accident insurance for employers makes no provision for vocational rehabilitation. Nevertheless, the most important Italian insurance organisation, which is the National Fund for Industrial Accident Insurance, decided at the end of 1921 to bear the cost of providing artificial limbs for the victims of accidents. With this object the Fund arranged with the Institute of Physical and Vocational Rehabilitation at Pescia, which is under the management of the Red Cross, to receive into its hospital accident victims who might be sent to it by the Fund and to give them full maintenance, provide them with medical and surgical treatment, and any artificial limbs or appliances which might be necessary, and direct their apprenticeship in a new trade. — 314 — Netherlands Article 25 of the Act of 2 May 1921 provides that, if the management of the State Insurance Bank is of opinion that the working capacity of an injured person to whom a pension has been granted provisionally or finally can be increased by re-training, the said management shall be empowered to give the injured person such training at the expense of the Bank, on his application. The application for training, which is often due to the advice of the supervising physicians of the State Insurance Bank, is examined by a specialist in re-training, whose report is considered by a committee of three members, of whom one is a consulting doctor to the Bank; this committee decides whether the application shall be accepted, and under what conditions the re-training should be organised. Vocational re-training is carried on in private undertakings and in technical schools: no special institutions have been set up. During the period of training, the injured workman receives the same compensation as if he were totally incapacitated. When the training, is completed, the rate of his pension is reviewed so as to correspond with his actual earning capacity. Spain The law of 10 January 1922 on industrial accidents provides that the victims of industrial accidents may demand a course of vocational rehabilitation, and that the Ministry of Labour shall organise a special rehabilitation service for those who are disabled in industry, its function being to restore the earning capacity of the latter to such an extent as to enable them to provide for their own maintenance (Article 23). By a Royal Decree of 4 March 1922, a national institute for vocational rehabilitation was created. This institute is an official body under independent management, but subject to the supervision of the Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industry. Its headquarters are in Madrid. It has the power to set up branches in the provinces. The institute is administered by a board consisting of a president and six members appointed by the King, the Under-Secretary of the Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industry, the DirectorGeneral of Local Administration, two representatives of the Institute of Social Reform (one employer and one workman), a representative of the Committee for the Protection of Pensioned — 315 — Engineers and Workmen, and a representative of the Royal and National Academy of Medicine. The Institute undertakes not only the functional re-adaptation and the vocational re-training of the disabled, but also their aftercare, by setting up clinics to give free public consultations, services for orthopœdics and prosthesis, training workshops, etc. The expenses of the Institute are defrayed out of subsidies from the State, the provinces, the communes, and donations from private persons. United States The organisation of vocational rehabilitation had already been begun in the United States before the war. Twelve States had adopted legislation on this subject. Suspended on account of industrial mobilisation during the war, the movement received a great impulse in 1920 as the result of the passage of a federal Act, providing substantial financial aid to States which undertook the organisation of rehabilitation. The Federal Law of 2 June 1920 is intended to promote the vocational rehabilitation of persons who, by reason of a physical defect or infirmity, whether congenital or acquired by accident, injury or disease, is, or may become, totally or partially incapable of remunerative work. The total amount of the federal subsidies was fixed at $ 750,000 for 1921, and $ 1,000,000 for each of the following years. The subsidies are allotted to the States in proportion to their population, and cannot in any case be less than §5,000. The actual organisation of rehabilitation is left in the hands of each State which, in order to obtain a subsidy, must adopt legislation for the purpose. At the end of 1923 the following 36 States had adopted measures to give legislative effect to the objects of the federal law: Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Utah Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming — 316 — An examination of the situation in these few countries shows that the organisation for providing artificial limbs and vocational rehabilitation is still in its infancy. The slowness of its development is to be explained by the difficulty of reconciling the opposing interests, of making an equitable distribution of the cost, and of setting up a sound organisation. The cost of artificial limbs and appliances is generally rather high; vocational re-training, which may last from six months to two years, entails considerable expenditure both for the maintenance of the workman and for his instruction. The expenses might be charged either to the workman or else to the employer or the insurance institution. The injured workman, whose allowance or pension represents only a portion of the wages he has lost, is often in a situation of stringency, which renders it improbable that he will apply for a course of re-training during which he will receive no remuneration. Vocational re-training and the supply of artificial limbs and appliances may be considered as a regular element of compensation, that is to say, as a right for the workman and a liability for the employer. In that case, however, the employer or insurance institution, who bears the cost of a process designed to lessen the damage, will be entitled to require that the result of re-training and the fitting of an artificial limb should be taken into account in determining the degree of incapacity and in finally deciding the amount of the lump sum or pension. A serious objection to this system is that it leaves the settlement of the workman's rights in suspense, sometimes for several years; moreover, there is the danger that it may arouse the suspicion of the workers in general towards these new modes of compensation. Accident victims very often find the immediate award of a high pension more attractive than a permanent increase in their earning capacity. They hesitate to accept an artificial limb or re-training, which appear to them as means of reducing their money compensation. Such in fact was the attitude assumed by the war-disabled, who showed themselves to be opposed to re-training, although it was entirely free, until the repeated assurances of the authorities and explicit provisions in the law guaranteed that the pensions would not be affected. The technical problem is equally important and is not less difficult than the financial problem, with which, indeed, it is closely connected. The supply and periodical renewal of artificial limbs and appliances and the organisation of vocational rehabilitation require a permanent organisation and the constant collaboration of doctors — 317 — and technical specialists, whether for the choice of the best types of appliances for each,kind of mutilation, for the supervision of the manufacture of appliances, for the maintenance and repair thereof, for the vocational guidance of the disabled and the supervision and management of their apprenticeship, or finally for finding them employment. The experience which has been acquired in connection with the war-disabled would seem to show that the organisation of regional centres which provide both artificial limbs and vocational rehabilitation is the system which gives the best technical results. One may ask, who will provide these centres ? The problem is relatively easy to solve in countries where there exists compulsory insurance, the organs of which are national institutions or huge mutual associations capable of setting up the necessary organisation. Thus vocational re-training and the supply of artificial limbs have been organised in Germany by the trade accident insurance associations, in Austria and Czechoslovakia by the national insurance institutions, and in the Netherlands by the State Insurance Bank. The case is different in countries where insurance is optional, where there is free choice of insurance institutions and where the number of uninsured employers is considerable. Here there are numerous insurance institutions having a small range of activity and with each of whom only a small number of persons is insured. Neither the uninsured employers nor the small insurance companies are wealthy enough to set up institutions of a permanent character and possessing the necessary equipment. In these countries the only authority capable of creating a sound organisation for furnishing vocational re-training and artificial limbs seems to be the State or independent institutions of a public character working under the supervision of the State. Under this system the same advantages could be made available to the victims of non-industrial accidents also, and to the congenitally defective. This plan has actually been adopted in Spain and the United States, while in France it is under consideration. § 2. — The Limits of Medical Aiá Medical aid, if it is to be complete, should not cease until the injury has healed and reached its final condition ; that is to say, when the time arrives for fixing the amount of the lump sum or pension. — 318 — Nevertheless in a number of countries the laws impose a time limit which medical treatment at the expense of the employer or insurance institution must not exceed. This limit is usually fixed at one year from the date of the accident (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Salvador, Spain). The limit is two years in Greece, three years in Peru, six months in Belgium, and 120 days in Finland. These limits, it will be observed, vary considerably, and it would appear that in certain countries no endeavour has been made to fix the limit of the duration of medical aid so as to correspond with the period necessary for the cure of severe injuries. Having regard to the fact that the limitation of the duration of medical aid has been introduced mainly in countries where insurance is optional, one may conclude that the limit was designed to protect the uninsured employer. The latter, unlike a large insurance institution, has no supervising medical officers at his disposal ; he would thus be liable, over a period which might extend to several years, to have calls made upon him, the grounds for which he could only verify by recourse to a costly investigation by medical experts. It must, however, be recognised that in certain cases of long illness and serious accident the limitation of the duration of medical treatment may impose on the accident victim an expense disproportionate to his resources and prejudice his chance of recovery. §3. — The Organisation of Medical Aid. The cost of medical aid falls either upon the employer, if he is not insured, or upon an insurance company or institution to which the employer has transferred his liability, whether voluntarily or in accordance with a legal obligation. The form assumed by medical aid depends in the first place on the solution adopted for the question of the choice of doctor, surgeon, pharmacist, and, if the case arises, hospital. The problem of free choice of doctor has been, and continues to be, the subject of keen discussion. The arguments for and against free choice by the injured workman or by the employer or insurance institution will not be dealt with here : but the procedure followed in the different countries will be described, and an endeavour will be made to relate it to the organisation of medical aid. The employer or insurance institution chooses the doctor in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Salvador, Spain and Sweden. — 319 — Employers or insurance institutions may either set up their own medical services, including doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, or even hospitals, for the exclusive benefit of the workmen of any particular undertaking or those insured by a particular institution; or they may, without setting up a special service, enter into an arrangement with doctors, surgeons and hospitals for the treatment of the workmen or the insured, as the case may be ; or finally, when an accident occurs, they may merely have recourse to the doctors, surgeons and hospitals at hand, and pay the ordinary fees. The injured workman has free choice of doctor in Bulgaria, Chile, Cuba, France, Greece, and Luxemburg; in Belgium he has free choice only if the employer has not established a medical and pharmaceutical service at his own expense and has made mention thereof in the workshop regulations or in the contract of service. Where free choice of doctor by the workman is permitted, there can be, properly speaking, no medical organisation : the employer or insurance institution is liable for the expenses, while possessing the right to appoint a doctor for the purpose of supervising the treatment given to the injured and rendering reports on the progress of the case, and on the cessation or permanence of the incapacity. Moreover, in order to limit the expenses which the employer or insurance institution may incur, the majority of laws provide either a legal scale of medical fees and drug prices, or else for settlement by a judge, if a dispute arises, of a limit of expenses not to be exceeded in the case concerned. * The injured workman chooses the doctor from among those approved by the insurance institution or otherwise qualified to act in the following countries: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. This plan is adopted especially in countries where there exists compulsory insurance in respect both of accidents and of sickness ; the medical aid is furnished either entirely by sickness insurance funds, or by sickness and accident insurance institutions acting in collaboration. In the latter case, however, if the accident insurance institution itself undertakes the provision of medical aid, it is generally the institution which appoints the doctor. Medical aid is organised by the sickness insurance funds throughout the period of treatment in Bulgaria, Denmark, Great Britain, Hungary, Roumania, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. In Bulgaria and Roumania the sickness funds recover the whole cost of treatment from the accident insurance institution. In — 320 — Hungary and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom the cost of treatment is borne by the sickness fund for the first ten and four weeks respectively, and by the accident insurance institutions from the beginning of the eleventh and fifth week respectively. In Denmark, the sickness fund must provide for accident victims the same treatment as for the ordinary sick, but all expense incurred on account of special treatment or artificial limbs and appliances is met by the accident insurance institution. In Great Britain and the Irish Free State the whole cost of treatment is borne by the sickness funds. Medical aid is organised by sickness and accident insurance institutions acting in collaboration in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Luxemburg, and Norway. The duration of the first period during which medical aid is organised and paid for by the sickness funds is four weeks in Austria and Czechoslovakia, thirteen weeks in Germany and Luxemburg, and ten days in Norway. On the expiry of the first period the accident insurance institution may either undertake the treatment itself or continue to utilise against payment the organisation of the sickness fund. The participation of sickness funds in medical aid results in a notable reduction in costs of accident insurance institutions, by reason of the high proportion of accidents of a slight character, which are generally cured before the termination of the first period, and in respect of which the accident insurance institution consequently incurs no expense. This system has the unquestionable advantage of enabling the injured workman to avail himself of the medical service of the sickness funds, which is more widespread, better organised, more effectively supervised, and less costly than that which the accident insurance institutions could establish even with the expenditure of a considerable proportion of their resources. The plan is, however, open to the objection that it results in the imposition upon the injured workmen, who contribute to sickness funds, of a portion of the cost of accident compensation, which cost, in virtue of the principle of occupational risk, should be borne by either the employer or the accident insurance institution. - 321 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID Limits COUNTRY Nature ot Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum duration ARGENTINA Medical treatment, Employer appoints Not more one year. first aid and drugs. doctor AUSTRALIA Commonwealth and States (except Western Australia) Workman is not entitled to medical aid. Western tralia Aus- First aid only. than Maximum cost — ~~* — — Aid is provided by Sickness Insurance ; at cost of Accident Insurance after 4 weeks. Accident Insurance may take over treatment at any time, or may continue It on termination of period during which Sickness Insurance is responsible. Workman has limited choice of doctor. Not more than 52 weeks; treatment may be continued by Accident Insurance, at its discretion. Not more one pound. than AUSTRIA Medical treatment and drugs, or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided, repaired and renewed. BELGIUM Medical and phar- Employer has op- Not more than six If workman maceutical expen- tion of organising months. chooses doctor, exses. penses must not exaid. If he does orceed amount fixed by ganise it, workman regulations and demust have recourse pending on the nato it. Otherwise ture of the injury. workman has free choice of doctor. BOLIVIA Medical and hospital treatment, first aid and drugs. — Not more than one year. — BRAZIL Ditto Employer appoints doctor. Ditto. — BULGARIA Medical treatment and drugs, or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided. Aid is provided by Until injury has Sickness Insurance healed. at cost of Accident Insurance. Employer provides first aid. CANADA Alberta Nature of aid is in discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. First aid is included. Artificial limbs may be provided. Aid is provided by In discretion of employer according Workmen's Comto plan approved pensation Board. by Workmen's Compensation Board, or is provided by the Board itself. Cost is defrayed by deductions from wages. Employer provides first aid. Doctor is appointed by employer or Board. In discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. 21 — 322 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (COTlt.) Limits COUNTRY N a t u r e of Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum duration CANADA (cant.) British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Nova Scotia Ontario Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Maximum cost Medical, surgical As long as and Aid is provided by and hospital t r e a t - employer according whenever required ment, first aid and to plan a p p r o v e d b y to cure and relieve drugs. Artificial Workmen's Com- effects of injury. limbs are provided. pensation Board, or b y Board itself. E m p l o y e r provides first aid. Doctor is appointed by employer or B o a r d . Medical, surgical and hospital t r e a t ment, first aid and drugs. Ditto I n discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. I n discretion of Workmen's Compensation Board. Medical, surgical and hospital t r e a t ment, first aid and drugs. Artificial limbs are provided and repaired for one year. Ditto Ditto Ditto W o r k m a n is n o t entitled to medical aid. — — CHILE Medical, p h a r m a ceutical, surgical and hospital expenses, first aid. Artificial limbs a r e provided. CUBA Medical, p h a r m a ceutical and surgical expenses, first aid. Not more E m p l o y e r provides first aid. W o r k m a n one year. h a s free choice of doctor. Ditto Ditto — than If w o r k m a n chooses doctor, expenses m u s t not exceed a m o u n t fixed b y j u d g e and depending on n a t u r e of injury. Employer is liable for hospital expenses up to 4 pesos a d a y . If w o r k m a n chooses doctor, expenses m u s t not exceed a m o u n t fixed b y judge and depending on n a t u r e of injury. - 323 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (cOTlt.) Limits COUNTRY Nature of Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum duration Maximum cost CZECHO, SLOVAKIA Medical treatment and drugs, or hosp i t a l treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. •Aid is provided bySickness Insurance; at cost of Accident Insurance after 4 weeks. Accident Insurance may take over treatment at any time, or may continue it on termination of period during which Sickness Insurance is responsible. Workman may or may not have limited choice of doctor, according to rules of local sick fund. DENMARK Medical and hosIpltal treatment and drugs; any special treatment necessary to secure the best possible cure. Pecuniary benefit may be reduced according to rules of local sick fund during hospital treatment. Artificial limbs are provided. Aid is provided by Until injury has Sickness Insurance. healed. Cost of special treatment is defrayed by Accident Insurance. Workman may or may not have limited choice of doctor, according to rules of local sick fund. ECUADOR Medical treatment, Employer provides Not more than first aid and drugs. first aid. Employer one year. appoints doctor. — ESTHONIA Medical and hospi- Aid is provided by Until injury has employer or by Ac- healed. tal treatment. cident Insurance. — FINLAND Medical treatment and drugs or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided. — — FRANCE Medical, pharma- Workman has free choice of doctor. ceutical, surgical and hospital expenses, and expenses of special treatment. Not more than 52 weeks; treatment may be continued by Accident Insurance at its discretion. Not more i20 days. than Until injury has healed ; treatment to be renewed if it is shown to be necessary at review. If workman chooses doctor, expenses must not exceed amount fixed by regulations and depending on number of visits and operations. — 324 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (cOflt.) Limits COUNTRY Nature of Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum duration GERMANY Medical treatment and drugs or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided, repaired and renewed. GREAT BRITAIN Medical treatment, Aid is provided by first aid and drugs. Sickness Insurance. Employer provides first aid. Workman has limited choice of doctor. GREECE Medical treatment Workman has free Not more and drugs. choice of doctor. two years. HUNGARY (Industry) Medical treatment and drugs or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided. f Agriculture) INDIA Aid is provided by Until injury has Sickness Insurance healed ; treatment for first 13 weeks. to be renewed if Accident Insurance necessary. may take over treatment at any time and must continue it from the fourteenth week. Under Sickness Insurance workman has limited choice of doctor. Ditto than Aid is provided by Until injury has Sickness Insurance ; healed ; treatment at cost of Accident to be renewed if Insurance after 10 necessary. weeks. Not more than 10 drachmae a day. — Medical and surgi- Aid is provided by cal treatment and employer for first 10 drugs, or hospital weeks. Thereafter treatment. by Accident Insurance. Workman is not entitled to medica 1 aid. — — — — — — — IRISH FREE STATE Ditto — ITALY ( Industry) First aid only. Employer provides first aid. Charitable institutions which provide medical treatment are subsidised from sums payable on account of contraventions and of persons who are killed and leave no survivors. (Agriculture) Maximum cost Workman is not entitled to medical aid. — — 325 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (contJ) Limits COUNTRY Nature of Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum duration JAPAN (Factory Act) (Health Insurance Act) Medical treatment. Employer appoints Until injury has doctor. healed. Medical treatment Aid is provided by or hospital treat- Sickness Insurance. ment with reduced pecuniary benefit. — than — Medical and hospi- Aid is provided by Until injury has tal treatment. employer or by Ac- healed. cident Insurance. — Ditto — Ditto — LUXEMBURG Medical and surgical treatment and drugs or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided, repaired and renewed. Aid is provided by Sickness Insurance for first 13 weeks. Accident Insurance may take over treatment at any time and must continue it from fourteenth week. Under Sickness Insurance workman has free choice of doctor. Ditto If w o r k m a n chooses doctor, expenses must not exceed those which would have been incurred on account of treatment by Sickness Insurance doctor. NETHERLANDS ( Industry) (Agriculture) Until injury has Medical, surgical Aid is provided by and hospital treat- Accident Insurance. healed. ment, drugs, and Workman has lim(at option of work- ited choiceof doctor. man) vocational rehabilitation. Artificial limbs are provided NORWAY (Industry) Medical treatment Aid is provided by and drugs or hospi- Sickness Insurance tal treatment with for first 10 days. reduced pecuniary Thereafter by Acbenefit. cident Insurance. PANAMA Medical and pharmaceutical expenses. PERU Medical and surgical treatment, first aid and drugs. Artificial limbs are provided. LATVIA LITHUANIA — Not more 180 days. Maximum cost Ditto Until injury has healed. Employer is en- Not more titled to appoint three years. doctor; if he does not exercise his right, workman has free choice. than — If workman chooses doctor, expenses must not exceed amount fixed by regulations and depending on number of visits and operations. — 326 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (COM.) Limits COUNTRY N a t u r e of Aid Organisation of Aid Maximum d u r a t i o n POLAND F o r m e r German Territory Medical t r e a t m e n t and drugs or hospit a l t r e a t m e n t with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided, repaired and renewed. Aid is provided by Sickness I n s u r a n c e for first 13 weeks. Accident I n s u r a n c e may take over treatment at any time and must cont i n u e it from t h e fourteenth week. Under Sickness Insurance w o r k m a n h a s limited choice of doctor. Until injury healed. F o r m e r Austrian and Russian Territories Medical t r e a t m e n t and drugs, or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Aid is provided by Sickness I n s u r a n c e at cost of Accident Insurance after 4 weeks. Accident I n surance may t a k e over t r e a t m e n t at any time, or may continue it on termination of period during which Sickness I n s u r a n c e is responsible. U n d e r Sickness I n s u r a n c e workman has limited choice of doctor. N o t more t h a n 52 weeks; treatment m a y be continued by Accident I n s u r ance a t its discretion. PORTUGAL Medical, surgical and hospital t r e a t ment and drugs. Aid is provided by employer, who m a y transfer his obligation to Sickness I n surance F u n d or private insurance company. Workman has free choice of doctor only whereserious operation is concerned. Not more three years. HO UM AN IA Medical, surgical and hospital treatment, first aid and drugs. Artificial limbs are provided. Aid is provided by Sickness I n s u r a n c e at cost of Accident Insurance Until injury healed. RUSSIA Medical t r e a t m e n t . Aid is provided by Social I n s u r a n c e . SALVADOR Medical t r e a t m e n t and drugs. E m p l o y e r a p p o i n t s Not more doctor. one year. . SERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM Medical and surgical t r e a t m e n t and drugs or hospital t r e a t m e n t w i t h reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided. Aid is provided by Sickness I n s u r a n c e a t cost of Accident I n s u r a n c e after four weeks. Rules of local workers' insurance institution may permit workman t o have free or limited choice of doctor. has than Expenses must not exceed a m o u n t fixed b y regulations, and depending on n u m b e r of visits and operations. has — — U n t i l injury healed Maximum cost than has — — 327 — COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICAL AID (concluded) Limits COUNTRY Nature of Aid Organisation of Aid — Maximum duration Maximum cost — — SOUTH AFRICA Workman is not entitled to medical aid. SPAIN Medical and hospi- Employer appoints Not more tal treatment, first doctor. one year. aid and drugs. SWEDEN Medical treatment, first aid and drugs or hospital treatment with reduced pecuniary benefit. Artificial limbs are provided. SWITZERLAND URUGUAY Ditto Medical and pharmaceutical expenses. Artificial limbs are provided. than Aid is provided by Until injury has employer for first healed. 35 days. Thereafter by Accident Insurance. Aid is provided by Accident Insurance. Workman has limited choice of doctor. Ditto Ditto — PART IV GUARANTEES CHAPTER I Introductory Remarks The various forms of legislation under which occupational risks are recognised and fixed compensation for industrial accidents are established, have not as a rule treated the claims of the injured party or of the other parties concerned as ordinary debts subject, so far as concerns the relations of creditor and debtor, to the rules of common law. A debt contracted towards the beneficiary of any form of compensation is of a very special character. On the one hand, the sum to which the worker is entitled is as urgently needed by the latter as his wages, of which, from one point of view, it may be regarded as an extension or substitute, and this sum should be considered as an integral part of the remuneration owing to him. On the other hand, the very cause of such claim places it among those the actual settlement of which directly concerns society. Such being the case, the laws governing industrial accidents would be incomplete if they did not contain provisions designed to ensure the injured parties or their survivors the regular payment of the compensation laid down. The measures laid down and the organisations established for this purpose, taken as a whole, constitute the system of guarantees peculiar to each form of legislation. In the case of any risk, the occurrence of which involves payment of a fixed sum, the party who may become liable may, and generally does, insure himself against such risk. To make this optional procedure compulsory for industrial accidents, and at the same — 330 — time to organise insurance administratively, in such a way that the insurance establishment shall always be able to pay the compensation due, would appear to be the most complete, most efficacious and most equitable system of guarantees. The compulsory insurance of workmen by the employer brings all those insured under definite and uniform regulations: it minimises disputes and procedure; it automatically guarantees the payment of compensation; it makes the industry of a country as a whole contribute towards payment of damages for accidents, thus establishing between employers, to the advantage of their workmen a solidarity which is of great social value. Moreover, whether the management of the insurance is entrusted to private companies from among which the employer is free to choose his insurer, whether it consists of several groups which share the monopoly of insurance, or whether it depends exclusively on a central organisation, compulsory insurance gives, or should give, to the administration the means of controlling the fixing of tariffs and the investment of funds directly and in detail, in such a way that the charges imposed upon industry and hence on the whole body of consumers, by the recognition of occupational risks, shall be as light as possible and shall be distributed as fairly as possible. In a large number of countries, however, these advantages have not been regarded as of paramount importance, and compulsory insurance has not been instituted, either because it was considered useless in view of the widespread practice of insurance and the rarity of bankruptcy among employers, or because it was regarded as an infringement of the liberty of the individual and a violation of the theoretical right of every employer to cover his own risks — although such risks at the same time involve risks to his employees — or, again, because it was feared that the interference of the State in this domain might create dangerous confusion between the administration of public finance and the financial administration of the insurance. In countries, however, where insurance is not compulsory, it has always been assumed by the legislator that the majority of employers would insure against the fresh risk, and special measures have been taken to facilitate insurance and to see that employers who insured should be free from the responsibility incurred by uninsured employers. Generally speaking, it may be said that the systems of guarantees instituted under legislation by which insurance is optional would render the action of the laws governing compensation irregular and unduly burdensome, if in actual fact the majority of employers were not insured. — 331 — Failing compulsory insurance, the problem is how to guarantee the claims of a workman.who suffers as the result of an occupational accident, or the claims of the dependants. One method of procedure would be to make such claim a secured debt, the privilege coming into play in the case of the liquidation of the debtor's assets as the result of bankruptcy or any other cause. It is obvious, however, that legislation which confines itself to guarantees of this nature may prove ineffective and can hardly be regarded as affording adequate security. The secured debt is on an equal footing with other secured debts when it comes to the division of assets, the sum of which may prove inadequate for the payment of all the creditors. In the case of insurance, however, such guarantees assume a different character, for the secured debt is a charge on the reserves and caution money provided by the insurance institution and the existence of such reserves and caution money is generally proved either by administrative control or by the actual fact of deposit, while their sum, whether calculated directly or indirectly, bears a definite relation to the liabilities contracted by the insurer. Another system is to establish a legal mortgage on the whole or part of the property of the debtor. The constitution of the security is thus coincident with the creation of the claim, is proportionate to such claim and cannot be diverted to other uses. The estates of the debtor must, however, be such as to admit of the constitution of such security. Moreover, there would still be the possibility of conflict between mortgages with equal claims. The most important point, however, is that, as fixed compensation for industrial accidents in every case automatically involves the financial responsibility of the employer, the establishment of such mortgages would impose a heavy burden on the industry of the whole country, would have an adverse effect upon the mobility of capital and seriously prejudice the credit of industrialists. Thus, except in very special cases, no legislation has made use of this machinery, which would be without drawbacks, from the point of view of industry, only if compensation for accidents were governed by common law with indefinite, though at the same time exceptional, responsibility as regards the employer. Given that legal mortgages are to be excluded, and if provision is to be made besides making the compensation of the beneficiary a first charge, there remains only one method of guaranteeing that the workman shall recover his claim. This method consists, in the event of failure on the part of the debtor for any cause what- — 332 — soever, of substituting for the latter another debtor, who, by definition, shall always be solvent, and can be none other than the State. Under a certain number of forms of legislation providing for optional assurance, it has been laid down that the workman whose claim is unsatisfied shall obtain compensation from a special guarantee fund administered by a state organisation and maintained by means of taxes levied directly or indirectly on the whole body of employers or a certain part of such. This fund, which constitutes a public fund for insurance against the insolvency of the employers (or, it may be, of the insurers) can claim against the debtor who fails to execute his obligations. But in any case the beneficiary entitled to compensation receives the sum due to him and receives it, moreover, as the result of procedure far simpler and within a period far shorter than if he himself had had to sue the debtor. In the interests alike of the insured employers and the workman, and, should such exist, of the guarantee fund, the administration of insurance against industrial accidents has not been handed over by law to private initiative without control or supervision. Under the various forms of legislation, certain formalities as regards constitution have in the first place been imposed on all companies and.employers' associations wishing to undertake insurance against occupational accidents. Such formalities may range from mere registration to administrative authorisation. The first guarantee required, as a rule, as proof of the solvency of the insurer, is the deposit of a security. Moreover, the laws in question lay down certain regulations for the drafting of the insurance contract and almost always stipulate that no nullity clause can be adduced against the workman by the insurer, subject to the right of the latter to claim against the employer whose policy has lapsed. Finally, in varying forms and degrees, the laws in question have settled the amount and regulated the investment of the reserves to be established by the insurance organisations for the purpose of meeting their obligations. Provisions of the same character are also found in the compulsory insurance laws, which allow the employer to select his insurer from among private companies. The various systems of guarantees may therefore be classified aa follows : I. Laws under which insurance is optional. (1) Optional insurance without special guarantee fund (compensation laws only): Australia (New South Wales, Tasmania,) Brazil, Canada, (Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Ecuador, Great — 333 — Britain, India, Japan, Lithuania, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Salvador, South Africa, Uruguay. (2) Optional insurance with special guarantee fund (laws providing compensation and guarantees properly so-called) : Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, France, Spain. II. Compulsory insurance laws (laws providing compensation and insurance). (1) Compulsory insurance with free choice of insurer: Australia (Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia), Chile, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Italy (industrial accidents), Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden. (2) Compulsory insurance with specified insurer. (a) The insurance is administered by one or more employers' associations: Germany, Austria, Esthonia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Japan (new legislation), Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Latvia, Luxemburg, Poland, Roumania. (¿>) The insurer is a central organisation, not an occupational body: Australia (Queensland), Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario), Italy (agricultural accidents and accidents to persons employed by the central or local government), Norway, Russia, Switzerland). There can be no question of analysing here, severally, and in detail, the various forms of national legislation exemplified in the five categories just defined above. Nor is it possible, owing to the danger of giving merely a confused and inadequate account, to confine discussion to a rapid summary of their chief provisions. It has been found necessary to employ a mixed method, which, it must be admitted, is somewhat artificial in character. It was thought preferable to give a substantially complete idea of the working of each type of guarantee system, rather than a rapid and superficial survey of all these systems. It is proposed, therefore, to study in detail in each of the above-named categories, a form of legislation which will be regarded as a type. Each of these descriptions will be followed by a brief analysis, indicating the essential points in regard to which other forms of legislation belonging to the same category are appreciably different from the one described. The particular type in question has, needless to say, not been selected on account of any superiority which it was — 334 — held to offer, or because it constituted a more complete or more systematic example of the category to which it belongs, or because it had served more or less as a model for the other forms of legislation. In actual fact, each form of legislation has its peculiar characteristics, is the oatcome of special tendencies, is meant to meet definite requirements, and calls for separate study. Such being the case, any one of the laws might have been the term of comparison selected, and similar forms of legislation could have been referred to it. In view of the fact that insurance plays an essential part in all guarantee systems, it is essential before proceeding to this comprehensive study, to describe the characteristics common to organisations for insurance against industrial accidents, irrespective of the legislative system by which they are governed, and those characteristics which, although determined by such legislative system, can be more easily comprehended if viewed synoptically. CHAPTER II GENERAL NOTIONS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE § 1. — The Nature of Industrial Accident Insurance It would seem at first sight simple to define the objects of industrial accident insurance. Chief of these would appear to be to furnish, in all cases covered by the insurance, benefits legally due to the victims of accidents or their survivors. Further consideration of the question, however, will serve to show its complexity. On the one hand, compensation legislation founded on the notion of occupational risk by its very nature indicates the employer as a person pecuniarily responsible for compensation. From this point of view industrial accident insurance is a special form of liability insurance for the benefit of third parties. The head of an undertaking covers himself against the risk of having to pay compensation in the event of an accident and he, and he alone, appears in the character of an insured person. On the other hand, it can at once be seen that a liability of this kind is not comparable to that type of liability which arises in other circumstances. In other forms of liability insurance the third party who may possibly have to be compensated is at the outset entirely unknown, as also are the sums which such third party may be entitled to claim. In industrial accident insurance, on the contrary, it is known in advance that the third party who may eventually benefit belongs to a certain class, i.e. the workers or employees of the insured undertaking, and further, the fixed scales of payment laid down by the law make it possible in each case to know in advance to what extent the debtor is involved financially. The consequences of this state of affairs are important. Once the accident occurs, not only is the insured head of the undertaking no more than an intermediary, being, as he is, a debtor in his relations to the worker and a creditor of the insurance undertaking ; but, further, before the accident occurs, the fact that it is known in — 336 — advance that the possible creditor is to be found among the workers in any undertaking, virtually confers rights on such workers and they appear from the beginning as parties directly interested de facto in the insurance contract. If, therefore, they are directly interested de facto, why should they not be so de jure ? Such considerations serve to explain why in some forms of legislation under which insurance is optional the law lays down the principle of complete substitution of the insurer for the insured head of the undertaking, in relation to the victim of the industrial accident. But they chiefly serve to show why the legal regulation of industrial accident insurance is not in general the same as that of other forms of liability insurance. The personality of the head of the undertaking tends more and more to disappear from the transaction and the insurance itself tends to be run on such lines as indirectly to relieve the employer of his liabilities and directly to guarantee the worker the compensation provided for by legislation. From this point of view it is not the employer but the worker who appears in the character of the insured person and the employer comes in merely as his substitute for the payment of premiums, such substitution having its raison d'etre in the notion of occupational risk. There are, therefore, two main principles of industrial accident insurance according as it is considered primarily as insurance of employer or primarily as insurance of workers. The former principle dominates most optional insurance legislation. The latter is the keynote of compulsory insurance legislation, and is most completely realised in compulsory and monopolist insurance legislation. But in all cases, even when one principle is predominant, the other is still felt, and it is to this fundamental duality that are due most of the special problems raised by the administration of industrial accident insurance. § 2. — Types of Industrial Accident Insurance Institutions The institutions which undertake to manage or run the various branches of insurance fall, it will be remembered, into certain definite classes. The insurance may be private, that is to say, conducted or administered by persons subject to private law, or public, that is to say, administered by institutions or bodies subject to public law. Private insurance (setting aside cases — now very rare — in which it is conducted by a single individual) may be in the form — 337 — of a joint-stock company claiming from the insured a premium fixed by previous contract (fixed premium) and, in return for the profits it makes, undertaking responsibility for the payment of indemnities, or in that of a mutual society which does not aim at profits and in which the insurer and insured are merged in one body. Mutual societies may be, and generally are, limited liability companies; the members sometimes, however, undertake responsibility up to the limits of their resources. There also exist, in between these companies with fixed premiums and mutual societies, mixed or transitional forms; companies in which the insured participate in the profits; mutual societies which insure persons other than the members; mutual societies which reinsure their risks with an insurance company. Private insurance is generally subject, as regards some or all of its branches, to certain obligations, the fulfilment of which is necessary if its operations are to be valid, and to administrative supervision which varies very considerably, as regards procedure and extent, in different countries. If the insurance is public, it may be a State institution properly so-called, which is administered by State officials and forms a more or less autonomous part of the administrative organisation; or it may be a company of private persons, to which are attributed the functions of a public institution. Furthermore, it may in either case compete freely with private insurance, or it may have a monopoly or simply enjoy preferential treatment. Between private and public insurance, and approximating more nearly now to the one and now to the other, are various insurance funds regularly subsidised and supervised by the State, and private autonomous institutions to which the State grants certain privileges and on which it imposes certain obligations. The relations of insurer and insured in private insurance are defined by a contract (policy). According to the country and the branch of insurance, the contract may be free, that is to say, subject only to the provisions of the general law governing contracts, or it may come under special laws. There is also a contract in the case of public insurance without monopoly. In that of compulsory insurance with monopoly, there is naturally no contract. The relations of insurer and insured are determined entirely by the law and administrative regulations. Industrial accident insurance institutions include the chief types enumerated above — fixed premium companies, mutual benefit societies, independent institutions working under State control and sometimes with a State guarantee, and State funds. 22 — 338 — FIXED PREMIUM COMPANIES Fixed premium companies are found in all countries where insurance is optional and in countries where insurance is compulsory with freedom of choice of the insurer. They are for the most part companies which were accident insurance companies prior to the entry into force of specific compensation legislation, and which then added a branch to deal with industrial accidents. They are formed and administered according to the particular system in force in each country for joint stock companies. They are also compelled tó comply with certain rules, either as general insurance companies or in their special capacity as industrial accident insurance companies. In almost all cases they have to make a deposit as a guarantee of their solvency. In most cases this deposit, the amount of which is revised annually according to the amount received in contributions, is returned to them only if they cease to do business and are able to prove that they have met all their obligations. In Belgium, in Spain, and in those South American States where insurance is optional, as also in all countries where insurance is compulsory with freedom of choice of the insurer, they have to obtain the authorisation of the Government before beginning business. In Great Britain and in those parts of the British Empire which have not established the monopoly system, the control over them is confined to the publication of their financial documents (e.g. balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, etc.). In other countries where insurance is optional, or where there is a system of compulsory insurance with freedom of choice of the insurer, these companies are most strictly controlled. The control is mainly concerned with the formation and disposal of their actuarial reserves, as well as with the regularity with which they meet their obligations to the workers who are their creditors. EMPLOYERS' MUTUAL INSURANCE SOCIETIES Employers' mutual insurance societies carrying on insurance against industrial accidents exist in all countries except in those which have introduced the monopoly system and have entrusted such monopoly either to an independent undertaking or to a State fund. In countries where insurance is optional or where there is a compulsory system with freedom of choice of the insurer, they generally constitute a form of insurance which it has been the special object of legislation to encourage. They all have one — 339 — characteristic in common, which is that they do not attempt to make profits. Such societies are of two main types according as their members are liable only for a given sum annually, e.g. some multiple such as twice the maximum contribution payable at the beginning of the year, or as such members are liable without limit to the extent of their resources. A distinction must also be made between cases in which they are private societies working in competition with fixed premium companies and those in which they.constitute public corporations holding an insurance monopoly for specific occupations or districts. The former is the case in countries with optional insurance and in countries with a compulsory system with freedom of choice of the insurer. There are employers' limited liability mutual insurance societies in Great Britain, in all parts of the British Empire where there is no State fund, in France (Sociétés mutuelles), in Belgium (Caisses communes), in the Netherlands and in Finland, Denmark, Portugal and Italy (Sindacati d'assicurazione mutua per gli infortuni sul lavoro). There are employers' unlimited liability mutual insurance societies in France (Syndicats de garantie), Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Cuba. Both types of society are as a rule subject to the same obligations as those imposed upon companies. Nevertheless, the deposit which they are compelled to make is in nearly all cases smaller than that imposed on the companies. In certain cases it is still further reduced in proportion to the liabilities assumed by the members. It may be even completely abolished in the case of unlimited liability societies (e.g. the syndicats de garantie in France). In countries with a compulsory system which concede an insurance monopoly to employers' mutual insurance societies, such societies are always unlimited liability societies. They may be constituted on a local basis between employers in various occupations (e.g. Austria), or solely between employers in the same occupation (e.g. Germany). INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND STATE FUNDS Independent public institutions enjoying special privileges, or State funds properly so-called, are found in various countries with an optional system and in almost all countries which have a compulsory system with freedom of choice of the insurer; also in a certain number of countries with a compulsory and monopolist system. — 340 — Among countries with an optional system, France, Peru, Uruguay and New Zealand have a State fund working in free competition with the private companies. In this case the chief duty of the State fund is to regulate the insurance market. Among countries which have a compulsory system with freedom of choice of the insurer, Italy possesses an independent privileged institution in the Cassa nazionale. There is also a State fund in the Netherlands and Sweden, and in the State of Victoria in Australia. Besides regulating the insurance market, it is also the work of these insurance undertakings to take up risks which cannot toe insured in private business. There is no public institution of this kind in Denmark, Portugal or Cuba. One is projected in Finland, but has not yet been set up. In Switzerland, which is a country with a compulsory system, the monopoly has been granted to an independent public institution which is not a State fund (i.e. the Caisse nationale d'assurance contre les accidents). In Norway and Bulgaria, and also in those Provinces of Canada which have instituted compulsory insurance, the insuring undertaking is a State institution which, over and above its insurance functions properly so-called, usually possesses wide administrative and judicial functions. § 3. — Taking the Risk and Self-Insurance These two expressions occur frequently in legislation and yet more frequently in theoretical discussions of insurance. It will be necessary to define their meaning as used in the following pages, and to give some explanation of their practical working. Taking the risk means no more than not to have recourse to an insurance undertaking, but to meet the various expenses consequent upon an accident as they fall due and from one's own resources. Self-insurance also means not to have recourse to any insurance undertaking, but it consists also — to confine the definition to the case of industrial accidents — in having at one's disposal as large an undertaking as will be able of itself to fulfil the conditions of sound insurance, i.e. in the first place, comparative regularity in the annual frequency and in the cost of accidents, and secondly, the regular payment into a fund, which is financially separate from the resources of the undertaking itself, of a sum representing the annual cost of the risk. Thus, if there is no compulsion to insure, everyone may, if he prefers, take his own risk, but it is not everyone who can be a self-insurer. — 341 — In the legislation of certain countries where insurance is compulsory, e.g. in the Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal, the law as an exceptional measure authorises heads of undertakings who give definite guarantees, to take their own risk. In many cases a condition of this authorisation is the perfecting of the preventive measures adopted by employers. In the legislation of other countries with a compulsory system, e.g. in Italy, in the case of industrial accidents, the employer is not allowed to take his own risk but, if he employs a sufficient number of workers, he may set up an independent insurance fund for his own undertaking (private fund). § 4. — Financial Systems of Industrial Accident Insurance Any insurance rests on the mutual compensation as between the insured which is effected by the insurer; in other words, the insurance fund, on the one hand, constitutes an independent financial entity, and the insurer, on the other hand, in principle balances his expenditure simply and solely by means of the payments effected by or on behalf of the insured. It is the contribution or premium thus collected in respect of each insured person which enables the insurer to compensate those who have incurred loss. Hence, even when he aims at commercial profit, the insurer acts as administrator of an organisation for mutual compensation, since the basis of the organisation is the de jure or de facto solidarity, usually limited, however, of all the insured. It is this solidarity which distinguishes insurance, as a provident instrument, from private thrift, and confers upon it as a guarantee of security a far greater value than that of thrift. The chief financial systems of organising the mutual compensation which is the characteristic feature of insurance may now be briefly surveyed. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS Under a system of distribution, the insurer divides the expenses during the financial period among all the insured, in accordance with certain rules determined by the risk covered and stipulating the payment by each insured person of a contribution proportionate to the sum which there was a risk he might cost the insurer 1. 1 The reader should beware of the ambiguity inherent in the term "distribution". It is obvious that under any system of insurance the charges must, in the end, be divided among those insured. It is customary, however, in practice to reserve this word for cases in which the distribution is made each financial period and in accordance with the actual results of such period. — 342 — The operations of each financial period are thus quite independent, from the point of view of finance. The sums contributed by the insured are allocated directly they are paid into the insurance fund. There is therefore no need for capitalisation, and the working of the insurance is independent of fluctuations in the rate of interest. Further, despite the fact that the chances of accidents occurring and the probable cost must still be estimated (since the estimate serves to determine the contribution due in respect of each person insured), even a serious mistake in such estimates would not, in any case, affect the financial stability of the institution. At the worst, the operation of the insurance might fail to be equitable, but it would not cease. The administration is of the simplest; the responsibility of the manager is reduced to a minimum, and theoretically, at all events, no deficit is possible. Systems of distribution are at the basis of the working of mutual insurance societies. As a general rule, a provisional contribution is required at the beginning of the financial period. It may be increased or reduced according to the financial results of the period. It rarely happens, however, that the method of distribution is exclusively applied. In the absence of any corrective it presents a serious disadvantage to which attention has frequently been drawn: the person insured does not know exactly, when he insures, what his obligations will be, as his contribution may vary very considerably from one year to another. Moreover, the guarantee offered to persons to whom the insurance owes pensions rests simply and solely upon the future solvency of the members. In fact, it may be said that while every person insured, by the fact of insuring, is making provision for future contingencies, the insurance institution itself is deliberately improvident in its method of procedure. Thus, in practice, methods of distribution are more or less modified by provisions which bring them more nearly into line with other systems of insurance. The most usual procedure is to establish a reserve fund. A supplementary contribution is levied and paid into this reserve, from which sums are drawn during particularly bad years in order to obviate the necessity of unduly increasing the annual contributions. FIXED PREMIUM SYSTEMS Annual Premium Systems and Capitalisation Systems These systems aim at establishing a fixed contribution or premium, calculated by dividing in advance between the persons — 343 — insured the probable costs of one or more financial periods. Such contribution, once it is determined, can neither be increased nor reduced, whence the name of "fixed premium" systems. The insurance institution is alone responsible, within the limits of its solvency, for the payment of compensation, and makes good deficits or appropriates profits, as the case may be. The premium thus determined on the assumption that the estimates of the insurer will exactly correspond with the facts, irrespective of additional expenses, constitutes the net premium. Obviously, the premium submitted by the insurer to his clients, the gross premium, is made up of the net premium together with a certain sum or loading intended as a margin to cover possible mistakes in the estimates, and the costs of management, and if need be of commission charges, and to yield a profit. Annual Premium Systems If the calculations are based upon estimates relating simply to the coming financial year or to a series of years regarded as financially independent, the annual premiums are fixed accordingly, in such a way that the sum of them exactly corresponds, without balance or deficit, to the probable costs of the year in question. This is the annual premium system. Should the estimates of the insurer prove correct in practice, this system would be identical, so far as results are concerned, with the system of distribution: Capitalisation Systems On the other hand, whenever calculations are made in accordance with estimates covering several financial periods regarded as one single period, either with a view to the equal division of charges between the several successive years, or for the purpose of concentrating on one single year or on a small number of years the probable charges for the whole period, there is necessarily, at all events, during a certain period of the duration of the contracts, a definite portion of the premiums collected which is not designed to meet the probable expenditure for the corresponding year. This portion, which is held in reserve and capitalised at a fixed rate, forms, together with all other similar sums, a fund from which the insurer will draw fixed amounts in order, when occasion arises, to meet expenses which he proposes to cover by this means. In such cases, the fixed premium systems are to be considered as capitalisation systems. It has been shown that, as a general rule, reserves are also established under distribution systems, and there is nothing to prevent — 344 — the capitalisation of the whole or part of such reserves during a certain period. The same applies to annual premium systems. Conversely, under capitalisation systems and also under annual premium systems, should the insurer find that any one financial period or series of financial periods yields results appreciably inferior to those upon which he had relied, he will "distribute" the losses experienced by raising his scale of premiums for this specific purpose (irrespective of the increase which past experience has shown to be necessary for the balancing of accounts in future years), whenever old contracts permit of it and whenever hè concludes fresh contracts. Thus the distinction drawn between capitalisation systems and others does not imply in the one case that there is no capitalisation whatsoever, or in the other, that the actual financial results are not distributed. Under capitalisation systems, however, the placing in reserve of definite sums, which increase according to a fixed rate of interest, is a regular and essential element of the financial mechanism, whereas distribution is a subsidiary provision which may possibly be applied, but simply in order to cover exceptional cases. The converse applies in distribution systems and in annual premium systems, while it should be noted, further, that in such cases the fixing of the rate of interest is not an essential element governing the working of the reserve fund. For the same transactions, capitalisation systems will allocate large reserves, in accordance with definite rules, while other systems will set aside, as may be convenient, sums which are as a rule much smaller. The system of annual premiums is the one mostly employed by fire and accident insurance companies and in general by companies insuring against all risks which, for any fixed value insured, are practically constant from year to year. The capitalisation system is to be found in its most complete form in life insurance. It is practically inevitable that it should be used whenever the insurance contract extends over a long period and covers a risk which varies from year to year. SYSTEMS OF DISTRIBUTION OF CAPITAL When the compensation paid by the insurer is in the form of a pension, a mixed system is sometimes used which has certain features in common with the distribution system and others with capitalisation properly so-called. It consists in entering the capital representing the pension once and for all on the debit side of the — 345 — balance sheet for the financial year in which the payment of the pension begins, instead of including the annual amount as it falls due each year in the expenditure for that year. In other words, the financial year in which the pension first becomes due bears the whole burden represented by such pension, instead of the balance being carried forward to subsequent years. This system is known as the distribution of capital, or the cover system. This modification of the system of distribution pure and simple, or the system of the distribution of annual compensation, makes it necessary for the insurer, in order to fix the charges for the financial year, to estimate the probable duration of the pension to be paid and to assess the probable rate of interest in future years. Moreover, it necessitates the accumulation of capital, the administration of which devolves upon the insurance institution 1. 1 The capitalised value of a life annuity (not to be confused with the capital needed to constitute a permanent annuity) may be regarded as a single premium for a given life insurance policy, i.e. paid in a single sum when the policy is taken out. It is calculated on the fixed premium system with capitalisation. To take an imaginary case of 1,000 persons of 40 years of age, exposed to the same risks, the insurer undertaking to pay the survivors among them at the end of ten years the sum of 1,000 francs each. If the mortality table adopted leads to an estimate of 900 survivors at the end of ten years, the sum to be paid to the insurer when the policies are taken out should, if he is to fulfil his obligations, be 900 times the present worth of 1,000 francs payable in ten years, i.e. 900 times the sum which invested with compound interest at the rate fixed for capitalisation will be 1,000 francs at the end of ten years. The single premium corresponding to the deferred capital is therefore for each insured person 900 x present worth of 1,000 francs payable in ten years 1,000 Accordingly, the capitalised value of a life annuity of 1,000 francs for a person of 40 years of age is simply the sum of the single premiums for a capital of 1,000 francs deferred for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years etc. until the last year in which by the mortality table there will be survivors. Thus for any given annuity, the capitalised value will depend on the age at which the annuity is purchased, the mortality table used and the rate of interest selected. The younger the annuitant, the lower the mortality rate, and the lower the rate of interest, the higher will be the capitalised value. With this method of calculation the operation is without financial importance unless the insurance fund paying the pensions enters into a sufficient number of contracts of the same kind. In theory each individual contract must be regarded as one of a whole group. The successive deaths of the insured persons, who have all paid the same sum at the beginning, make it possible, by a process of balancing, to pay a uniform pension to the survivors. It would obviously be absurd to say that for any one person of a given age it amounts to the same thing whether he posesses the capitalised value, at that age, of a life annuity of 1,000 francs or is guaranteed a pension of 1,000 francs as long as he lives. The two things are approximately equivalent only for the insurer, and then only if he has to deal with a sufficient number of pension holders. Further, whereas by definition the capital of a permanent annuity remains intact, the capitalised value of a life annuity, together with the interest on it; — 346 — The system still remains a distribution system in the sense that it is based upon the results of a definite expenditure incurred in a past financial year; but the amount representing such expenditure is then placed in reserve and capitalised to ensure the payment of the pensions. The two operations are quite distinct. It may even happen that instead of itself holding and administering such funds and paying pensions due, the insurance institution pays the capitalised value as required into the funds of another institution which is henceforth responsible for the payment of the pension. Then, so far as the insurance establishment is concerned, the system ceases to be one of capitalisation and remains simply a system of distribution of annual expenditure. It would appear, at first sight, that in a system of annual fixed premiums, there is also the choice, in the case of compensation pensions, of two forms of procedure: the probable expenditure for any year might be estimated on the basis either of the pensions to be paid in the course of that year (current pensions plus fresh pensions falling due during the course of the year), or of the capitalised value of the fresh pensions falling due. In actual fact, only the latter practice prevails. By the very terms of its definition, the price of the insurance should be so fixed in advance as to include all probable expenditure attaching to the risks covered. is absorbed by degrees in the actual payment of pensions. If the insurer's estimates of mortality and the rate of interest were absolutely correct, the capitalised value of all the pensions he has to pay would be exhausted on the very date the last annuities lapse. To return to the case of 1,000 annuitants of 40 years of age. At that age, the capitalised value of a life annuity of 1,000 francs, taken at 4 per cent, interest, is 15,870 francs, according to the mortality table used by French insurance companies. Thus, when the contract is concluded the 1,000 insured persons pay in all 15,870,000 francs to the insurer. Their estimated number at the end of the year is 992, of two years 981. The 15,870,000 francs invested at 4 per cent, will be 16,504,800 in one year, from which sum the insurer deducts 992,000 francs for the payment of pensions. He is left with 15,512,800 francs, which at 4 per cent, interest gives 16,133,312 francs, and from this sum he deducts 981,000,000 francs for the payment of pensions. At the beginning of the third year he is left with 16,152,312 francs, and so on. The total sum he must have in hand at the beginning of each year to be able to meet his obligations during that and subsequent years constitutes the mathematical reserve for his annuity contracts on that date. It is not the absolute property of the insurer. It figures, on the one hand, on the credit side of his balance sheet, in the form of moneys held for the specific purpose stated, but it should figure equally on the debit side, as it represents the present value of his liabilities towards the annuitants. The reserve for each contract cannot, however, be regarded as property of the annuitant which has simply been entrusted to the insurer, since these reserves fulfil their function only if merged in the fund constituted by similar reserves. The sum of the reserves forms the collective guarantee of the annuitants. It is essential, moreover, if the insurer is to balance his transactions, that he should be able to invest these reserves for a continuous period at an annual rate of interest at least as high as the rate taken as a basis in computing the capitalised value. — 347 — After these explanations the financial working of an accident insurance institution may be described, which, leaving the details of management and procedure out of account, may be summed up in certain general principles. § 5. — Financial Working of an Industrial Accident Insurance Institution The basic problem is always the same. Given certain expenditure, whether it be actual expenditure (e.g., the distribution systems practised by mutual insurance societies and, as a general rule, by monopolistic State funds) or merely probable expenditure (e.g. the system of the fixed premium adopted by fixed premium companies,independent undertakings and, as a general rule, by non-monopolist State funds), such expenditure has to be covered by means of contributions raised in as equitable a manner as possible from among the employers who contribute to the insurance. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS Method of Fixing Contributions To meet expenditure in the course of a given financial period, and to provide a working capital fund, the insuring undertaking generally asks its members for a fixed advance on the final contribution. Once the total expenditure of the financial period is definitely known, the final contribution of each employer has to be fixed. ' Suppose at the outset a mutual insurance society of employers (receiving the same compensation for similar accidents), employing the same number of workers for the same period, on similar work, with the same wages, and under the same technical conditions. It is obvious that the contribution of each employer will be equal to the expenditure divided by the number of employers. Now, suppose that the various undertakings, while remaining the same in other respects, differ in the number of the workers which they employ. Since it is the worker who is exposed to the risk, each employer's contribution will be simply proportionate to the number of his workers. Now introduce a further complication. In the same undertaking, wages may vary as between one worker and another, and the hours of work of the various workers may also be different. In the first place, it is clear that the risk of accident increases in proportion — 348 — to the time during which workers are exposed to it; secondly, according to the legislation of various countries, the allowance paid in the event of accident is roughly proportionate to the wage. Considering, therefore, not the wages of each worker, but the average wage per worker, it may be conceded that the total sum annually paid by each employer in wages is an approximate measure of the risk in which he involves the insurance fund, and his contribution will therefore be proportionate to this sum. Such is the simplest method of distribution. It is applicable in all cases where there are a priori reasons for thinking that the insured undertakings do not differ very greatly one from another in the risk which work in them entails. This is the method which is best adapted to agricultural mutual insurance societies. In this case, however, the basis of distribution is sometimes, instead of the total amount paid in wages, the area covered by the undertaking, or sometimes the amount paid in taxation of land values. It is obvious that such a method is not adapted to industry, not even to agricultural undertakings, if they are to any extent industrialised. To proceed as usual from the simple to the complex, suppose that the insured undertakings can be divided into two groups, or, as it is called, two classes of risk, within each of which it is decided a priori that the danger is the same, while it is admitted that it must be different as between one class and another. It is obviously sufficient in this case to find a formula which will equitably divide the total expenditure into two parts. Each class of risk will be allotted the share which properly belongs to it, and then the division will take place within each class, as described above. Here we are at once faced with a new factor, namely, the evidence afforded by statistics. When it was arbitrarily agreed above that all undertakings involved the fund in the same risk for the same amount of wages paid, it was unnecessary, in order to effect the distribution, to discover in what way accidents which occurred were actually distributed between the undertakings in question. Nay, more; an enquiry of this nature would have been directly opposed to the very principle of mutual insurance. On the other hand, in order to compare one class with another, we have to discover our factors from statistical data, and it is natural to take as a measure of the risk involved by each class per wage unit the total cost of accidents which occur in the class, divided by the total amount of wages paid therein. The distribution of expenses between the two classes must take place in proportion to the — 349 — number thus obtained, which is called the "co-efficient of risk" of a class. From this the reader will find it easy to grasp the situation in cases where there are numerous classes of risk. Thus the determination of the amount of the contribution depends in practice on two distinct operations. One, which is done more or less by a rough estimate, results in the establishment of classes in which it is agreed that, provided the wages paid are equal, each undertaking introduces the same risk. The other determines from experience the relative value of the risk peculiar to each class. In order the better to make this procedure understood, the two operations have been completely »eparated. In practice they always react one upon the other. On the one hand, the first division into classes of risk cannot be made without reference to such statistical data as are available. On the other hand, once the insurance system is working, experience will always lead to adjustments in the constitution of the classes. Further, instead of calculating the co-efficient of risk by taking account of accidents which happen in a single year, it will be advantageous (if the technical conditions which determine the risk have not changed) to totalise the results of a number of years, when the system has been in force for a long time, and, if the original classification was accurately made, almost constant co-efficients of risk can be finally obtained. The correct establishment of classes of risk is subject to the following difficulty. On the one hand, the classes must be as homogeneous as possible, and for this they must not be too large. On the other hand, if statistics are to be usable, they must refer to a sufficient number of workers running the risk. According as more or less importance is attached to one or the other of these two requirements, there will be either a very small number or a large number of classes. The first of the two methods is naturally applied in mutual insurance societies composed of employers engaged in similar industries. The latter is indispensable in inter-occupational mutual insurance societies. The calculations involved are complicated, but the theoretical considerations which underlie them remain the same, if account be taken of the fact that, in an undertaking belonging to one single employer, it is often necessary to take various classes of work or departments into consideration, involving various degrees of danger. It is only necessary to suppose a different employer at the head of each department for the contribution of the real employer to be the sum of the contributions of all these imaginary employers. — 350 — If a careful adaptation of the rules of distribution to practice be the object desired, the above method may seem somewhat too inelastic. While one is bound to assume that the accident risk is equal in all undertakings of the same class, this is certainly not the case in practice. To correct the errors which this hypothesis involves, it might perhaps be possible to take some account of the individual characteristics of each of the undertakings in a given class. Careful inspection of working conditions in an undertaking, carried out by the agents of the insuring institution, will furnish information on the measures of protection and supervision taken by the employer, the state of machines, the arrangement of the premises, the moral qualities of the management and of the workers, and generally on any distinctive points which might increase or reduce the accident risk. The result of such an enquiry will be that each undertaking within à class will be given its individual co-efficient, and a distribution within the class will take place in a proportion equivalent to the co-efficient multiplied by the amount paid out in wages by the undertaking in question. In practice, this special co-efficient can be combined with the general co-efficient of risk of the class so as to give a single co-efficient for the undertaking itself. The methods employed for the purpose of this individual rating (which the Americans call "merit rating") vary considerably between one country and another, and even, within a country, between one insuring institution and another. The essential rule (although it would not appear to be everywhere followed) would seem to be not to take account of accidents which occur in practice in a given undertaking unless such accidents can be assigned to a regular cause attributable to the conditions under which the undertaking is carried on. Whatever be the method employed, the final result for the purposes of the distribution is the establishment of a rate showing the proportion in which, per wage unit paid, each head of an undertaking must contribute to the expenses of the mutual insurance society. Method of Estimating Expenditure The sum to be distributed is determined by the practical results of the financial period, and the estimation of it is a simple accounting operation. The problem is, however, complicated by the fact that the financial period can only be considered as closed when all the expenses relating to the period and occasioned by all the accidents which happened during the year are liquidated. Now, because of delays in notification and general procedure, such. — 351 — liquidation may quite possibly not take place until some considerable time after the end of the financial period. In cases where compensation is paid in the form of annuities it has been seen that two different financial systems may be employed; either the distribution of annual compensation or the distribution of capital, which is also called the system of coyer. In the system of distribution of annual compensation, the estimation of expenditure needs no special explanation. In the case, however, of the system of capitalisation, it is necessary to have a table of mortality among the injured in order to be able, once the rate of interest is chosen, to calculate, for each degree of invalidity, and for each age at which a worker becomes entitled to a pension, the capitalised value of such pension. It is clear, from the method of calculating such capitalised value, that if it be admitted that the mortality rate adopted is exact, the present worth, calculated from the beginning of an insurance system, of all contributions received under a system of distribution of annual compensation, will be equal to the present worth of all contributions received under a system of cover. In both systems the total charge borne by the industry remains the same. As will be seen, the difference between the two systems is the manner in which the contributions are distributed in time, and this inequality may have very important results for the employers as well as for their creditors. It may be well to take a~ theoretical example which is scarcely likely to occur in practice, but which gives a good idea of the comparative working of the two systems. Suppose a mutual insurance society, including in a single class of risk 100 employers paying each the same sum in wages; suppose that in all the undertakings insured there are annually three accidents giving rise to pensions, and that the annual amounts of such pensions, payable at the end of the financial period, are all equal to 800 francs and that they all last the same number of years, say, 30 years. Under a system of distribution of annual compensation, it would be necessary during the first year of the insurance to distribute an expenditure of 3 x 800 = 2,400 francs; the next year expenses would be 6 x 800 = 4,800 francs ; the third year 9 x 800 = 7,200 francs, and so on, with an annual increase of expenditure of 2,400 francs until the thirtieth year, when the expenditure would be 30 x 3 X 800 = 72,000 francs. For the first distribution the contribution per employer would be 24 francs; for the second it — 352 — would be 48 francs, and it would rise annually by 24 francs to a sum of 720 francs for the thirtieth distribution. From this time on, three pension holders annually would drop out and three new ones would come in, so that the expenses would become constant and each employer's contribution would thenceforth remain fixed at 720 francs. • Take now the case of the system of the distribution of capital. It is necessary, in the first place, to estimate the capitalised value of the pension. According to the hypothesis chosen, there is no necessity to calculate probabilities of decease, since it has been assumed that the pension will last for 30 years. In this case the capitalised value is the present worth of 30 annuities certain of 800 francs, the first being payable immediately. Assuming interest at 4 per cent., it will be found in round figures that the capitalised value of this annuity is 14,390 francs every year. The expenses charged to a given financial period will remain constant at 3 X 14,390 = 43,170 francs. Every employer will, therefore, have to pay a fixed annual contribution of 432 francs; but the insuring undertaking will, of course, have put aside and will have to utilise the capital which will at first regularly increase ; from the thirtieth year onward the reserve will become constant at a little more than 720,000 francs. To sum up, the system of the distribution of annual compensation involves a period of transition during which contributions increase from year to year. At a given moment they become virtually equal to the constant contribution under the cover system (in the imaginary case which has been given it can be seen that this happens at about the eighteenth year). They then exceed it and end by becoming stabilised at a value higher than under the cover system. The system of charging less at the outset and more in later years is balanced in the cover system by the formation and utilisation of the capitalised value of pensions. When account is taken of the workers' age-distribution which in the above example were supposed to be constant, and when some reasonable hypothesis is formed of the probability of accidents at various ages, a much longer transitory period is obtained for the calculation of capitalised values. When in Germany the preliminary investigations for the Act of 1884 were being made, the actuaries considered that this period should be about 70 years. Since then experience has shown that the estimate must be considered as very much below the reality. The reader is now in a position to understand the bearing of the — 353 — various arguments which may be brought forward in favour of one or other of these two systems. For this purpose the best course will be to reproduce the enumeration of such arguments given in Mr. Gourey's Assurances contre les accidents, questions de technique et d'organisation pratique (p. 93)1. In favour of the distribution of annual compensation: (1) It is easier for industry to bear the charges of insurance which are light at the outset. Industry can thus adapt itself progressively to the new conditions. (2) The distribution system leaves industry capital which may be indispensable to it and from which it will in any case obtain a higher return than can be obtained by an insurance fund. (3) The solvency of all the various industries grouped together in the practice of mutual insurance, and solid one with another, is beyond doubt. Therefore the security of the beneficiaries is absolute. Against distribution : (1) The system is one-which piles up heavy charges for the future and increases to the same extent the difficulties which industry may have to face as the result of unforeseeable circumstances. (2) Distribution is based on the perhaps illusory hope that the persons insured 2 are not likely to drop out altogether or even to be appreciably reduced in numbers. In effect it conceives insurance as being eternal — a somewhat Utopian conception. (3) It is not fair, for its advantages are confined to the industries existing at its outset. Moreover, when an undertaking drops out, it leaves the other undertakings charges which it should have borne itself. (4) It is oppressive, for it cannot work unless affiliation to it is compulsory 3. In favour of capitalisation : (1) The insurance charge is theoretically constant. (2) The premium is equitable, being derived from the principle of equality of engagements as between the insurer and the insured. (3) Variation in the number of persons insured has no influence on the working of the insurance organisation. (4) Liquidation can be undertaken at any moment without detriment to any of the interests concerned. Against capitalisation : (1) It immobilises a considerable amount of capital which might be more usefully employed in production and the withdrawal of which from production may even threaten the existence of certain industries. (2) The various factors for calculating the premiums are not sufficiently known; there is, therefore, a risk of injustice until such time as experience allows of the correction of the original calculations. (3) The factors may vary from time to time and thus compromise the financial equilibrium of the system. 1 See also BELLOM, Les lois d'assurance ouvrière à l'étranger, Vol. II/l. pp. 12-20; also the Collection of Reports submitted to the Brussels International Congress on Industrial Accidents, 1897. 2 In this case the employers. 3 If it were not so, if it had not involved the general responsibility of all its members, the members could leave the mutual benefit society the moment the contribution seemed to them to be getting too heavy, and the creditors would have no guarantee. 23 — 354 — These arguments cannot be discussed here. It should, however,. be remembered that a system of distribution of annual compensation is only applicable in the case of a given mutual insurance society under a system of compulsory insurance, and that private companies in free competition amongst themselves must necessarily use the cover system. FIXED PREMIUM SYSTEMS The only theoretically perfect method of establishing the fixed premium to be paid by an insured undertaking would appear to be the following. The probability of each worker in an undertaking meeting with an accident of a given nature must be individually estimated according to statistics. Such probability must then. be multiplied by the present worth of all the sums which will be due to the worker as a result of such an accident, and the sum of the products thus given must then be obtained for all accidents of which he might be the victim. In this way each worker's "risk value" could be obtained. The sum of these premiums, calculated for all workers, would give the total premium to be paid by the employer. Even if it be admitted that these various probabilities could be expressed in figures, the method would be very difficult to apply in countries where the law makes the present worth of the total amount of compensation dependent either on the age of the worker or on the number, degree of relationship or age of the worker's survivors. It could more easily be employed when the method of establishing fixed premiums does not introduce these various elements, but merely gives the worker a capital sum directly proportionate to his wage; but even if it were applicable, apart from the difficulty of following the case of every worker individually and of securing the necessary information, it would still be liable to a very serious objection. Employers would tend to give preference in the matter of engagement to workers whose individual premium was low and, particularly in countries where compensation varies according to family circumstances, to workers without families. For this reason it is necessary in the matter of industrial accidents to work on an average premium per undertaking, that is to say, a premium in the determination of which the individual characteristics of the workers play no part. It is assumed in this system that the individual characteristics of the workers in all the insured undertakings automatically balance one another. — 355 — The undertaking, however (or, if the system be adopted, the "factor of the undertaking") should be considered as the unit of insurance, and the workers appear as a collection of persons unnamed, represented only by the wages which they receive. In these circumstances the method of calculating premiums is not essentially different from the method employed in the fixing of contributions under the distribution system; only, the co-efficient for each undertaking will no longer show the proportion which it must contribute to expenditure, but will give directly the sum which is to be paid to the insuring undertaking per wage unit. Once this "premium rate" is fixed, the insurer recovers periodically, after checking the paybook which is kept by the employer, the premium due to him on account of wages actually paid. Between the contribution under the distribution system and the fixed premium properly so called, there is a system which is often used by State funds and even by certain mutual insurance societies (e.g. the agricultural mutual insurance societies in Italy). A fixed annual premium is established by dividing between employers the probable expenses of the financial period to come. These expenses are estimated either directly on the expenditure of the previous financial period (with any changes rendered necessary by the addition of disappearance of insured- undertakings) or on a system of probabilities based on general statistics. Once this fixed premium is established for a financial period or for a small number of financial periods, it cannot be modified; but if such period or periods show a deficit, the deficit is met by a proportionate increase of the new rate. The same method is generally used for fixing the amount of the provisional contribution which certain mutual insurance societies demand from their members at the beginning of the period. If the estimates are correctly made, and if they are based upon an adequate experience of the risk involved, this provisional contribution will be virtually equal to the final contribution under the distribution system, and the difference may, at necessity, either be covered by a recourse to the reserve funds or placed to the credit of the reserve. In practice the mutual insurance system will work as in a fixed premium undertaking. § 6. — Reserves The financial working of industrial accident insurance institutions usually involves the constitution of reserve funds, the formation and employment of which vary considerably in theory, — 356 — according as the institution is wo rking on a distribution system or on a system of fixed premiums, although in practice both mutual insurance societies and fixed pre mium companies employ the same procedure. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS . In theory a system of distribution (of annual compensation) could do without reserves, since the annual charges must be exactly covered by the annual contributions of insured persons. In practice, as regards industrial accidents, mutual insurance societies which constitute no reserves are very rarely met with. The only instances which can be given are probably certain employers' mutual insurance societies in Great Britain and certain small mutual benefit societies which re-insure practically all their risks. Generally speaking, a reserve fund will be formed in accordance with the statutes of the society or with legal provisions and regulations. The reserve fund is fed by means of increases in annual contributions, until such time as it reaches a pre-determined maximum. The general rule is that this maximum must be equal to the average expenses of a financial period calculated on the basis of a certain number of previous financial periods. The uses of the reserve fund are twofold. In the first place it will be possible to draw upon it to balance any inequality as between the expenses of one year and another, and to meet the expenditure incurred in exceptionally bad years; secondly, in relation to third parties, it constitutes a guarantee of the solvency of the insuring undertaking and of the regularity of its operations. It is not, however, as a general rule, liable to be drawn upon in respect of any first charge. Side by side with this reserve, which is intended to meet unforeseen variations, and which may be called a contingent reserve, systems of distribution of annual allowances may form reserves of a special kind, intended to reduce the inequality of expenditure which may be expected in the transition period. Such is the practice, for example, in the German employers' associations. Contributions in the first years being very small, they can without inconvenience be increased considerably, for example threefold. The surplus thus obtained forms a fund which is capitalised. In proportion as contributions increase, the surplus contribution provided for the reserve fund is reduced. After a certain number of years the interest on the fund, which up to then remains intact, is applied to a reduction of contributions, and without entering — 357 — into details, it will be realised that a stable system can be more quickly reached in this way, and that when stability has been achieved the contribution required will be smaller. In other words, in the distribution of expenditure between successive years, some approach is made to the conditions obtaining in the system of capitalisation, while preserving the chief advantage of the system of distribution of annual compensation, which is to impose the necessary charges upon industry by degrees. The system of capitalisation also involves contingent reserves. Further, if the insuring undertaking itself takes over the responsibility for pensions, it must reserve and administer the capitalised value of such pensions. This reserve is then at all points identical with the actuarial reserves of the companies (see below). As a general rule, however, it is specially earmarked as a first charge for the service of pensions, and constitutes a collective security for the creditors. In countries where insurance is compulsory and where the monopoly of insurance is divided between several mutual insurance organisations, there is often constituted, over and above the individual reserves of each insurance fund, a common reserve fund administered by the State. This is the case, for example, in Austria. This common fund works sometimes as a regular re-insurance fund, sometimes as a mere loan fund, from which a mutual insurance society in financial distress may require an advance, to be repaid at a time of prosperity. FIXED PREMIUM SYSTEMS The reserves constituted by fixed premium, companies and by public funds working on the system of fixed premiums are of two kinds: in the first place, there aie contingent reserves analogous to those used in distribution systems, or reserves which the companies are obliged to constitute in their capacity as joint stock companies; secondly, there are technical reserves necessitated by the financial methods usual in this type of insurance. It is unnecessary to lay stress on reserves of a non-technical nature, although they play a most important part in regulating the insurer's operations. It will be sufficient to point out that some of them are constituted for the convenience of the companies themselves, in accordance with the rules of administration which they think it prudent to observe, and that the others are legally imposed upon the companies. In the majority of cases the amount which they are compelled to take from their profits to feed the reserve fund — 358 — is higher than that which other joint stock companies are compelled to take. Technical reserves are sums which the companies have at their disposal so as to have some reasonable probability of meeting their obligations. When there is a pensions service worked by the company itself, such obligations are of two kinds ;—in the first place, those connected with the expenditure which the company will have to incur to meet the cost of accidents occurring during the financial period; secondly, those connected with the annual payment of pensions actually begun or still current. It is only the former kind of obligation which is assumed by companies in so far as they transact industrial accident insurance business. They incur the latter only because they also undertake to administer annual pensions, and do not incur it at all when a pensions service is not prescribed by legislation, or, in the contrary case, when the company assumes no responsibility for such payments, but merely passes to another undertaking the capitalised value of such pensions. Obligations of the former kind are covered by reserves for current risks. At the beginning of the financial period they must be equal to the sum total of premiums collected for the period in question, after deduction of that part of the premium which is earmarked for overhead charges, commission charges, and, if necessary, re-insurance. In practice, the sum thus obtained represents the total value of the risks accepted by the insurer. Obligations of the latter kind, when such exist, are covered by reserves which are generally called "actuarial reserves." They are equal at any moment to the total capitalised value of current pensions. The calculation of this capital sum is made on tables of mortality at a rate of interest imposed by the authorities. There are special regulations for its investment, and the first charge on it is the payment of pensions. In countries where the pension granted to the victim of an accident is not finally fixed until after the expiry of a certain time limit, intended to enable it to be reviewed, it is necessary to add to the actuarial reserve, which is calculated on the provisional pension, a reserve to guard against the event of some increase of the pension. The amount of this reserve, which is known as a supplementary reserve, has also to be fixed according to official scales. It naturally lapses as soon as the time limit expires. Finally, between the moment when the industrial accident is recognised as such and the moment when the claims arising out of — 359 — it are settled, there is naturally a certain lapse of time. During the whole of this interval, the obligation of the insurer to the victim of the accident undoubtedly continues to exist. Thus there should no longer be, in the reserve for current risks, a sum balancing this obligation; but the total to be paid is not yet fixed even provisionally, so that there is still a factor of uncertainty. To this special kind of obligation corresponds the reserve for unsettled cases. This, too, is calculated on the theoretical probabilities. But where there is a system of control, the estimate is generally left to the insuring undertaking under the control of the authorities. All mutual insurance societies which, at the beginning of the financial period, collected a fixed contribution which is assumed to be equal to the cost of the risk, must naturally also constitute a reserve for current risks and a reserve for unsettled cases. Every effort has been made to make as clear as possible the definition of these fundamental technical reserves, which are found under all sorts of titles and are often divided among several different items in the balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of companies. This is because such reserves are one of the most important factors in the financial administration of such companies, both because of the part which they play and also because of the amount of capital which constitutes them. The criterion of the financial soundness of an insurance institution is its technical correctness and openness in the calculation of reserves, as also in the estimate of the securities which represent such reserves among its assets. It is hardly necessary, after these explanations, to put the reader on his guard against a too common mistake of the public, which consists in considering a reserve as something which enriches the insurer, whereas, really the reserve is only a counterpoise to bis obligations, and liable to be one day absorbed by his actual expenditure. § 7. Peculiarities in the Administration of Industrial Accident Insurance Institutions SELECTION OF RISKS At first sight all risks wo aid seem to be insurable provided that the insured person will agree to pay the value of the risk. In practice, however, if it involves by itself a great risk on the insurer, even if the insured person pays the value of the risk estimated according to probabilities, the exceptional character of the risk — 360 — is an obstacle to the free play of the law of compensation between analogous risks which is the basis of all insurance operations. It follows also from the nature of the risk that, generally speaking, the insurer will not possess sufficient information to enable him to calculate adequately the cost of the risk. Finally, even supposing that he can so calculate it, he will be tempted, in most cases, to offer the would-be insured person a price which the latter thinks prohibitive. For all these reasons, there are what are called "bad risks", which insurers prefer not to take up. Under a system of free competition, therefore, insuring establishments exercise a certain selection among the proposals made to them. If they did not do so, they would not only fail in their duty to the insurance undertaking considered as a commercial concern, but they would also fail in their duty to the great majority of their insured clients. Hence, in the case of compulsory insurance, it is necessary to provide for the insurance of such risks. If there is a monopoly, the risks are more or less lost in the crowd of other risks. But if free competition is maintained, either the carrier of a bad risk must, under certain safeguards, be left to his own resources, or else a given undertaking must be laden with the heavy burden of accepting an insurance of this nature. Side by side with the selection of risks incurred before insurance, must be mentioned another form of selection which is carried out at a second stage in the proceedings by means of the cancellation of policies after an accident. While the former selection is legitimate, the latter gives rise to the most regrettable abuses. It is certain that the same reasons which induce the insurer to refuse bad risks must also encourage him to get out of his. contract with insured persons who, although they are accepted as "normal risks" come in reality under the heading of "the outcasts of insurance". But the whole question is, by what criteria the insurer will be guided ? In the majority of cases he yields to temptation, and does no more than consult the individual account of the insured person, and if he finds that the latter continues to cost him more than he brings in, he does not hesitate to ask him to go and insure elsewhere. It is scarcely necessary to prove that such a procedure is utterly contrary to the principle of mutual benefit which is the basis of all sound insurance; this is, perhaps, even more true in the matter of industrial accidents, where two accidents, identical as regards both their cause and their organic consequences, cost widely different sums owing to circumstances which have no influence on the probability of the accident itself. When there is — 361 — a striking deficit in the individual account of an insured person, the insurer's duty is, in the first place, to find out whether the deficit in question is not largely balanced by a considerable credit balance in the accounts of other insured persons in the same category. If the result of such an enquiry is to suggest the possibility that, as a result of this particular insured person's position, the general equilibrium may be upset, it is also desirable to find out whether the accidents in question are due to a regular cause or should be regarded as the results of persistent mischance. In the. latter case it is naturally the insurer himself who must take the consequences of this risk and who has, out of the premiums which he has received, to establish reserves to meet the contingency in question. Finally, if some systematic reason for accidents is discovered, the insurer must request the insured person to take the necessary steps to remove it. If the insured person refuses, or if the situation seems beyond remedy, then, and then only, from the technical insurance point of view, is cancellation of policy justified. ADMINISTRATIVE AND ACCESSORY EXPENSES To obtain some idea of the amount required under this head it will be sufficient to enumerate the central services and the local agents necessary for the administration of industrial accident insurance. At headquarters, besides the management properly so called, the essential services are: The actuarial department, the business of which it is to interpret statistics, draw up rates and calculate reserves; the cash and accounting department, the business of which is to draw up accounts and balance sheets; in private companies, the policy department, which centralises requests for insurance contracts and draws up the policies (in institutions which possess a monopoly of compulsory insurance, this department is replaced by an almost equally important department, the business of which is also to enquire into the liability to insurance of undertakings) ; an accident department, the business of which is to receive statements of accidents, to make enquiries and expert studies of a non-contentious nature and to settle accident claims. Finally, a litigation department and a medical department. As regards local services, whether in the case of private or public insurance institutions, it is necessary to have inspectors and "confidential agents" (Vertrauensmänner, as they are called in Germany). It is these officials who supply the information neces- — 362 — sary to place a given undertaking in a given class of risk. It is they also who represent the insurance undertaking on enquiries instituted as the result of an accident. If the business of the undertaking is carried out over a wide expanse of territory it will also be necessary with a view to decentralisation, to establish agencies, so that insured persons may have close at hand authorised representatives of the insurer. The various expenses entailed by these administrative organisations are common to all industrial accident insurance institutions. There are other expenses which are incurred only by fixed premium companies. These are, in the first place, commission charges, which are constituted by the remuneration granted to agents or brokers, or even to any other person who brings in insurance contracts. Remuneration of this kind often absorbs the whole of the first two or three premiums. Next come charges represented by that part of the loading of the premium which is intended to provide for profits. Nevertheless, the heaviest burden on insurance is undoubtedly commission charges. As regards profits, it should not be forgotten that the share capital of a prosperous insurance company is almost always small in comparison to its turnover. The capital is in no sense a working capital but simply a first share of capital, and not even a sufficient guarantee for the insured persons. The real working capital and the real guarantee are furnished by the insured persons themselves. The result of this is that a small profit on the total number of premiums allows of the declaration of dividends which represent a considerable proportion of the share capital. But it also follows that the real guarantors of an insurance company are the insured persons grouped together by the insurer for the purpose of mutual aid. Side by side with the expenses occasioned by the actual conditions in which insurance is carried on should be mentioned certain accessory charges which are by no means negligible. In very many cases industrial accidents give rise to litigation. Where such actions are brought before special courts, which may even be administratively part of the insuring undertaking, when the latter is a State fund (e.g. the Compensation Boards in certain Canadian Provinces), or before common law courts, judicial costs and costs of enquiries and expert evidence constitute, above all in the latter case, a considerable proportion of the cost of accidents. Thus, any legal provision tending to reduce the chances of disputes or to simplify procedure, in itself lightens the burden of insurance. — 363 — § S. Social Efficiency of an Industrial Accident Insurance Institution The efficiency of an industrial accident insurance institution may be defined as the relation over a given period, a year for instance, between the value of the services rendered by the institution and the expenses falling on the employers contributing to it (loss ratio). It is easy to express in exact figures the denominator of this fraction. As regards the numerator, the operation is much more difficult. In the first place, by services rendered must be understood not only sums which actually go to workers in the shape of pensions or allowances, or which are allocated to them indirectly in the shape of medical or pharmaceutical assistance, but also expenses which are to a certain degree independent of the method on which the undertakings are administered, e.g. judicial expenses. Further, the value of the service rendered is not expressed solely by the sums of money devoted to it. The manner in which the service is rendered also plays an important part in any final estimate. A form of insurance, which seems to be more costly, may in reality be better, because it is more careful in its settlement of accident claims, or because it employs the services of better qualified technical experts, or because its guarantees are safer. It is the same with insurance as with any form of goods. If goods are offered at an unusually cheap price, the seller must recoup himself on the quality. In countries where the authorisation to carry on business granted to insurance companies is subject to a previous examination of their rates, the authorities have as often to protect the public against insufficient rates as against excessive rates. It may even be said that the dangers of the former are incomparably more serious than the inconvenience. of excessive charges occasioned by the latter. It will be seen how difficult it is to interpret correctly the proportion between money devoted to insurance benefits and money paid in the form of premiums. If the proportion is high, this may either point to the "efficiency" of the insurance system in question, or equally well to an insufficient reserve or to some exceptional mischance. If it is low, it may mean that the insurance undertaking is constituting considerable reserves as a guarantee of its future activities, or that it has been particularly favoured by chance, or that it is particularly strict in its settlement of accident claims, or finally, that it is making excessive profits. Generally speaking, it is not sufficient to examine a single balance — 364 — sheet in order to decide how the case actually stands. The work of the insuring undertaking must be followed for a long period in order that exceptional circumstances may be eliminated, and that account may be taken of the general spirit in which it is administered or of the manner in which it treats employers and workers. Closely connected with the question of social efficiency is that of the distribution of expenses among the manufacturers. For a given class of risks, it must be asked what is the charge per wage unit. Then the total charge must be drawn up for the whole industry contributing to the insurance. Further, it must not be forgotten that in the last resort the cost of premiums falls on the consumer, so that consideration of the final distribution of insurance charges leads to an enquiry into the question how the cost of insurance is included in the cost of production. Finally, when once the insurance undertaking constitutes considerable reserves, it does not merely affect the economic life of a country in so far as it receives premiums and pays out of the prescribed benefits. By means of the capital at its disposal,. in particular in the case of "actuarial reserves," it naturally plays an important part on the money market and in all the processes of production. The question of the investment of reserves is one of the most complex of all, particularly when it is considered from the point of view of the universalisation of insurance, and in the light of experience gained during the post-war crises. In what form is the capital to be employed so that it may be productive without ceasing to be an effective guarantee of the beneficiary's claim to benefits ? Consideration of this problem would lead us far from the proper subject of this report. It will be sufficient to point out that, generally speaking, the solution adopted in most countries, which consists in imposing on most reserves an administration analagous to that of trust funds, is advantageous neither for insurance nor for economic life as a whole. From this point of view, it may be worth while to mention a proposal formerly made by Mr. Louis Fontaine, at the Industrial Accidents Congress in Paris in 1900, to unite in a single system the advantages of the distribution of annual compensation and of the system of capitalisation, . i.e. one part of the mathematical reserves would be reinvested, under certain guarantees, in the very industries which paid the premiums by means of which such reserves were originally constituted. * * * — 365 — At this point we may conclude these explanations of the institutions which administer or carry on industrial accident insurance and on the conditions of their work. The picture which has been given is far from being complete. It may, nevertheless, be claimed that it contains most of what is essential in order to allow of a comprehension of the part played by such insurance in the various systems of guarantee, which we will now proceed to consider according to the plan previously laid down. CHAPTER III LEGISLATION A. — VOLUNTARY INSURANCE LEGISLATION (Groups I and II) In legislation of this description, the guarantees vary according to whether compensation assumes the form of periodical payments, or is settled by the payment of a lump sum. To understand how guarantees work, we must also take into account whether the periodical payments can be converted according to law into the capital value they represent, or vice versa. On the other hand, whereas in countries with a compulsory system of insurance, the insurance institution is always, and without any possibility of dispute, regarded as the debtor, practice varies as to how and to what extent the insurer can substitute himself for the insured employer in countries where insurance is voluntary. It is therefore necessary to begin by defining the person or persons regarded by the law as responsible for the payment of compensation under each of these various hypotheses. A study of the guarantee systems in the various legislations of these groups will deal with the following points: (1) The nature of the obligation or claim; (2) the personality of the debtor; (3) the guarantees or securities, both where insurance exists and where it does not; (4) insurance institutions. GROUP I Voluntary Insurance Legislation without Special Security Funds (South Africa; Australia (New South Wales, Tasmania); Brazil; Great Britain; Canada (Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory); Ecuador; Greece; India; Irish Free State; Japan; Lithuania; Panama; Peru; Salvador; Newfoundland; Uruguay; New Zealand.) — 367 — 1. — SUMMARY OF ONE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM: GREAT BRITAIN British legislation contains no provisions according to which a person entitled to compensation in respect of industrial accidents is guaranteed that he will, in all circumstances, actually receive payment of the compensation due to him. Insurance is voluntary and exclusively private; and is carried out by insurance companies with a fixed premium system, by Lloyds' underwriters, or by employers' mutual associations. Both fixed premium insurance companies and Lloyds' underwriters have to deposit a certain sum as security and to furnish the Board of Trade with information regarding their operations; though this does not in reality confer any right of supervision or control on that Department. Employers' mutual associations are exempt even from these obligations. Generally speaking, therefore, British legislation gives employers, who are supposed to be solvent, and insurance institutions, whose financial stability is not questioned, a free hand. The Obligation or Claim In cases of death, the obligation consists in the payment of a single lump sum 1. In cases of incapacity, the obligation consists in the payment of compensation in the form of weekly payments 2 . In such cases, however, the debtor can always redeem his liability by the payment of a single lump sum in the place of weekly payments, after the latter have been effected for at least six months. In cases of permanent incapacity this amount must be sufficient to purchase the beneficiary an annuity equal to at least 75 per cent. of the annual value of the weekly payment if invested in immediate life annuities by the National Debt Commissioners. In cases of temporary incapacity, the amount of the lump sum is determined by arbitration or by the Courts 3. Nevertheless, in the case of workmen under 21 who are permanently incapacitated, commutation can only take place by agreement. On the other hand, weekly payments must be commuted for a single lump sum should the employer or the company by whom the worker is employed go into bankruptcy or liquidation. The 1 3 3 Workmen's Compensation Act, 21 December 1906, Schedule ], para. 1 (a). Ibid., Schedule I, para. 1 (b). Ibid., Schedule I, para. 17. — 368 — worker's debt then becomes a preferential payment under the conditions indicated below1. The Debtor The employer of a worker who is the victim of an industrial accident is solely liable for the payment of any compensation specified by law 2 . The Act, however, provides for certain conditions under which an employer can liberate himself from this liability (contracting out). If the Registrar of Friendly Societies certifies that any scheme of compensation, benefit, or insurance, which has been established provides scales of compensation not less favourable to workers or their dependants than the corresponding scales in the Act ; and that, where the scheme provides for contributions by the workers, it confers benefits at least equivalent to those contributions, in addition to any benefits to which they would have been entitled under the Act; and finally, if a majority of the workers (to be ascertained by ballot) are in favour of the scheme, the employer may, whilst the certificate is in force, contract with any of his workmen that the provisions of the scheme shall replace those of the Act; and thereupon the employer's liability becomes strictly limited in accordance with the scheme. The validity of any certificate issued by the Registrar does not exceed five years. No scheme can be certified which contains an obligation on the workers to join the scheme as a condition of their hiring; or which does not contain provisions enabling them to withdraw from it. The Registrar must see that proper measures are taken to secure the payment of compensation both while the scheme is in operation and, in respect of outstanding cases, after it has been discontinued. Employers who adopt this method of liberating themselves from their liabilities must furnish any information demanded by the Registrar of Friendly Societies 3 . It is unnecessary to consider this system in greater detail, as the Departmental Committee appointed in 1919 to inquire into the system of workmen's compensation states "little use is now made of this power to contract out". The- fact that an employer is insured does not exonerate him from liability to compensation; he remains liable for the payment of compensation, but in practice this obligation is transferred to the insurer under the contract of insurance. * Ibid., Section 5 (3). 2 Ibid., Section 1. 3 Ibid., Section 3. — 369 — There is one case, however, in which a direct relationship between the insurer and the worker occurs under British legislation. Where an employer becomes bankrupt, or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or if the employer is a company, having commenced to be wound up, or if a receiver has been appointed on behalf of the debenture holders, the liability of the insurer does not constitute an asset for the purposes of liquidation, and is transferred to and vested in the workman, who thus becomes a creditor in respect of the amount involved 1. The employer's rights against the insurer, as far as the latter is liable in respect of industrial accidents, are therefore transferred to the worker and can be exercised by him. It should also be noted that, in all cases where a policy holder has rights under British legislation against an insurance company, such rights can be exercised by the victims of labour accidents employed by an insured employer : for, as the Insurance Companies Act, 19092, laid down, in all cases "where a sum is due or a weekly payment payable under a policy, the expression 'policy holders' shall include the person to whom the sum is due or the weekly payment payable". Employers in all industries must, at the request of the Secretary of State, supply the latter with a correct annual return specifying the number of injuries which have occurred in their undertakings in respect of which compensation has been paid 3. This information has, in fact, been demanded from seven main groups of industry: mines; quarries; railways; factories; docks; constructional work (except building), shipping. Security of Payment The only provisions which can be regarded as constituting security are: (1) The priority instituted where the person liable for compensation becomes bankrupt or goes into liquidation; (2) A mortgage on the reserve funds of insurance companies; (3) Special guarantees for seamen if the debtor is resident abroad. (1) Where an employer has insured the total amount of bis risk, we saw above that a worker could, in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation, become a creditor in respect of the amount insured. Where the employer has not insured the total amount of risk, or has not insured at all, the worker becomes a creditor in 1 Ibid., Section 5 (1); Workmen's Compensation Act, 16 November 1923, Section 19. * Section 33 (1) (h). • Act of 1906, Section 12 (1). 24 — 370 — the bankruptcy or liquidation, either for the difference between the amount of compensation due to him legally and that due to him by the insurer, or for the total amount of compensation due. In both cases, workers' debts are included among those which, under the Companies (Consolidation) Act 19081, enjoy a priority over all other debts. The claims of workers who have been victims of industrial accidents, or their dependants, are thus placed on the same footing as those referred to in the above sections of the Act ; namely, taxes, and wages and salaries of workers and employees. All such debts rank equally, and where the assets are insufficient to meet them, creditors are paid proportionately. (2) Insurance companies must provide special reserve funds to meet their liabilities in respect of industrial accidents. Such fund» constitute a guarantee or security for the creditors of the company.2. (3) The provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Acts of 1906 and 1923 also apply to seamen. If it is alleged that the owners of any ships found in any port or river in England or Ireland are liable as such to pay compensation under the Act, and if none are resident in the United Kingdom, a judge of any court of record may issue an order directing an officer of customs to detain the ship until such time as the owners etc. have paid compensation3. Insurance Institutions The absence of any other guarantees is partly due to the fact that Great Britain is a country where insurance has reached a high state of development, and that the financial stability of insurance undertakings is therefore regarded as unquestionable. Industrial accidents in Great Britain are insured against by ordinary insurance companies; by Lloyds' underwriters; and by employers' mutual associations. 1. Fixed Premium Insurance Companies. Insurance companies dealing with industrial accidents may be divided into two classes; the former, generally called "Tariff Companies" which are members of the Accident Offices Association, have settled rates by agreement. The association enjoys recognised authority among insurance companies, and constitutes an organ for discussing and settling all disputed questions in this branch of insurance ; there were 48 Tariff companies in existence in 1920~ 1 a 8 Sections 107 and 209. Insurance Companies Act, 1909, Section 3 (2). Section 20 of the Act of 1906 and Section 11 of that of 1923. — 371 — In addition to these, 17 "Non-Tariff Companies" existed in 1920, which are not members of the Association and are in keen competition with the Tariff companies. The distinction, however, is merely one of fact and involves no legal consequences: both Tariff and Non-Tariff companies being subject to exactly the same obligations, to be indicated below. (a) Caution money. — All companies insuring against industrial accidents must deposit £20,000 as "caution money", which is paid into the "Supreme Court ac" at the Paymaster-General's. The sums so deposited are invested by the Paymaster General in such securities as are usually accepted by the Court for investing funds placed under its administration; these securities can be selected by the company, which receives the interest accruing from them. The Paymaster-General shall not accept a deposit except when authorised to do so by a Board of Trade warrant. The warrant, however, is a mere formality, and in no way resembles the authorisation which insurance companies in some other countries must obtain before they are permitted to insure against industrial accidents 1. The Act of 1909 provides for certain cases where insurance companies need not deposit caution money; and all insurance companies which undertook employers' liability business in the United Kingdom before 28 August 1907 are exempted from this obligation. On the other hand, as soon as the reserve funds for securing this class of insured risk attain £40,000, the PaymasterGeneral is authorised to repay the company the amount deposited in respect of employers' liability, if a deposit in connection with other branches of insurance business has already been made 2 . (b) Reserve funds. — All companies which insure against industrial accidents and also undertake other insurance business, must keep separate accounts as regards the former; and must also maintain a special fund for this branch of insurance, constituting an absolute security for policy holders, just as if the latter had insured with a company only covering industrial accident risks. No liabilities other than those due to this special class of risk can be met out of this fund3. (c) Financial management. — All insurance companies insuring against industrial accidents must prepare at the end of each financial year: (1) A "Revenue Account" for the past year, indi1 2 3 Insurance Companies Act, 1909, Section 2 (1), (2), (5). Ibid., section 33 (1) (d), (e). Ibid., section 3 (1). — 372 — eating the amount of the reserve funds, distinguishing between the reserve against current risks, the total liabilities in respect of accidents which have already occurred and, if necessary, any additional reserves; payments effected under policies; commissions paid; and working expenses; (2) A profit and loss account; (3) A detailed balance sheet showing the financial position of the company 1. Further, every company must prepare an annual statement of its insurance business in the terms prescribed by the Act ; and must also instruct an actuary to investigate its financial position when required. These reports must be printed and deposited with the Board of Trade 2 . (d) Information to be supplied to the Board of Trade. — All the above documents must be transmitted to t h e Board of Trade. This department, though not possessing, strictly speaking, any right of supervision or control, may communicate with the company with a view to correcting any inaccuracies or deficiencies noted, or completing any information regarded as insufficient 3 . The Board of Trade shall lay all accounts, balance sheets, abstracts, statements, and other documents which it has received before Parliament annually 4 . Any company which fails to comply with these requirements shall be liable to a fine, and if the default continues for more than three months after notice by the Board of Trade, such default shall be a ground on which the Court may order the winding up of the company 5 . It will be seen, therefore, that the supervision and control exercised by the Board of Trade are extremely limited, and the means at its disposal for verifying the correctness of financial statements are exceedingly restricted. Nor does it possess any power to control rates. After it had been noted, however, t h a t insurance companies had, during the period 1911-1918 earned very large profits; and that employers were paying nearly £100 in premiums for every £48 paid out by insurance companies in the form of workmen's compensation, the authorities endeavoured to remedy this state of affairs by a direct agreement with the Tariff companies. An agreement was made in 1923 between the Home Office and the Accident 1 2 Act of 1909, Section 4, and Schedule III. Ibid., Sections 6, 5 (1), 7 (1). » Ibid., Section 7 (2). *6 Ibid., Section 27. Ibid., Section 23. — 373 — Offices Association, by the terms of which the total amounts paid by companies belonging to the Association as compensation for industrial accidents, including legal and medical expenses, shall not be less than 60 per cent, for the years 1924, 1925,1926, and 6 2 % per cent, for the following years, of the total amounts received as premiums, or a n \ other proportion not less than 60 per cent, which may be agreed on by the Home Secretary and the Association 1 . 2. Lloyds'1 Underwriters. As is well known, insurance is carried on by " L l o y d s " in a manner peculiar to Great Britain. Lloyds is not a company : it is an insurance market, includingboth insurers (underwriters) and brokers. The underwriters take up risks, which are distributed among groups formed by themselves, though no solidarity exists between members of these groups ; each underwriter only assuming liability for the amount of risk taken up by him. Every underwriter must deposit a sum as "caution money" whatever branch of insurance is dealt with; and for employers' liability business insurance, this amount is fixed at £2,000. This amount is available solely to meet claims under such policies; and the underwriter has to furnish to the Board of Trade annually a statement in the form prescribed showing the extent and character of the business effected by him 2 . 3. Employers' Mutual Associations. The Assurance Companies Act 1909 expressly stipulates t h a t t h e obligations imposed on insurance companies shall not apply to employers' associations which satisfy the Board of Trade that they are carrying on, or are about to carry on, business wholly or mainly for the purpose of insuring its members mutually against liability to pay compensation or damages to workmen employed by them 3 . Employers' mutual associations are, therefore, entirely exempt from the limited amount of supervision which exists in the case of ordinary insurance companies ; and according to a recent report 4 , this form of insurance is an extensive one. Owing to the great freedom granted to mutual associations, it is difficult, if not impossible, to include them in a general survey. The methods of calculating annual contributions not only differ 1 Undertaking given by the Accident Offices Association for the purpose o ' limiting the charges to employers in respect of Employers' Liability Insurance, Cmd. 1891-1923. 2 Act of 1909, Schedule Vili, para. D (1), (3). 3 Ibid., Section 33 (1) (a). * Report of Departmental Committee on Workmen's Compensation, 1920. — 374 — considerably from one association to another, but, as a general rule, there would appear to be no reserve funds. The usual practice is to constitute a fund just sufficient to meet the payments to be effected during the current year. An Instance of Compulsory Insurance The law provides for the possibility of organising a system of compulsory insurance as regards occupational disease, but this measure is hedged in by a large number of formalities. If, after enquiry, held on the application of any employers or workmen in a given industry, it appears that a mutual trade insurance company, or a society for insuring against the risk of occupational disease, has been established in a given industry, and that a majority of the employers engaged in the industry have actually insured against such risks with the company or society in question, and that the company consents, the Secretary of State may, by a Provisional Order, require all employers in the industry to insure in the company or society on such terms and under such conditions and subject to such exceptions as may be set forth in the Order1. The Provisional Order cannot be enforced without confirmation by Parliament; and if a petition is presented against the Bill for confirming it while the latter is pending before either House, the Bill shall be referred to a Select Committee, before which the authors of the petition shall be allowed to appear and to oppose as in the case of Private Bills. In point of fact, the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act of 13 July 1918 embodied the first application of this system, and established a special régime of compensation in favour of workmen, or their dependants suffering from incapacity or disease, due to pulmonary silicosis. The regulations of 6 January 1919, issued by the Secretary of State under this Act, set up a general Compensation Fund, to which owners of mines or quarries from which materials containing at least 80 per cent, of silica are extracted, and of the factories where these products are worked up, must adhere. Employers carrying on these undertakings are compulsorily affiliated to the Fund, which is administered by a company registered as "The Refractories Industries Compensation Fund Limited". Funds are provided by means of contributions levied on affiliated members. Every employer shall keep a register of wages, which must be presented to the Company or to its delegates whenever required. 1 Act of 1906, Section 8 (7). — 375 — The Company must submit its accounts and statements of management to the Secretary of State when required and in the form pre; scribed by him. The accounts and balance sheet of the Company shall be submitted to the Home Office six months after the conclusion of each financial year, together with the reports on the management of the Fund submitted to members of the Company. The Company shall cause the accounts of the Fund to be verified at least once a year by a chartered accountant, and shall submit a copy of his report to the Home Office. 2. — SIMILAR LEGISLATION In the Irish Free State, the legislation in force is that instituted by the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906. The amendments to this Act, which were introduced by the 1923 Act in Great Britain, do not apply to Ireland. The only important difference, with reference to the special question of security under this Act, arises from the fact that the beneficiary's claim in the case of an employer's bankruptcy is only privileged up to £1001. This restriction was abolished in Great Britain by the 1923 Act. In Northern Irland, on the contrary, the provisions of the British 1923 Act have been adopted. Australian legislation in the States of New South Wales, and Tasmania; Canadian legislation in the provinces of Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon territory; Indian legislation, and that of Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa contain similar provisions to those existing in Great Britain. Pecuniary compensation, particularly when it takes the form of periodical payments, is generally compulsorily convertible into a lump sum in the event of the bankruptcy of the employer liable. In the Province of Quebec, a capital sum equivalent to the annuity payable in cases of permanent disablement must be paid, at the request of the victim, to an insurance company selected for the purpose by Order in Council. The practice of "contracting out" is prohibited in Canada, in India, and in South Africa. In the other States mentioned above, the practice is authorised, but does not appear to be frequently resorted to. The worker's claim enjoys priority against the employer's estate in the legislation of all these countries, except in South Africa and in the Yukon Territory. 1 Ibid., Section 5 (3). — 376 — In the cases of insolvency, the rights of an insured employer against the insurer are generally transferred to the worker. Insurance is private; and is carried on both by insurance companies with fixed premiums and by mutual associations. The rules governing the constitution of these bodies and ensuring the publicity of their financial results are generally the same as in Great Britain. An important Mutual Association exists in the Transvaal -— the "Rand Mutual Assurance Company, Limited" — which includes most of the large mining undertakings. Insurance companies in Newfoundland must obtain the authorisation of the Minister of Finance and Customs. In New Zealand, a State institution was created by the Government Accident Insurance Act, 1908, which insures against industrial accidents, in competition with private insurance companies. This institution is managed by a Commissioner and a Yice-Commissioner appointed by the Governor-General, who can, by Order in Council, raise loans for the purpose of carrying it on. Surpluses at the conclusion of one financial year may be used partly to constitute a reserve fund, and partly to grant returns of premium to policy holders who have not suffered from any accident during the current financial year. In South Africa, special insurance organisations of a compulsory nature have been instituted for miners suffering from phthisis due to the nature of their occupation (Miners' Phthisis Act, 1919). The insurance fund in this case is managed by a Governing Body appointed by the Minister concerned, while the fund is supported by quarterly contributions from employers. In New Zealand, pensions granted under the same conditions, under the Miners' Phthisis Act, 1915, are paid by the Minister of Finance from a "Consolidated Fund", but this system is not really based on insurance. The Australian Commonwealth has, on similar lines, assumed direct responsibility for compensating accidents to workers in its employ, and also to workers employed by contractors working for the Commonwealth, unless this liability has explicitly been transferred to the contractor. In New South Wales, a compulsory system of insurance against miners' phthisis also exists, instituted by the Workmen's Compensation (Broken Hill) Act, 1920. A feature of the organisation of this fund, known as the "Broken Hill Compensation Fund", is the liability of the Government for half the cost of compensation, — 377 — and the joint liability of employers for the remaining half, while workers are directly represented on the management. In Europe, only two States, outside GreatBritain, has a legislation providing for voluntary insurance against accidents without special security funds, namely, Greece and Lithuania. The legislation of the latter provides that where an undertaking is sold or closes down, uninsured employers shall guarantee the payment of any pensions for which they are liable by depositing the capital sum necessary for the purchase of the required annuity, either with an insurance company, or with a State credit institution. The claim enjoys priority in the event of the employer's bankruptcy. The legislation of the various Central and South American States is also of this type in its essential features; but insurance institutions in these countries can only be carried on after previous authorisation, which can be revoked, has been obtained. Moreover, the supervision and control exercised over their financial operations goes beyond the necessity for publicity and for transmitting certain documents to the Public Authorities. They are also, in principle, subject to strict supervision and control, exercised under the conditions to be described below in connection with legislation concerning "guarantee funds". In Brazil and Salvador, insured employers are only freed from their liability in as far as the amount of compensation determined by law has actually been paid by an insurance company; and in Salvador workers are entitled to choose the company. The legislation of Ecuador compels employers who insure their workers to insure them also against sickness, old age, and premature invalidity, the cost of such insurance being borne partly by the State, partly by the employer, and partly by the workers, in proportions determined by law. Peruvian legislation provides for the organisation of a National Insurance Company, and lays down that the rates quoted by private companies shall not be lower than the minimum rates of the National Company. This would appear to be the only instance where, under a system of voluntary insurance legislation, the public authorities intervene in such a direct manner in fixing the cost of insurance. In Panama, employers can grant compensation in the shape of annuities rather than in a lump sum, provided that proper security is furnished. Legislation in Uruguay enables employers to liberate themselves completely from their liability if they have effected an insurance — 378 — with the State Insurance Bank, which substitutes itself for the employer in respect of all rights and liabilities. But all the requirements of Acts and Regulations in force for the prevention of industrial accidents must first have been complied with. All employers who do not make use of this faculty must deposit a capital sum, equivalent to the annuities for the payment of which they are liable, with the State Bank. In Japan, the legislation at present in force, the Factory Act of 28 March 1911 and the Mines Act of 3 August 1916, contain no special provisions as to security for payment or regarding insurance. But an Act concerning sickness insurance passed by the Diet on 22 April 1922 will come into force as soon as the Decree for regulating its application has been issued : this will be referred to in connection with compulsory insurance. GROUP II Voluntary Systems of Insurance Legislation with Special Security Funds {Argentina ; Belgium; Bolivia; France; Spain.) 1. — SUMMARY OF ONE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM: FRANCE 1 The principal features of the French system consist in the distinction between the two classes of obligations; those which may be described as "minor" ones (compensation for temporary disablement, medical, pharmaceutical and funeral expenses) secured solely (even where an insurance has been effected) by priority on the estate of the employer; and the obligations, which may be called "major" ones (compensation for permanent disablement or death), which are protected by the existence of special "Security Funds", maintained by contributions levied on French industry as a whole; voluntary insurance by employers, either through private companies or through a public fund competing freely with private institutions ; and finally by the fact that private insurance companies are compelled to deposit caution money, to constitute reserve funds, and to submit to the supervision and control of the public authorities, without, however, having to obtain previous 1 'A' signifies Act of 9 April 1898, amended by the Acts of 22 March 1902; 31 March 1905; 6 July, 31 July, and 5 August 1920; 12 April 1922. 'D 1', 'D 2', 'D 3' signify respectively the first, second and third Decrees of 28 February 1899. 'D' signifies Decree; 'M.O.' Ministerial Order. — 379 — authorisation. A special feature of French legislation consists in the institution known as "security associations" (syndicats de garantie), which are employers' associations that have inevitably become regular insurance institutions, though originally conceived by the legislator merely as mutual guarantee associations. These bodies are not compelled to deposit caution money, but must obtain previous authorisation, in the form of an approval of their Regulations. Only the securities in respect of "major" obligations will be discussed. The Obligation or Claim The title by which a beneficiary can enforce his claim consists either in a judicial order, issued by the President of the Civil Court if an agreement in accordance with the provisions of the Act has been concluded between the parties, or by a judgment of the Court if the parties have failed to agree. Compensation iisually assumes the form of a pension paid to the beneficiary periodically, and the payment of which is regulated periodically by the debtor. "The debtor cannot be compelled to pay the capital value of the annuities fixed." 1 This is the fundamental rule laid down by French law to avoid compelling employers to disburse excessive amounts at any single time. The rule, however, is subject to certain exceptions. The debtor can always, whether an employer or an insurer, liberate himself, if he prefers it, by a single payment equal to the capital value of the pensions payable, to the National Pension Fund (Caisse nationale des retraites) according to the rates established by the Fund 2. Insurers must choose between two alternatives : either to continue to assume liability for the regular payment of pensions for which they are liable, or to deposit, either wholly or in part, the capital value of the total amount of such pensions, with the National Pension Fund. In cases of permanent incapacity due to occupational disease, the debtor (or debtors) have the same alternatives; and payments are made in accordance with a special scale, taking account of the death rate of the victims of occupational disease 3. On the other hand, the capital value of the pensions payable, must be paid into the National Fund whenever an employer who has not liberated himself from his liability to pay pensions ceases 1 s 3 A, Art. 28. Ibid. Act of 25 October 1919, Art. 7. — 380 — to carry on his business, either voluntarily, or owing to death, liquidation, or bankruptcy, or by disposing of his undertaking, unless he or his legal representatives give certain securities x consisting either in the payment of a capital sum to one of the insurance companies which specialise, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant Acts and Decrees, in industrial accident risks including the payment of pensions; or by investing securities of the same value as the pension for the use of the beneficiaries, out of which they are only entitled to receive the interest ; or by depositing with the Deposit and Loans Fund (Caisse des dépôts et consignations) certain securities guaranteeing the payment of the pension; or, in the event of the transfer of the undertaking, by the transferee entering into an agreement with the Director of the Deposit and Loans Fund to continue paying the pensions due and to be jointly responsible for such payment with the employer. The latter can also be exonerated from payment if a member of a "security association" for securing the payment of pensions 2. Finally, the whole or part of the pensions payable byway of compensation, may be converted into an equivalent capital sum or settled by the payment of a single lump sum under the following conditions : (1) Where the beneficiary is a foreigner who has left France, or when the husband or wife of a deceased victim has remarried, a single payment equal to three years' pension shall be substituted for the latter by way of compensation 3 . (2) At the expiry of the period for the review of the final settlement of a pension, a victim may demand that at least 25 per cent. of the equivalent capital shall be paid to him in cash, or that such capital sum (or such capital sum less 25 per cent.) shall be employed to purchase a life annuity, transferable to an extent not exceeding 50 per cent, to the widow (or widower)4. (3) Where a pension does not exceed 100 francs and the bene- • ficiary is of age, it may be redeemed by the debtor in agreement with the creditor, and the purchase price paid to the latter 5 . The Debtor Employers who are neither insured, nor members of a "security association", remain exclusively liable for the payment of compensation. 1 2 3 A, Art. 28. D 3 , Art. 1. A, Art. 1. * A, Art. 9. * A, Art. 21. — 381 — If they are members of a "security association", they remain in theory liable for compensation, and the association, the legal function of which is to provide security, only intervenes if the debtor fails to meet his liabilities. In practice, however, associations act according to their regulations as regular mutual associations, and assume responsibility for the payment of pensions as compensation, thus in fact taking the debtor's place. The fact remains, however, that claimants whose pensions are in arrears, or the "security funds" which act on their behalf under certain conditions, can elect to exercise their legal rights, either against the association, the employer liable, or even personally against any other member of the association. Finally, where an employer has contracted with an insurance institution properly so called (i.e. insurance company with fixed premiums, mutual association, National Accident Insurance Fund, etc.) the order granted by the President of the Court, or any judgment determining the amount of pension payable by way of compensation, must specify that. the insurer has been substituted for the employer to prevent the victim exercising his rights against the said employer1 ; and in these cases substitution is complete and final. The insurer becomes exclusively liable for the payment of compensation, and the "security fund", should it have been compelled to advance the amount of compensation in place of the debtor, ceases to have any rights against the employer 2. Security of Payment Legal decisions in favour of the victims of industrial accidents or their dependants can never have the effect of imposing a mortgage on the property of the debtor 3 . No priority in favour of "major" obligations or claims exists if the debtor is an uninsured employer. If the latter is insured, however, the debt is then transferred, as we have seen, to the insurer ; and the legal reserves and the caution money constituted by the latter are earmarked for the payment of compensation *. Where an employer is a member of a "security association", the latter is bound, according to the usual regulations of these bodies 6 , to pay the capital value of pensions for which the association is 1 1 3 A, Art. 16. A, Art. 26. A, Art. 26. *5 A Art. 27. D' 9 May 1923, Art. 29. — 382 — liable into the National Pension Fund, not later than two months after a judgment has been given, or a conciliation order issued. Should a debtor fail to fulfil his obligations the National Pension Fund then becomes liable for meeting them, on the debtor's behalf, out of a special "security fund" 1. All beneficiaries entitled to compensation in respect of industrial accidents involving death or permanent incapacity who have failed to obtain the payment of the amounts to which they were entitled must make a declaration to the Mayor of the commune in which they are resident 2. This declaration forms the starting point of a procedure resulting, if the claim is substantiated, in the payment of the unpaid compensation by the Deposit and Loans Fund, which administers the National Pension Fund and the Security Fund 3 . The National Pension Fund, represented by the director of the National Deposit and Loans Fund, then exercises its rights against the debtor. If the latter is insured, the National Pension Fund has a prior claim to the refund of the advances made in respect of amounts due by the insurer, under Art. 2102 of the Civil Code 4 ; for, as we saw above, the Fund has lost its right of action against the employer. Moreover, judgments in favour of the National Pension Fund, exercising its rights against an employer or insurance company, as opposed to those in favour of victims or their dependants, may result in imposing a mortgage 5. How Security Funds are maintained The Security Funds, according to the provisions of the Act of 30 December 1922, are maintained either by the contributions from insured employers, or from non-insured employers liable for the payment of annuities. Contributions from insured employers are levied in respect of all insurance premiums paid under the provisions of workmen's compensation legislation, and collected by insurance companies at the same time as ordinary premiums. Contribution rates were, until 1924, fixed at 2 per 1000 of the total amount of premiums payable. 1 2 8 A, Art. 24. D 1, Art. 1. D 1, Art. 2-13. *6 A, Art. 26. A, Art. 26. — 383 — Uninsured employers, other than the State, pay a contribution levied on the capital sums equivalent to the annuities for whose payment they are liable; these payments are made when the judicial orders, or judgments, or decisions determining compensation are registered. The sums in question are collected, on behalf of the Security Funds by the registration authorities, and amount to 4 per 1000 of the capital value of the annuities payable. Insurance Institutions Labour accidents can be insured against by: A. Private institutions: (1) Insurance companies levying fixed premiums; (2) Mutual associations; (3) Security associations (in spite of certain features which distinguish them from insurance institutions strictly so-called, it will be convenient to classify them with the latter); (4) Agricultural insurance and mutual re-insurance funds. B. A State fund, the "National Accident Insurance Fund", which competes freely with private insurance companies. A. Private Insurance Institutions for Insuring against Industrial Accidents There are no general provisions in French legislation covering insurance as a whole; and the contract of insurance is, in principle, governed solely by the common law rules applying to contracts. A Decree of 8 March 1922, however, issued under the Companies Act of 24 July 1867, imposes certain obligations referred to below on insurance companies. Two special classes of insurance are also subject to legal regulation: life insurance, under the Act of 17 March 1905, and insurance against industrial accidents, under that of 9 April 1898; since 1921, also "nuptialité" 1 and birth insurance. 1. Fixed Premium Companies These are subject to three types of legal obligation, applying respectively to limited liability companies ; to insurance companies in general ; and to insurance companies covering industrial accident risks. Only the latter two classes of obligation will be referred to. Insurance companies must either be joint-stock companies, or stock companies with both active and sleeping partners (sociétés Insurance for the purpose of providing children on marriage with dowries (dots). — 384 — en commandite par actions). The Decree of 8 March 1922 does not deal with companies under a single name (sociétés en nom collectif), or simple partnership companies with sleeping partners (en commandite simple), or with companies whose legal capital is not a fixed one. Their capital must in all cases be at least 1 million francs. Insurance companies must set aside at least 20 per cent, of their profits annually to constitute a reserve fund, but this deduction becomes voluntary as soon as the reserve fund exceeds one-fifth of the capital. Policies must indicate the company's capital; the portion already paid up or called u p ; the maximum amount which can be covered under a single risk without re-insurance according to the Company's regulations; and also whether, under these regulations, the same capital covers different classes of risk; the total amount of such capital; and an enumeration of all risks covered. They are bound to set aside reserves for current risks and unsettled cases. Any special obligations to which insurance companies are subject, in respect of industrial accident risks, caution money, policies, constitution and investment of actuarial reserves (réserves mathématiques), and administrative supervision and control, must also be indicated. (a) Caution money. — Fixed premium insurance companies, whether French or foreign, must prove t h a t they have set aside the amount of caution money fixed b y the Minister of Labour on the advice of the Advisory Insurance Committee on industrial accidents 1 , and must deposit this amount, after authorisation from the administrative authorities, with the Deposit and Loans Fund. The deposit must consist of the securities specified by the 1 The Advisory Insurance Committee on industrial accidents advises the Minister with regard to any questions which may arise in connection with the relations between his Department and insurance institutions arising under relevant Acts and Decrees. This Committee consists of 24 members; 2 senators and 3 deputies, chosen by their colleagues, the Director of Insurance and Social Welfare, the Director of Labour, the Director of the Deposit and Loans Fund, 3 certified members of the Institute of French Actuaries, the President of the Commercial Tribunal of the Department of the Seine, or a President of Section appointed by him, the President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce or a member appointed by him, 2 workers' members on the Superior Council of Labour, a Professor of the Paris Faculty of Law, 2 Directors or Managers of Mutual Associations insuring against labour risks or of "guarantee syndicates", 2 directors or managers of insurance companies, covering labour risks and 4 experts in industrial accident insurance. (A, Art. 24.) The members thus designated are appointed by Decree. Members who, either as technical advisers or as directors, managers or agents of insurance companies or "security associations", have had cognisance of matters laid before the Committee, shall not participate in its discussions. Decree of 20 May 1905 And 15 October 1915. — 385 — Decree, whose value is to be calculated at the average rate prevailing on the Stock Exchange at the date of deposit 1 . The amount must be 400,000 francs during the first year of the company's working; and must subsequently be at least 2 per cent. of the total amount of ihe wages on which insurance risks were be computed during the last financial year, with a minimum of 400,000 francs and a maximum of 2 million francs. Where an insurance company, according to its regulations, only insures workers in occupations where the risk is identical, the caution money must be equivalent to one and a half times the value of the gross premiums covering death and permanent incapacity risks, subject to reservations as to the minimum and maximum figures above-mentioned. To prevent companies, however, from decreasing their caution money unduly by adopting unduly low rates, it is laid down that where the premiums charged by a company are lower than the standard rate of premium determined by Ministerial Order, the latter shall serve as a basis of calculation in fixing the caution money 2. As we have already seen, insurance companies can, according to their regulations, either assume direct liability for the payment of pensions, or can immediately pay the capital value of the pensions for which they are liable into the National Pension Fund. If their regulations provide for the payment of the total capital value of the whole of the pensions, the caution money need only be 50 per cent, of the amount it would otherwise have been according to the above provisions, with a minimum and maximum of 200,000 francs and 1 million francs respectively 3. According to a decision of 30 June 1900, on the advise of the Advisory Committee, funds used as caution money must be kept entirely distinct, both from share capital and legal reserve funds. Caution money is revised annually. The first payment effected is published in the Journal officiel, and the Company is then authorised to cover accident insurance risks. (b) Policies. — Policies must be drawn up in the form prescribed by the Act of 9 April 1898 4 (scale of rates, possibility of converting pensions, wholly or in part, into a capital sum, review, nullity of agreements contrary to law). They must also specify that the cancellation clause cannot be pleaded against workers' claims, and 1 5 3 D 2, Art. 2. M.O., 29 March 1899. M.O., 29 March 1899. * Art. 2, 3, 19, 30. 25 — 386 — must also stipulate that any contracts or agreements cease to be valid whenever a company's business is suspended by a Ministerial Order (see below) 1 . Certain provisions peculiar to agricultural insurance should also be noted. All agreements for the purpose of insuring against accident risks in agriculture may, at the request of either of the parties and despite any provisions to the contrary, be [annulled every five years 2. (c) Reserve Funds.— Companies must constitute reserve funds; and the total amount of actuarial reserves (réserves mathématiques) are set apart to secure the payment of annuities and allowances due as compensation3. They may only be invested under the conditions specified in the Decree. Companies which do not remain directly liable for the payment of annuities are exempt from the provisions concerning actuarial reserves. They must, however, pay the capital value of the pensions for which they are liable into the National Pension Fund two months after the date of the judicial order, or judgment, determining the amount of the pension 4. (d) Administrative Supervision and Control. — The supervision and control of the Ministry of Labour are intended to ensure that companies shall fulfil all their legal or statutory obligations (and particularly to ensure that their assets shall always include securities of the classes specified by law to an amount equivalent to the reserve funds figuring among their liabilities); to ensure also that their financial obligations towards victims are settled in accordance with the terms of judicial orders, or judgments, and that, in cases where the pension has been converted into a capital sum after agreement between the parties concerned, this is done in accordance with the prescribed rates, and does not conceal any operation contrary to law. Moreover, the information collected by the officials exercising supervision constitutes a basis for official statistics concerning industrial accidents. Generally speaking, supervision and control only deal with businesses covering death or permanent incapacity risks (so-called "serious" accidents) regarding which companies, which also cover other risks, must maintain separate departments and keep separate accounts 5. 1 2 3 D 2, Art. 11. Act of 15 December 1922, Art. 16. A, Art. 27. *6 D 2, Art. 9; M.O. 18 Dec. 1902. D 2, Art. 10. — 387 — AU companies must furnish the Minister of Labour immediately, before being registered in the Journal officiel, with copies of their regulations, policies, prospectuses, and any other printed information distributed or utilised by them 1. They must also furnish the Minister periodically, as required by him, with certain documents and statements in the form prescribed by the Minister, including particularly an annual detailed statement of their business accompanied by financial tables, a profit and loss account, a balance sheet, a statement of the securities constituting the assets of the special class of business involved ; a statement of the pensions payable during the current year and of the actuarial and supplementary reserve funds corresponding to the latter ; a statement concerning re-insurance ; and also individual statistical statements concerning all "serious" cases. Control is not confined merely to a critical examination of these various documents; but also comprises verification of accounts, effected at the company's place of business by "sworn controlling commissioners" (commissaires-contrôleurs) selected by the Minister and specially appointed for this purpose for stated periods for the Company whose accounts it is their duty to supervise. These commissioners verify statements of persons and wages insured, contracts made, documents of account, cash, securities, and the system of calculating reserves. Companies are also subject to the supervision and control of any other person specially appointed by the Minister for this purpose2. The penalties include the power conferred on the Minister to suspend the company's business, and a Decree issued by the Minister of Labour may at any time compel a company to suspend its operations, should it have failed to comply with its legal and administrative obligations, or should its financial position cease to present the necessary guarantees. Orders are issued with the advice and assent of the Advisory Committee, after a company has been ordered to present any observations it may wish to make in writing. All contracts of insurance covering industrial accident risks cease, without further notice, to be valid ten days after the publication of the Order in the Journal officiel3. The cost of supervision and control is defrayed by contributions proportionate to the total amount of premiums received, and is be fixed annually for each company by a Ministerial Order *. i D 2, Art. 11. D 2, Art. 13 and 14. A. Art. 27. 4 A. Art. 27. 2 3 — 388 — Foreign Companies. — Foreign companies must maintain a Tepresentative, domiciled in France and specially entrusted with the management of all business effected in France, who is to be duly accredited to the Minister of Labour and with the Deposit and Loans Fund which administers the Security Fund 1 . The amount of caution money to be deposited is the same as in the case of French companies, increased by 50 per cent. 2 Finally, while the negotiable securities constituting the actuarial reserves of French companies remain in their own possession, foreign companies must prove that they have deposited negotiable securities of this kind with the Deposit and Loans Fund 3 . 2. Mutual Associations Mutual insurance associations covering industrial accident risks are liable to two classes of obligation: the first arising out of their general character as mutual insurance associations ; the second due to the fact that they are mutual insurance associations covering industrial accident risks. The former obligations, enumerated in Parts I and III of the Decree of 8 March 1922, impose certain rules concerning the constitution of mutual associations and their management, which are a logical consequence of the fact that the members of mutual associations are at once insurers, insured, and shareholders. The Decree also contains provisions defining the method according to which the liabilities of the association shall be distributed. Its regulations must determine the maximum annual contributions due by each member in respect of the payment of claims, and the maximum annual contribution that each member can be called upon to make in respect of management expenses. It may also be laid down in these regulations that part of the contributions shall be paid in advance, and the amount of such contributions, whose maximum shall be determined by the regulations, shall be settled by the Annual General Meeting. These provisions are intended to ensure that the association shall obtain the funds necessary for the total or partial settlement, during the year, of all losses which have occurred during that year. A general settlement of all losses chargeable to one financial year is to be effected three months after the conclusion of that year. Mutual associations can constitute "additional reserve funds" (fonds de réserves complémentaires) in order to meet the differences 1 2 3 D 2, Art. 19. M.O., 29 March 1899, Art 4. M.O., 25 June 1921. — 389 — in payment of claims, which may occur from one year to another, out of surplus profits ; they must not levy, however, more than 50 per cent, of such reserve during any one year. When an association is dissolved, the use to which any remaining portion of the reserve fund may be put is to be settled by the Annual General Meeting, subject to the approval of the Minister of Labour. If, despite recourse to the "maximum" and a levy on the reserve fund, the funds available for settling all claims are insufficient, amounts due as compensation are to be proportionately diminished. Mutual associations may, in no circumstances, raise loans for the purpose of settling claims. If, at the expiration of each five-yearly period, the total amounts paid as compensation for claims are less than 75 per cent, of the amounts fixed as compensation for losses, an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called for the purpose of winding up the association. Should no such General Meeting be called, every member shall be entitled to have his contract annulled. In so far as mutual associations cover industrial accident risks they are subject to the same obligations as those imposed on fixed premium companies, except as regards caution money, since the amount, in the case of mutual associations complying with certain conditions, is fixed at half that for ordinary insurance companies. These conditions are that the maximum annual contribution for which every member is liable, in respect of payment of claims, shall be at least twice the total premium stipulated by his contract of insurance covering all risks, and three times the partial premium fixed by the Ministry of Labour for covering death and permanent incapacity risks only. The obligations thus assumed by members are regarded as a substitute for caution money1. 3. Security Associations These are employers' associations, which differ from mutual associations by the fact that their members' liability is unlimited. The maximum annual contribution is not determined in advance, and each member assumes unlimited liability to the extent of his total resources. The sole essential difference between "security" and "mutual" associations consists in the different procedure governing the insolvency of these two different kinds of insurance institution: Whereas a deficit caused by the failure of a mutual association to meet its liabilities constitutes a direct charge on the Special Security Fund, set up 1 D 2, Art. 6. — 390 — under Art. 24 of the Act of 9 April 1898 (the insurer taking the place of the employer declared liable, any liabilities on the contrary assumed by a security association, and remaining unpaid, can only be settled in this manner after personal discussion with all the affiliated members and after the latter have been declared insolvent1. The first consequence which the legislator has drawn from this legal definition of a security association is that a body of this kind shall be exempted from the deposit of caution money, since the unlimited liability assumed by all the members constitutes the security which other insurance institutions furnish by depositing caution money. The second consequence is that security associations shall not be permitted to render this guarantee illusory by adopting regulations incompatible with solidarity of such a peculiar character; and the Act of 8 April 1898 provides that Public Administrative Regulations shall determine the conditions under which syndicates of this kind may be constituted. The Decree issued under this Act stipulates that associations of this kind shall only be constituted after approval of their regulations, expressed by an Order of the Minister of Labour, if the regulations conform to the standard regulations prescribed by the Decree of 9 May 1923, or otherwise by a Decree issued by the Council of State on the advice of the Minister of Labour. Approval can be revoked, and will only be granted if the association includes at least 5,000 insured workers or employees and ten employers, of whom at least five employ 300 or more workers or employees; or at least 2,000 insured workers or employees, and 300 employers, of whom at least 30 employ three or more workers or employees. Finally, security associations must constitute an additional actuarial (mathématique) reserve as permitted or required by their business; must furnish the Minister of Labour with the information and statements furnished by other insurance institutions; must accept the supervision and control of commissioners appointed by the Minister, and contribute, under the same conditions as other insurance companies, to the expenses of such supervision and control. Financial system. — The financial system usually adopted is that of distributing the capital value of pensions payable every financial year, or a group of financial years, such lump sums to be paid into the National Pension Fund not later than 1 De l'extension du risque professionel, by Jules LABOUAT, Professor of Law at the University of Caen. Sirey, Paris, 1914, p. 231. — 391 — two months after a Judicial Order has been issued, or a judgment given. Reserve funds shall be constituted; and the liquidation of the results of one financial year shall not be regarded as final until the period of review, in respect of claims occurring during that year, has expired. Associations may cover all or part of their risks by re-insurance, but all members remain jointly liable. 4. Agricultural Insurance Funds and Mutual Re-insurance Associations The aim of the legislator, in extending the principle of occupational risk to compensation for agricultural labour accidents by the Act of 15 December 1922, was to make it easier for agricultural employers to insure : the Act enables those employers to whom its provisions do not apply to insure voluntarily themselves and their families, and employers to whom they do, to insure themselves personally against accidents of which they become the victims, according to the provisions of existing industrial accident legislation 1 . With this object existing institutions, and particularly agricultural insurance funds and mutual re-insurance associations, are especially favoured by the provisions of the Act. The latter bodies are mutual associations of a special character; and the Act of 4 July 1900, by whose provisions they are mainly governed, classifies them legally with trade unions, under the régime of the Act of 1884, which implies considerable simplification of the formalities necessary for their constitution, and in their management regulations. It may even be thought that simplification goes too far: for the Trade Union Act of 1884 contains no provisions adapted to such a special kind of body as a mutual insurance association; while it does, on the other hand, contain many provisions quite incompatible with insurance, such as the liberty which members of trade unions enjoy to resign at any moment. The Court of Cassation, therefore, expressed the opinion, in its judgment of 14 May 1913, that though agricultural funds are subject, by their constitution, to the provisions of the Act of 1884, they are not "absolutely" (impérativement) subject to them as regards management; and in particular, that members affiliated to Agricultural Funds remain bound for the period of their contract, subject to the reservation already noted, namely, the right of resigning every five years. 1 Act of 15 December 1922, Art. 4. — 392 — Mutual agricultural funds also derive important advantages from the Act of 4 July 1900; and are exempt from all stamp and registration duties. The Act, however, stipulates that the management must be carried on without remuneration ; and that no profits shall be earned. The extension of labour accident legislation in general to agricultural accidents in particular also afforded an opportunity of defining the rules applicable to these bodies with greater accuracy, at least with respect to those which intend to cover risks arising out of the new Act; and by applying the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 1 to them, to place them in the same kind of category as ordinary mutual associations covering industrial accident risks. The Act of 15 December 1922 2 stipulates that they shall receive special State grants annually, equivalent to not more than 50 per cent, of the contributions for which those members who have decided to submit to the provisions of industrial accident legislation are liable. The amount of these subventions, to be granted by the Minister of Agriculture, must be used exclusively for reduc ing the contributions payable by these insured members 3. B. Public Funds. — The National Labour Accident Insurance Fund The Act of 9 April 1898 did not provide for any public fund covering industrial accident risks ; but owing to the attitude adopted by private insurance companies which had formed a consortium, and in order to create machinery for regulating rates in this new branch of insurance (for the administrative authorities, though they exercised a certain control in connection with the financial management of insurance companies, had no power to regulate premiums) it was decided to extend the operations of the National Accident Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance en cas d'accidents) created by the Act of 11 July 1868, to industrial accident insurance business. The Act of 24 May 1899, by which this was effected, also provided that the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 should only come into force one month after the National Fund had published its rates. This Fund enjoys a State guarantee, and is administered by the Deposit and Loans Fund. It covers all death and permanent incapacity risks (including those due to occupational disease), but 1 2 3 Art. 27. Art. 11. Second Decree, 22 August 1923. — 393 — does not insure against other risks. The capital value of the pensions for whose payment it is liable is deposited with the National Pension Fund, which assumes responsibility for the payment of the pensions. Premiums must be calculated so as to ensure that both risks and working expenses are entirely covered without the aid of the subvention to which the Fund is entitled to have recourse under the provisions of the Act of 11 July 1868. Premiums fixed by the published scale may be raised or lowered according to particular circumstances, particularly in connection with protective measures adopted by employers. Seamen French seamen are subject to a special régime and the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 do not apply to them. The régime is based on compulsory insurance with a single fund maintained by contributions from seamen and shipowners. This Fund, the Caisse de prévoyance des marins français, is administered by the Minister of Marine, with the assistance of a Governing Body. The financial management of the Fund is supervised by the Superior Commission of Marine Invalids' Establishments (Commission supérieure de l'établissement des invalides de la marine). The contributions payable consists of a fixed payment assessed periodically and subject to revision; and a reserve fund must be constituted. The Fund is authorised to receive State grants under certain conditions, but grants of this kind must be repaid as soon as the financial position of the Fund renders this possible *. The financial resources of the Fund are as follows: French seamen subject to conscription (inscrits maritimes) and those engaged as seamen though not subject to conscription (noninscrits embarqués) are liable for the payment of a duty varying between 0.75 and 1 per cent, of their wages in the case of seamen engaged in foreign trade (au long cours), in international coasting trade (cabotage international) or in long distance fishing (grande pêche) ; while the remainder pay fixed duties varying from 60 centimes to 10 francs per month of actual navigation according to their rank. Shipowners, on the other hand, must contribute for each member of the Provident Fund either 3 % Vev cent, of the 1 See the Act of 21 April 1898 to create a Provident Fund for French Seamen against the Risks and Accidents arising out of their Calling; the Act of 29 December 1915 as amended by those of 8 and 19 April 191.0, 13 July 1911 and 30 December 1920 concerning the French Seamen's Provident Fund. — 394 — latter's wages, or a fixed monthly payment varying from 2.80 to 35 francs according to the number of men engaged and the class of navigation involved. The Provident Fund is also maintained by a deduction of one half per cent, on all orders for marine stores and material ; and by a grant proportionate to the amount of the bounties paid to the mercantile marine. 2. — SIMILAR LEGISLATION Although the main features of Belgian legislation1 are largely similar to those of French legislation, there are nevertheless numerous and important differences between the two, to which we propose to call attention. As we saw with reference to the obligation or claim, French legislation only occasionally and as an exceptional measure compels the debtor to pay compensation in the form of a lump sum; while under the Belgian system, on the contrary, this is the usual mode of discharging the obligation. In cases of permanent incapacity, the periodical payments assigned to victims are only paid periodically by the debtor until the period in which review is possible has expired; after which the debtor must deposit the capital value of the pension in question with a special institution, either a savings and pensions bank (Caisse d'épargne et de retraite), or an insurance company selected for this purpose, which then assumes liability for payment of the pension. A similar method is adopted in case of death; where, however, the debtor must immediately provide the capital value of the pensions payable to dependants 2. Employers who are not insured remain individually liable for all payments 3 ; and are only exonerated from the obligation to deposit the capital value of pensions as indicated above, in two cases: (1) Where it can be proved that securities of sufficient value to guarantee the formation of the required'capital have been deposited with the Deposit and Loans Fund (Caisse des depots et consignations) or with the General Savings and Pensions Fund, in which case he remains periodically liable for periodical payments, and the deposit effected is merely regarded as security for such payments. (2) Where the eventual constitution of the required capital value, or the payment of the pensions liable, are secured by a 1 'A' signifies Act of 24 December 1903, amended by ¡Acts of 27 August 1919 and 7 August 1921. 2 A, Art. 14. 3 A, Art. 10. — 395 — mortgage, or by depositing caution money, to the satisfaction of a justice of the peace. The latter is also empowered to declare that investment in the public funds is sufficient for this purpose; and the funds so invested may be treated either as the beneficiary's property, or the latter may only be entitled to receive the interest 1 . Employers insured with an approved insurance company cease to be directly liable, the liability being then transferred to the insurance company. Any risks due to industrial accident legislation may be covered, and the insurer is de jure substituted for the employer as regards all his rights and obligations 2. With respect to security of payment, we find, as in France, that the workers' claim on the one hand enjoys priority 3 ; and, on the other, that special security funds exist. But there is no distinction between the two classes of claims, and both methods of guarantee or security may therefore come into play in any case. Where employers are insured and the insurer becomes directly liable, substitution involves the abolition of the priority of a claim on their assets 4 . In this case, however, legal reserve funds and sums compulsorily deposited by insurance companies as caution money become security for the payment of compensation in priority to other claims 5. In practice the creditor's real security consists in the fact that a security fund may eventually come into play. But this only occurs when it has been proved that an employer or an insurance company has failed to fulfil obligations; and such proof must be furnished by the declaration of a Justice of the Peace in the form prescribed by the Royal Order of 22 December 1904 6 . Security funds are, as in France, administered by the Deposit and Loans Fund ; and are exclusively maintained by contributions from uninsured employers. Levies are assessed annually by a Royal Order on the advice of the Commission on Industrial Accidents. Contributions in fact assume the form of payments per undertaking to which the provisions of the Act apply, and per worker employed ; while the amounts due are collected by the revenue authorities 7. Employers, even when not insured, can, at their own request, be freed from their obligation to pay contributions, where it appears that the risk of insolvency is negligible. Permission is, in this case, i A, Art. 16. A, Art. 10. A, Art. 15. A, Art. 16. A, Art. 17. A, Art. 20. A, Art. 20. 2 3 4 5 6 7 — 396 — granted by Ministerial Order on the advice of the Commission. Employers who wish to be exonerated must prove that they habitually employ at least 500 workers, that preventive measures against accidents have been taken (their statements in this respect being verified by a factory inspector after a special visit of inspection) and that the amount of caution money, fixed by the Minister on the basis of the risks involved, has been duly deposited with the Deposit and Loans Fund 1. The following insurance institutions are entitled under Belgian legislation to cover industrial accident risks: (1) Fixed premium companies approved by the Government; (2) Common Funds formed by employers (Mutual Associations) which can only be set up after authorisation. Belgian legislation does not provide for any other forms of mutual insurance; (3) The General Savings and Pensions Fund is entitled, under the Act of 24 December 1903 2, to cover industrial accident risks specified in the Act. The general conditions stipulated in its policies, as well as the rates quoted, must be approved by Royal Order, though no such Order has, in fact, actually been issued. The Fund "has not so far found it necessary to avail itself of the privilege granted by Section 35, by which it is authorised, though not compelled, to cover industrial accident insurance risks" 3. This branch of insurance business is, therefore, in Belgium, exclusively carried on by private institutions. (4) • Institutions entrusted with the payment of pensions, after having received their capital value. This may be done either by Fixed Premium Companies, Common Funds specially designated for the purpose, or by the General Savings and Pensions Fund. It is obvious that these bodies do not in such cases act as though they were ordinary insurance institutions covering industrial accident risks : they are simply entrusted, under certain conditions, with the duty of paying pensions. All insurance companies which apply for authorisation must address their request to the Minister of Labour and Industry, and must show that they have been legally constituted as limited liability companies or joint-stock companies with active and sleeping partners (Société en commandite par action) 4. The application 1 2 3 4 Royal Order of 22 December 1904, Art. 16-20. Art. 35. Report 1905-1908, p. 11. Art. 2 of the General Regulations on Labour Accident Insurance, 29 Aug. 1904. — 397 — must be accompanied by the necessary documents to enable the administrative authorities to judge of the technical and financial conditions under which the company is managed; the text of the general conditions of their policies, and the technical date on which their rates are based. The Administrative Services generally subject general policy conditions to strict control. With reference to the technical data adopted for calculating premiums, while respecting free competition and without actually intervening to fix rates, they can make representations to the Minister, and refuse to grant authorisation to companies proposing either to charge rates which are obviously too low, or to adopt defective methods for calculating premiums. As regards capital, insurance companies cannot obtain authorisation unless at least 1 million francs in currency has been underwritten and they can also prove that at least one-fifth of this amount is fully paid up. Where the capital exceeds 10 million francs, however, the paid-up portion may be limited to 2 million by the Order authorising the formation of the Company 1 . After the receipt of all information, documents and statements required, the Minister of Labour and of the Interior may, after taking the advice of the Commission on Industrial Accidents, issue an Authorisation Order if he thinks fit. A list of companies authorised is published quarterly in the Moniteur. The necessary caution money must be deposited previous to the publication of the Order. The provisions concerning the constitution of reserve funds are much the same as in France. "Legal" reserves, however (réserves mathématiques), known in Belgium as "provisional" (provisoire) reserves, only apply to pension instalments payable before the period in which review is possible has expired. Companies are subject to supervision and control, whose nature and scope are based partly on the provisions of relevant Acts and Decrees, and partly, in a wider degree, on the various relations created between the administrative authorities and the companies by the terms of the Authorisation Order. "Authorised insurers are not ordinary debtors, required only to render accounts to their creditors : they must also render account to the Government. " 2 One essential feature of this form of administrative supervision is due to the nature of Belgian legislation: for it is not purely financial, but also affects the method of adjusting claims. The fact should 1 2 Regulations, Art. 5, amended by M.O. of 20 January 1920. Report 1905-1908, p. 29. — 398 — not be lost sight of that compensation in Belgium may be settled simply by agreement between the parties; whereas, under French legislation, for "serious accidents" at all events, an Order of the President of the Civil Court, or a judgment must always intervene. The parties can, under Belgian legislation, have their agreement registered before a Justice of the Peace; and though the latter is not bound to accept the agreement without discussion, and cannot authorise agreements whose provisions are in themselves null and void, the Act does not make registration compulsory, a fact which explains the necessity for a special form of supervision in all cases where the parties have agreed among themselves. A partial endeavour was made to remedy this obvious defect in the Act by the issue of a circular, on 10 February 1908, which prescribes, in virtue of the powers assigned to the Ministerial control services, that proof that the legal obligation of the insurer as regards the payment of compensation has been fulfilled shall always be accompanied by a certified copy of the final judgment, or by the text of the agreement duly registered before a judge. This is an indirect method of rendering registration compulsory, in cases at all events, where the risk has been insured, though it remained voluntary under the provisions of the Act. Common Funds compete with fixed premium companies1. — These funds are generally employers' mutual associations working on a system of joint limited liability to a maximum figure determined in advance. Their financial régime, however, which is not defined by the provisions of the Act, is in practice usually one where costs are distributed, a provisional contribution or premium being fixied for each financial year in advance. Associations must obtain previous authorisation. Belgian legislation is particularly favourable to this form of insurance. Funds are exempted from legal expenses, stamp, and registration duties; they are entitled to receive gifts and legacies of chattels subject to the conditions laid down for miners' provident funds (caisses de prévoyance de mineurs) by the Act of 28 March 1868. Authorisation depends in the main on receiving Government approval of the Fund's regulations. The essential clause in these is the one by which the extent of the personal liability assumed by affiliated members, which constitutes the "guaranteed capital", is defined. The financial liability thus assumed by each member, 1 Regulations, Ch. III. — 399 — including obligation to pay the premiums for each financial year, amounts to at least twice the said premium. The necessity for obtaining previous authorisation made it possible for the Administrative Services to lay down guiding principles for drawing up the regulations of Common Funds, and only those funds can be authorised whose regulations ensure their preserving the character of employers' mutual insurance associations, not seeking in any way to earn profits. Finally, any Common Fund must, to obtain authorisation, include either five affiliated members employing at least 10,000 workers, or 30 affiliated members occupying at least 5,000 workers. Common Funds must deposit caution money under the same conditions as fixed premium companies. But the amount may be decreased by 50 per cent, of its theoretical value, or even by 66 per cent, of that figure, in the case of funds representing at least 20,000 workers, if the personal liabilities constituting the "guaranteed capital" are increased in proportion to this reduction. As regards special reserve funds (reserves for current risks, provisional "legal" reserves, reserves for unsettled cases), exactly the same legal provisions apply to Common Funds as to fixed premium companies. They must also submit to administrative supervision and control, exercised in the same way and according to the same rules, as in the case of the fixed premium companies. The institutions entrusted with the payment of pensions of which the capital value has been provided by the debtor, are either ordinary insurance companies specially appointed for this purpose 1 , or the General Savings and Pensions Fund. Only ordinary insurance companies, or Common Funds already authorised to cover industrial accident risks, can be authorised to pay pensions. Foreign companies can never receive this authorisation 2. The payment of these pensions must be managed by a separate department, with separate accounts, and must be subject to the same kind of supervision and control as accident insurance business. Companies which undertake this class of business must deposit extra caution money and set aside actuarial reserves. The General Savings and Pensions Fund. — This body, created by the Act of 16 March 1865 (amended by those of 1 July 1869, 24 June 1894 and 8 August 1897) was the result of amalgamating the Savings and Pensions Funds previously existing; its operations are subject to a State guarantee. The Fund is managed by a Board 1 2 Ibid., Ch. IV. Royal Order of 20 December 1911, Art. 5. — 400 — of Directors {Conseil général) consisting of 25 members appointed by the King; by a Governing Body {Conseil d'Administration), including 7 members chosen among the Directors, and by a DirectorGeneral appointed by the King. The members are generally chosen from among senators, members of the House of Representatives, directors or managers of important financial institutions, and among high State officials. Accounts must be submitted annually to the "Cour des Comptes"; and an annual report on the operations of the Fund is issued by the Minister of Finance. All profits must be used to constitute a reserve fund 1. The Fund includes four departments, which are managed separately: a Savings Bank, a Pensions Fund, a Life Insurance Fund (including permanent and temporary risks, mixed business, and endowment policies), and, finally, an Industrial Accident Pension Fund. Seamen in Belgium are, as in France, subject to a special regime consisting of compulsory insurance with a single fund maintained by contributions from seamen and shipowners. The headquarters of the Fund, called the Caisse de secours et de prévoyance en faveur des marins navigant sous pavillon belge, is at Antwerp. This Fund insures not only against industrial accidents and diseases, but also against sickness and invalidity in general and against old age. Its financial resources consist of a deduction of 4 per cent, on the wages of masters, assistant masters {second capitaine), and chief engineers, and of 3 per cent, on the wages of all other seamen; also by the payments of shipowners of all Belgian vessels, equivalent to one-half per cent, of the total wages of seamen embarked on the vessel 2 . In Spain3, the obligation or claim in theory takes the form of a single lump sum paid by the debtor, except in cases of temporary incapacity, where compensation is obviously payable periodically 4. In cases of compensation for death, the debtor can pay a life annuity, instead of the compensation determined by law s , on condition that the pensions are secured to the satisfaction of the victim's dependants. Debtors adopting this latter method of meeting their liabilities shall inform the authorities; and the fact must be noted on the 1 Joseph BEGASSE: Les Assurances sociales en Belgique. Berger-Levrault, Paris, p. 207. 2 Royal Orders of 28 February 1885, 5 June 1889, 30 September 1900, 31 October 1905. 3 'A' signifies amended Act of 10 January 1922. 4 A, Art. 6. 5 A, Art. 9. — 401 — document forwarded to them, proving the consent of the parties concerned *. Employers who are not insured remain exclusively liable 2. Where employers are insured, the insurance takes the place of all legal obligations imposed on the employer either wholly or partially, in so far as it is total or partial, provided always that the risk is covered by a duly constituted company, selected among those authorised for the purpose by the Minister of Labour 3. But the insurer is not completely substituted for the insured. For workers and their dependants can always, in the first place, exercise their rights directly against the employer, should they desire to do so 4. While, in the second, even where a contract of insurance exists, workers sueing an insurance company must also sue the employer at the same time 5. There is one case where an employer cannot insure his liability. If an accident occurs in any establishment or undertaking where the machinery is not protected by proper safety appliances, as prescribed by the Institute of Social Reform, under the Act of 10 January 1922, the lump sum compensation determined by laws is increased to 50 per cent., and the special risk against this form of liability cannot be covered by insurance. Where it can be shown that such risks have been covered by an insurance fund, a written warning shall be sent to the latter, and should it persist in insuring such risks, authorisation to cover industrial accident risks may be withdrawn 6. Where the employer, or one of the insurance funds liable, fails to pay the compensation for death or permanent incapacity fixed by a judgment or by arbitration, the special security fund administered by the National Thrift Institution becomes immediately liable for the payment of such compensation 7. This security fund is maintained by an additional levy of 10 per cent, of the annual industrial or commercial duties payable, or on the capital profits, and capital and business profits tax combined. These provisions apply to all industries and undertakings where the employer is liable under the Act of 10 January 1922, except as regards mines. The contribution in 1 2 3 Regulations of 29 December 1922, Art. 19. A, Art. 2 and 5. A, Art. 25. * Ibid. 6 A, Art. 33. 6 Art. 6 of the Act; Art. 65 of the Regulations. ' A, Art. 28. 28 — 402 — this case is fixed at 10 céntimos per hectare of mining area under operation 1. Insurance institutions consist of fixed premium companies and mutual associations. The former can obtain authorisation after depositing the required amount of caution money. They must also, however, obtain Government approval from the CommissionerGeneral of Insurance (as regards ordinary insurance business) and from the Minister of Labour, who is solely competent to decide whether they shall be placed on the register of companies which can assume employers' liability. This register is under the supervision of the General Insurance Council of the Ministry of Labour 2 . Authorisation may be withdrawn; but the reasons must be stated in the Decree 3. Policies must stipulate clearly whether the assurer is substituted for the employer in respect of all legal obligations; and, where this is not the case, must clearly define the risks which the company undertakes liability for instead of the employer4. The following are considered to be employers' mutual associations: legally constituted mutual associations whose insurance * business consists solely in distributing risks incurred by a part of their members among the whole, and where no profits are derived from the insurance business undertaken by them 5. Employers' mutual associations guarantee the payment of current risks in two ways: first, by depositing caution money; secondly, through the joint liability of all the employers affiliated, which only ceases when the liabilities of the association have been finally or periodically discharged 6. The same authorisation of procedure as for fixed premium insurance companies applies to these bodies. Mutual associations can only, however, obtain authorisation if at least 1,000 workers are insured by, and 20 employers affiliated to, the association; and the last receipt for payment of the industrial tax due is regarded as proof of being an employer 7. Associations can include employers in different branches of industry 8 . They are exempt from all taxation 9. The National 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A, Art. 29. Regulations, Art. 112. Ibid., Art. 115. Ibid., Art. 118. Ibid., Art. 101. A, Art. 27. Regulations, Art. 109. Ibid., Art. 110. A, Art. 27. — 403 — Thrift Institution is to supervise and encourage the development of this form of insurance by preparing special regulations for territorial mutual associations; by assisting their formation; and furrishing them with advice tending to facilitate unity of management. The Institution can also intervene in disputes *. Both mutual associations and insurance companies are under the supervision and control of the Ministry of Labour. In Spain seamen are, unlike French and Belgian seamen, subject to the provisions of the workmen's compensation Act; but the system of insurance applicable to them is a special one. The system is one of compulsory insurance for shipowners with freedom to choose the insurer 2. Exemption from liability to insure can only be granted if seamen are shipped under a special agreement "a la parte del dueño" and provided that the agreement between the master and the crew stipulates that the former is not insured against accidents. In Argentina, compensation in case of permanent incapacity or death must be paid by the employer liable in the form of a capital sum to the National Pension Fund, which invests it in Government securities and pays beneficiaries monthly any annuities to which they are entitled 3. Employers can discharge this liability by ensuring workers either with ordinary insurance companies or with a mutual association 4. Employers employing more than four workers must keep a register specifying the name, address, civil status, and.wages paid to each employee ; and shall also keep a wages book, in which all workers or employees employed in the undertaking are entered s . A special security fund, administered by a special branch of the Accidents Department of the National Pension Fund, is intended to cover both the expenses of this Department and also to pay compensation remaining unpaid when an employer has been declared completely insolvent by the court. This security fund is maintained out of compensation which, in the absence of any dependants of the deceased, is unclaimed; out of the amounts due as compensation to foreigners who have left the country; out 1 A, Art. 31. * Decree of 14 October 1919 and Ministerial Order of 28 October 1919. ' Act of 11 October 1915, Art. 9. * Ibid., Art. 7. ~* Regulations of 14 January 1916, Art. 8 and 9. — 404 — of annuities purchased by the National Fund, the beneficiaries of which died without heirs ; out of fines imposed for contraventions of the Act; out of gifts from private persons; and finally out of State grants 1. Both ordinary insurance companies and employers' mutual associations must obtain previous authorisation 2 , after depositing 50,000 pesos as caution money. The usual legal provisions exist as to the constitution of reserve funds, and the supervision and control of insurance companies. Authorisation may be withdrawn. Workers can, with the assistance of the Minister of Labour, make a claim against insurance companies which fail to pay adequate compensation. In Bolivia, compensation takes the form of a capital payment, both in cases of permanent incapacity and of death. By agreement with the survivors, however, and provided proper security is given, compensation can in case of death be granted in the form of pensions 3. Where an employer becomes bankrupt, the workers' claim enjoys priority 4 . "Security funds" are maintained in the same manner as in Argentina. They must be used exclusively to pay compensation due by employers who have been declared insolvent 5. Employers can transfer their liabilities to legally constituted insurance companies, duly authorised for this purpose by the Government. The Act contains no provisions for the supervision and control of insurance companies. B. — COMPULSORY INSURANCE LEGISLATION (Groups III, IV, and V) Where insurance is compulsory, and where a monopoly exists, the system becomes practically an automatic one; which implies that workers employed by an undertaking subject to the provisions of the system acquire the status of insured persons. To understand the working of the guarantees provided by a system of this kind, it is sufficient to be acquainted with its administrative organisation and the principles on which its finances are managed. 1 2 3 Art. 9 and 10 of the Act; Art. 107-111 oí the Regulations.' Art. 20 of the Act. Act of 17 January 1924, Art. 5, 6, 7. *5 Ibid., Art. 14. Ibid., Art. 16. — 405 — The case is somewhat different when the system allows employers to choose their insurer unrestrictedly ; for, in that case, in addition to the factors noted above, it is also necessary to ascertain, where the employer exercises his choice freely, under what conditions the insurance is effected, how the fact of insurance is proved, and how its operation is determined. Moreover, since accident insurance risks are also covered by private companies, a series of legislative provisions also exist concerning the formation and supervision of insurance companies, as in the case of a system of voluntary insurance. Finally, we have to enquire whether any guarantees are provided in the event of insurance companies failing to pay the compensation due. While it is generally admitted that compulsory insurance is the best method of effectively securing the worker's claim in respect of industrial accidents, it is just as well known how difficult it is to judge of the relative value of the various systems for ensuring this obligation. The controversy between the supporters of insurance by private companies competing freely with one another and insurance by special institutions enjoying a monopoly is likely to continue and it is difficult to see how it can ever be settled. In the latter case, moreover, the following species of institution must be distinguished: institutions constituted by industrial groups with a monopoly of the right to insure in a given industry or region; a single centralised body which may be either an industrial group or a more or less independent enterprise; or, finally, a regular State Fund managed by State officials under Government responsibility. Practically everything has been said as to the relative advantages and disadvantages of free competition and monopoly, nor is this the place to summarise the arguments for. and against these two systems of insurance; it will suffice to recall the fact that the best arguments in favour of a monopoly are based on the technical conditions inherent to insurance; for this system, by giving insurance the widest possible basis, enables the principle of mutuality and the law of large numbers to be applied to the widest possible extent. The chief argument against monopoly is not confined to insurance business : for it is based on the defects generally attributed to administrative bodies undertaking economic functions, and on the disadvantage of not allowing the cost of insurance to be determined by a system of competition assumed to be free. This is not the place to decide between the two systems, and it will be sufficient to note that, in accordance with the tendency shown by social institutions, the degree of industrial development, — 406 — or the habits adopted and the interests involved, this or that advantage or disadvantage may assume decisive importance in a particular case, which makes it impossible to apply theoretical and abstract conclusions to each special instance. To endeavour to interpret the results of actual experience in each country, with a view to obtaining a definite idea of the social utility of their institutions, and establishing a relation between the value of the services rendered and the burdens imposed, would be an exceedingly complex task, entirely beyond the scope of the present study. GROUP III Compulsory Insurance with Liberty to Choose the Insurer (Australia (Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia); Chile; Cuba; Denmark; Finland; Italy (industrial accidents); Netherlands; Portugal; Sweden.) 1. — SUMMARY OF ONE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM : I T A L Y 1 As regards industrial accidents, occupiers of undertakings have the choice under Italian legislation of insuring either with private companies, with industrial associations, or with the National Accident Insurance Fund; and certain obligations and certain privileges are imposed upon this body. Finally, employers are entitled to create an insurance fund for their own undertaking. under certain conditions and subject to certain specified guarantees. Obligation to Insure 1. Scope All workers to whom the provisions of industrial accident legislation 2 apply, namely, all those employed in undertakings specified in the law, must be insured by the employer at his own expense; and there is a similar obligation in the case of undertakings worked directly by the State, the'Provinces, communes, or public bodies (pubblici stabilimenti) when a concession has been granted by the above to a private contractor 3 . The only employers exempt from this obligation are those who set up, in accordance with provisions indicated below, either 1 Compensation for labour accidents is organised in Italy according to two entirely different methods for industrial and agricultural accidents respectively. In the latter case there is a system of compulsory insurance by a given insurer. 2 'A' signifies Act of January 1904, amended by Legislative Decree of 17 November 1918, and Act of 20 March 1921. 3 A, Art. 1, 6, 7. — 407 — individually or by forming an association, a private fund for the purpose of paying compensation. This exemption also extends to railway companies, by whom Pension or Provident Funds had been instituted previous to the promulgation of the Act, and whose regulations were amended to conform to its provisions. The 1904 Act also exempted the State in respect of workers in its employ entitled to compensation for accidents under special Acts; but the Legislative Decree of 8 March 1923 provides that all workers employed by the State in work usually covered by insurance shall be effectively insured. This obligation, however, does not extend to State railway employees who remain subject to a special régime. Workers employed by other Administrative Departments may also be exempted from insurance in consequence of a decision by the Minister of Labour, should such a course be justified by special circumstances. Among those exempt from the liability to compulsory insurance, the law also includes employers who can prove that they are affiliated to a mutual insurance association. For purposes of the present study, however, it will be more logical to include these among ordinary insurance institutions, and to treat the members of an association as having insured. 2. Choice of the Insurer Employers are, in theory, perfectly free to select the insurer they prefer. They can insure either with private companies authorised to cover industrial accident risks, with the Cassa Nazionale, or with a mutual insurance association. In certain cases, however, employers must insure with a given institution, namely, the Cassa Nazionale, or a compulsory mutual insurance association. Employers must insure with the Cassa Nazionale if they are executing public works under concession from the State, a province, or a commune. Similarly, wherever the State, a province, or a commune (as regards undertakings worked by it directly) is compelled to insure the workers in its employ, this can only be done with the Cassa Nazionale 1 . On the other hand, all employers in the same industry in a given region may, on the advice of a Chamber of Commerce, a Provincial Council, or the Council of State, be compelled by Royal Decree to constitute a mutual insurance association, where it appears necessary to adopt this method to ensure the proper application of the provisions of the Act 2. 1 2 A, Art. 18. A, Art. 26. — 408 — 3. Entry into Insurance Within the month following the promulgation of the Act of 1904 all employers to whom its provisions applied were compelled to take out an insurance policy, unless they could prove that they were exempt from its provisions. Every owner or manager of a new undertaking must, subject to the same reservation, insure before starting work, or in any event, not later than five successive days after the commencement of work if it was impossible, owing to the character of the latter, to effect an insurance before beginning work 1. Employers are liable for the entire amount of compensation due for any accidents which occur previous to effecting insurance; and the beneficiary's claim is in this case secured by a priority on the employer's personal property, under Article 1958 of the Civil Code and on his real property under Article 1963. All employers /Subject to the provisions of the Act must make a declaration to the Prefect of the province in which their undertakings are situated concerning the nature of the business, and the number of workers or apprentices employed. They must also state whether an insurance policy has been taken out, whether they are affiliated to a mutual insurance association1 or to a private fund, or whether a private fund has been set up by them. 4. Employers' Obligations after taking out an Insurance Policy Employers must provide both the Government and the insurer with information concerning the number of workers covered by the insurance, together with information as to their wages and the number of days' work performed 2. The following measures are intended to facilitate supervision: (a) Employers shall keep a register in which all workers employed in the undertaking are entered, in the chronological order of their entering his employment; (¿>) They shall also keep a "wages book" 3 indicating the number of daily hours of work and the wages paid, either in currency or in any other form, to each worker; (c) Employers shall at their own expense furnish each worker with a personal pay-book in the form prescribed by the Minister of Labour. This book shall contain all the necessary information for applying the provisions of the Act, and shall remain in the worker's possession4; i2 A, Art. 29. A, Art. 30 3 Regulations of 13 March 1904, amended by Legislative Decree of 27 March 1919 and Royal Decree of 2 October 1921, Art. 25 et seq. * Ibid., Art. 31. — 409 — (d) The employer shall furnish the Government or the insurer, on request, with all information concerning the number of workers employed and their wages, in the form prescribed by the Government or the insurer; (e) Government inspectors shall verify on the spot all information furnished by the employer. Should it be proved that the number of workers insured is less than the number habitually employed, this fact shall be communicated to the judicial authorities by the inspector 1 . In the event of a false declaration being made, a supplementary policy shall be taken out ex officio by the Ministry of Labour, at the employer's expense, and the offender shall be liable to a fine from 50 to 1,000 lire. The insurer is also entitled to have undertakings inspected by agents specially appointed for the purpose 2. 5. Insurance Benefits Insurance covers all risks due to industrial accident legislation, except the expenses of first-aid treatment and drugs, for which the employer remains exclusively liable 3 . He can, however, be exempted from this liability by Prefectural Decree, where it is shown that a regular medical and pharmaceutical service has been organised by the employer at his own expense either alone, or in association with other employers, or that a service of this kind is managed by the Italian Red Cross 4 . All other payments in compensation for permanent or temporary incapacity, or for death, are borne by the insurer. In cases of temporary incapacity, however, employers must, at the request of the insurer, advance the sums periodically due as compensation; and such advances are to be refunded by the insurer at the conclusion of every month. The employer in such cases is responsible for verifying whether the worker is actually incapacitated for work; nor can he claim the refund of any amount paid without sufficient justification 5 . In cases of fatal accidents, and where the deceased leaves no heirs or legal representatives under the provisions of the Act, the insurer must, nevertheless, pay the amount due as compensation, but this sum must be deposited with the Deposit and Loans Fund to a special account whose nature will be indicated below. Only 1 2 3 4 5 A, Art. 8. A. Art. 15. A, Art. 9 ter. Regulations, Art. 118. Ibid., Art. 104 and 106. — 410 — the compulsory mutual insurance associations are exempt from this obligation, on condition that they are liable under their regulations for the payment of compensation in respect of accidents to workers employed by an employer who, having failed to adhere to an association, as required by the Act, becomes insolvent 1 . Insurance Institutions 1. Private Companies 2 (a) A utkorisation.— Private companies wishing to obtain authorisation to cover industrial accident risks must furnish the Minister of Labour with their standard rates of premium, the general conditions stipulated in their policies, and the rules according to which reserve funds for covering current risks are calculated. They must also prove that they have deposited a preliminary sum of 500,000 lire as caution money with the Deposit and Loans Fund (caution money must subsequently be maintained at the conclusion of each year at a figure equal to two-thirds of the premiums received in respect of industrial accident risks during the current financial year). It must consist of Government securities, or of securities guaranteed by the State 3. After the required information and proofs have been furnished, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, authorise the company to cover industrial accident risks. (b) The insurance policy. — A standard form of insurance policy is to be approved by the Minister of Labour, and all policies issued by the company must conform to it 4. In all cases where the duration of the contract exceeds one year, the contracting parties are to have the right, notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary, to cancel the contract annually 5. Finally, policies must also stipulate that the contract becomes immediately null and void where an insured employer is compelled to adhere to a "compulsory association", or if the law is amended in such a manner as to modify the conditions of the insurance 6. (c) Government supervision. — Companies must set up a separate department to deal with industrial accident business and must furnish the Minister with an annual statement as to this business 1 2 3 4 5 6 A, Art. 10 and 27. Regulations, Title VI. Ibid., Art. 70. Ibid., Art. 72. Ibid., Art. 71. Ibid., Art. 71. — 411 — together with an annual statement of the general business done by the Company. Foreign companies must keep all books of account, registers, and other relevant documents concerning this class of insurance business at their principal office in. Italy 1. Companies must be subject to regular periodical inspection. Inspectors must verify whether caution money has been fixed in accordance with the regulations, whether policies are issued in conformity with the approved model, and whether financial statements agree with the books of account. They are also, generally speaking, entrusted with the duty of supervising all information supplied by companies to the Minister2; and the latter is also authorised to order special inspections should he think fit. The penalties which the Minister can impose on companies failing to comply with the provisions of the Act or of regulations issued under it, or. whose organisation fails to give satisfaction are of two kinds: first, the Minister may cause the board of management to be dissolved by Royal Decree, and may appoint a Royal Commissioner, paid by the company, whose powers are determined by this Decree; or, secondly, in more serious cases, a Royal Decree may be issued revoking authorisation 3. 2. The "Cassa Nazionale Infortuni" 4 This institution is a mixed one, which retains the essential features of a private institution but also acts, in many ways, as a Public Fund. An agreement was concluded on 18 February 1883 between the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, on the one hand, and the Milan, Bologna, Genoa, Rome, Venice, and Cagliari Savings Funds and the Sienna public pawn shop (mont de piété), and the Bank of Naples and Sicily, on the other, for the purpose of establishing a National Insurance Fund against industrial accidents; and this agreement was sanctioned by the Act of 8 July 1883. The institutions which co-operated in creating this Fund did not aim at making profits; they assumed the liability for all working expenses and undertook the joint responsibility for constituting the original security fund. The creation of this Fund, therefore, occurred previous to the adoption of special industrial accident legislation. 1 2 3 Ibid., Art. 69. Ibid., Art. 147. Ibid., Art. 148 ter. * Ibid., Title V (Cf. Cassa Nazionale di Assicurazione per gli Infortuni sul Lavoro nel suo quarantennio. Roma, 1923). — 412 — But this legislation, beginning with the Act of 17 March 1898, amended by that of 21 January 1904, confers important functions on the Cassa Nazionale in connection with the enforcement of some of the new legal provisions adopted; and its headquarters were, in 1912, transferred from Milan to Rome. (a) The obligations of the Cassa Nazionale.—The Cassa Nazionale must accept all insurance risks proposed to it and cannot, like other insurance institutions, choose between various kinds of risk. The Cassa must also accept proposals for re-insurance submitted by compulsory associations; and can also re-insure private funds and voluntary associations. Its rates are subject to the approval of the Minister of Labour. The Cassa is strictly bound by these rates, and cannot grant special conditions to certain insured persons. The Cassa is subject, generally speaking, to the same obligations as private companies in all that applies to approval of its policies, right to cancel policies annually, and information to be supplied to the* Minister. (b) Privileges. — The Fund need not deposit caution money. It enjoys the monopoly of insuring workers employed by the State, the provinces and the communes, and those employed in public works carried on under concession from the State, the Provinces, or the communes. Finally, it has the monopoly of insuring against labour accidents in agriculture throughout the greater part of Italy. (c) Organisation. — (1) Administration: The administrative organs of the Fund are as follows: A Superior Council constituted by Royal Decree, consisting of 18 members, exclusive of the Chairman, and including two representatives of industrial employers, two representatives of agricultural employers, two representatives of industrial insured, two representatives of agricultural insured, six representatives of the Founders' Institutions appointed by the latter, two members chosen by the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Social Economy respectively, the Director-General of Labour and Social Welfare, and the Director of the National Social Insurance Fund. The Chairman of the Superior Council is appointed by Royal Decree. The Fund is actually administered by an Executive Committee and by the Director-General, the former being composed of 9 members elected from the members of the Superior Council. The — 413 — Director-General is a member of the Committee, in an advisory capacity. The Director-General is appointed by a Decree of the Minister of Social Economy, on the advice of the Superior Council; and can be suspended or dismissed ex officio by Ministerial Decree on a proposal from the Council. The Director-General is responsible for the supervision of all the administrative and technical service of the Fund. The Superior Council also appoints three commissioners for one year, whose duty it is to examine the working of the Fund, to verify the accuracy of the results of each financial year, and to submit a report on the administrative working of the Fund, together with separate reports relating to each of the different branches of its business. (2) Financial management: The Fund must maintain separate branches for dealing with industrial accident business, agricultural labour accidents, for insuring workers employed by the State, and for re-insurance. Surpluses at the conclusion of each financial year, together with the security funds set up by the Founders' Institutions, must constitute an Extraordinary Reserve Fund for meeting possible deficits. Every balance sheet must specify the ordinary reserves calculated by the competent services for paying compensation, and for covering current risks. 3. Voluntary Mutual Insurance Associations* The characteristic features of these institutions are as follows. Manufacturers, grouped in associations, assume joint liability for the payment of compensation, and the contributions for which members are liable are levied according to the same rules, and subject to the same privileges, as those laid down for direct taxes 2. An association must group at least 4,000 workers; and a sum equivalent to 25 lire per insured worker (up to a maximum of 1 million lire) must be deposited as caution money with the Deposit and Loans Fund in securities issued or guaranteed by the association 3. A sum equal to 50 per cent, of the annual premiums which would be levied by the National Insurance Fund, if the manufacturers concerned were insured by this body, must also be deposited with the former Fund. This sum is repayable to the association 1 2 3 Regulations, Title III. A, Art. 19. Ibid. — 414 — as soon as its regulations have been approved by the Minister of Labour. Associations are constituted by public deed stating that the two above payments have been effected; the deed is to be forwarded to the Minister of Labour, together with a copy of the regulations as approved by all affiliated members, copies of policies, a declaration from the National Accident Fund stating what premiums manufacturers insuring with this body are liable for, and finally a list of the undertakings affiliated to the Association and the number of workers to be insured. As soon as the regulations have been approved by the Minister, by whom they can be amended, the association is legally constituted and acquires legal personality. The funds necessary for the operation of the association are provided as follows. The first year a sum equal to one-half the amount of premiums at Cassa Nazionale rates is refunded to the association immediately after its formation: this amount at the disposal of the association is not refunded to members, but serves to decrease their subsequent annual contributions. At the beginning of each subsequent year, members pay an annual premium, calculated on the basis of claims settled during the preceding year. This contribution is subject to a further "call" or a refund 1. Associations can re-insure a portion of their risks with the Cassa Nazionale. They must, however, remain liable for at least onefifth of the compensation payable in case of death, one-half the compensation payable in case of permanent incapacity, and the entire compensation payable during the 30 first days of temporary incapacity. They can also, on behalf of their members, assume liability for paying compensation in connection with workers not subject to compulsory insurance. Associations are subject to the same form of supervision as private insurance companies. The Minister may enforce the same sanctions as in the case of private companies, except that, in this case, the penalty shall consist of dissolution instead of withdrawal of authorisation. 4. Compulsory Mutual Insurance Associations 2 Owing to the compulsory character of associations, their regulations, instead of being framed at the initiative of members subject 1 2 A, Art. 19. Regulations, Title X. — 415 — to Ministerial approval, are imposed by the Decree by which they are constituted, on the proposal of a provisional committee. At least 15,000 workers must be insured. Associations are exempt from caution money ; this guarantee is replaced by a reserve fund, to be maintained in the manner and to the amount defined by the constitutive Decree, which can also stipulate any other form of guarantee which may appear desirable. Associations are exempt from the obligation to pay in the special fund (see below) the compensation due in case of death when no dependants are left. They are otherwise subject to the same obligations as voluntary associations, but they must participate in the supervision of industries for which they have been set up, particularly as regards the organisation of safety measures x. 5. Private Funds 2 Every manufacturer in an industry subject to the compulsory insurance can set up a Private Fund, provided that it is authorised by Act or Royal Decree. This fund must insure at least 500 workers permanently, and must pay compensation at least as favourable as that determined by the Act. Several manufacturers in the same industry, or in connected industries, can form a consortium for setting up such a fund (Cassa consorziale), provided that they are resident in the same commune, or in neighbouring communes. The founders of a fund must deposit with the Deposit and Loans Fund caution money equivalent to at least 5 times the premiums which would have been payable to the Cassa Nazionale, if less than 2,000 workers are insured, and three times this amount, with an absolute minimum of 40,000 lire, if it insures more than 2,000 workers. If the resources of the fund prove insufficient to settle claims, compensation must be paid by the manufacturer liable. Private funds are subject to the same kind of supervision as mutual insurance associations. The Special Fund 3 This fund, which is managed by the Deposit and Loans Fund, is not a "security fund" in any way. It is maintained, as we saw above, by the sums due as compensation deposited by certain institutions when victims of industrial accidents die without leav1 2 3 Ibid., Art. 136. Ibid., Title III. A, Art. 37. — 416 — ing heirs or legal representatives. This fund is also maintained by the fines inflicted for contraventions of the Act. It is intended: (1) to assist workers unable to obtain compensation due to them owing to the insolvency of the debtor; (2) to grant subventions to institutions undertaking to assist the victims of industrial accidents during the first five days of incapacity (i.e. a period during which the Act does not provide for benefit) ; (3) to grant prizes to inventors of new safety devices; (4) to grant subventions to associations and institutions which provide the victims of industrial accidents with medical assistance. 2. — SIMILAR LEGISLATION The reader will have noticed two opposing tendencies in Italian legislation, which aim respectively at entrusting insurance to private bodies competing freely with one another, and at setting up special insurance institutions enjoying a monopoly in certain occupations or certain districts. These opposing tendencies will be encountered in various degrees in most legislative systems which provide for compulsory insurance. But there are also other reasons, which cause the resemblances between these various legislative systems to be less noticeable than those existing between legislative systems with voluntary insurance. For, as we are led to describe the systems where administrative regulation plays an ever growing part in the working of insurance, and where the law tends to define with ever increasing rigidity the form of the insurance institutions which are set up, it is obvious that greater differences will be encountered from country to country, even if the general principles remain more or less uniform. Where the law permits voluntary insurance by private institutions, on the other hand, the business methods adopted by insurers and the guarantees established to protect policy holders can obviously only vary within comparatively narrow limits. As soon, however, as the principle of compulsion is applied, it can either be imposed without exception, or can be subject to such exceptions as are judged expedient by the legislator. Where there is complete liberty to select the insurer, the principle may be applied either absolutely or conditionally, while, on the other hand, employers may only be authorised to choose from an ever smaller number of insurers, in such a way that, since their number is restricted, a system of free selection finally coincides with one of monopoly. These facts must — 417 — be borne in mind to understand the following summaries and to explain certain comparisons between legislative systems of a very different character, which would otherwise appear somewhat artificial. Netherlands. — The freedom enjoyed by the employer in selecting the insurer is subject to certain restrictions unknown in Italy. The law, on the other hand, permits employers to insure their own risks in certain cases and subject to certain specified guarantees. Definite guarantees are provided where the insurer selected by the employer becomes insolvent. Owners or managers of industrial and commercial undertakings may insure either with the State Insurance Bank, or with private companies; they may join mutual associations or, finally, may cover their own risks after providing suitable guarantees. Employers in agriculture must either insure with the State Bank, or become members of agricultural trade associations. As regards workers employed in the shipping or sea fishing industry, strict guarantees are provided by the Act, which aim at making employers join the security associations set up in these industries during the war. The State Insurance Bank is a public institution, created by the State and working under government control. In addition to a special industrial accident insurance branch (not to mention the financial management and a part of the administrative management of the compulsory old age and invalidity insurance and of voluntary old age insurance with which it also deals), one of the functions of the Bank is to fix compensation rates for accidents; and also to pay compensation by whatever assurer the risk is covered. The management of the Bank is controlled by a Supervisory Council, and consists of two members appointed by the Crown, assisted by an actuary also appointed by tbe Crown. The management must render accounts and be responsible for the administration of the Bank to the Minister of Labour, and must furnish a technical balance sheet in respect of industrial accident business every five years. The Supervisory Council consists of eight members, 4 employers and 4 workers (with two substitutes for each group in each case), appointed respectively by the employers and workers members of the Insurance Council, and also by an odd number of members appointed by the Minister of Labour. The Bank is conducted financially on a fixed premium basis. Each branch of industry covered is classified according to risk; each category including a certain number of co-efficients of risk, comprising the special dangers inherent to each industry included 27 — 418 — in the category. The published rates must indicate the premium payable, per florin of wages, for each co-efficient of risk. All industrial, commercial, and agricultural employers insured by the State Bank must submit lists of wages. Each employer sends the Bank a list of the premiums due, calculated by him after receiving notice of the co-efficient of risk applicable to him, and subject to verification by the Bank. The Bank constitutes two separate funds, for industrial and agricultural insurance respectively; and a reserve, not exceeding 1 million florins, must be set aside in each fund. Industrial and commercial employers can only insure with a limited liability company or with a mutual association after authorisation from the State Bank; and risks can only be transferred if the insurer provides adequate security, by depositing caution money. Industrial and commercial employers may carry their own risks, on the other hand, either by depositing caution money or constituting a mortgage. But authorisation of this kind is limited by the fact that the total number of workers insured by the State Bank must never fall below 60,000. Where an accident occurs in an undertaking which is not insured with the State Bank, the latter is nevertheless responsible for paying compensation to the victim, or to his dependants or legal representatives. In such cases the insurer or the employer, where no insurance exists, refunds the amounts thus paid to the Bank. In the event of the insolvency of an employer or an insurer, the Bank can realise the securities placed at its disposal. If they are insufficient for the complete settlement of the claim, and if the Bank cannot recover the total amount of the debt, the State then becomes liable for refunding any amounts still due. As regards agricultural undertakings, the only insurers are the State Bank, or the trade associations, which are employers' mutual associations whose regulations must conform to certain conditions laid down in the Act. The members of these bodies may either assume joint liability for the debts of the association, or a system of limited liability may be instituted. All employers who wish to be affiliated must be admitted, provided they comply with the conditions contained in their regulations. Half the members of the Council and of the Direction are appointed by the Minister of Labour from a list drawn up by the most representative workers' organisations. These associations are perfectly free as regards the choice of a financial system, and can undertake the payment of pensions. They — 419 — must deposit the capital value of the pensions for which they are liable as caution money with the State Bank. A Supervisory Council, the members of which are appointed by the Crown (one-third on the proposal of employers' and workers' organisations respectively), must assist the Government in all questions affecting trade associations, and are competent at any time to appoint a special Committee among its members for the purpose of examining the books and documents of "associations". Accident compensation for persons employed in shipping and fishing is provided under the Acts of 8 May 1915 and 27 June 1919. These laws do not impose an obligation to insure, but establish a peculiar system of guarantees. The employer may furnish the required security either by depositing caution money to the amount considered sufficient by the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, or by insurance (the State may act as insurer). In practice the majority of employers provide the necessary guarantees by joining, directly or indirectly, the single ship-owner's mutual insurance association (Vereeniging Zee-Risico, Amsterdam). Finland. — Employers can insure either with private companies, or by joining mutual associations. The Order of 18 August 1917 provides for the establishment of a National Insurance Fund, which however has not yet been set up. Employers who are unable to insure, and are thereby compelled to carry their own risks, must provide security; and should a worker be granted a pension as compensation, the capital value of the pension must be deposited with a Finnish insurance company undertaking life annuity business. Mutual associations and insurance companies can only commence business subject to previous authorisation. Denmark. — Danish legislation does not provide for any State insurance institutions; and all employers subject to its provisions (except shipowners and employers in the coasting and fishing trade), are bound to transfer all risks for which they are liable to an employers' association with joint liability whose regulations have been approved by the Minister of the Interior, or to limited liability companies subject to special recognition in each case. The Minister of the Interior is, moreover, entitled to exempt any employer subject to the provisions of Danish legislation from liability to insure on the proposal of the Workers' Insurance Council, provided the security specified by the Minister has been furnished. The fact of insurance is proved by an insurance certificate delivered by the insurer, which must be posted up in all undertakings where more than three workers are employed. — 420 — Shipowners must be affiliated to a mutual insurance association, and this provision also applies to heads of fishing and coasting undertakings. Recognised insurance companies receive a State grant, provided their accounts are in proper order, which is intended to enable them to reduce premiums for heads of small undertakings (i.e. those earning less than 1,800 crowns per annum in rural communes; 2,100 crowns in towns; and 2,400 crowns at Copenhagen and Frederiksborg). This also applies to heads of undertakings who insure voluntarily. In certain specified cases, moreover, the Treasury refunds half the amount of compensation paid by Employers' Coasting and Fishing Insurance Associations. The grant is devoted entirely to reducing premiums paid by members. The Treasury also refunds all recognised insurance companies and insurance associations all compensation paid in respect of accidents occurring in connection with the saving of human life. The chief administrative organ for insurance is the Workers' Insurance Council, which includes members appointed by the Crown, and an equal number of representatives of insured employers and workers. The Council determines to what undertakings legislative provisions apply, what persons are deemed to be employers and the nature and extent of compensation to which the insured, or their dependants, are entitled. Appeals on points of law lie from its decisions to the Minister of the Interior, who is competent to annul them and to return cases to the Council for re-hearing. Sweden. — Only the National Insurance Office, or employers' mutual associations are competent to insure. The National Office is an autonomous public institution with legal personality working under State supervision and control. All workers are in theory deemed to be automatically insured by the Office, unless the employer can show that he is a member of a mutual association. The Office is managed by a Director-General, and three heads of sections appointed by the Government. Neither the employers who are bound to insure nor insured workers have any share in the administration of the Office; but the Direction is assisted, as regards the financial management of insurance funds, by one representative each of the employers and workers respectively, in an advisory capacity only, in addition to two insurance experts. The premiums of employer members of the National Office are fixed each financial year, account being taken of the co-efficients of risk, and of the wages bill ; the capital value of pensions is shown — 421 — as a liability in the balance sheet. The administrative expenses of the Office and of the Insurance Council are provided out of an additional contribution from employers : should these contributions prove inadequate the deficit is covered by the State out of taxation. Mutual associations are established in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 27 May 1917 concerning private insurance companies. The liability of members is unlimited. In principle all workers employed by a member should be covered by his association; nevertheless the Insurance Council may allow exceptions to this rule. Mutual associations must obtain the authorisation of the State and are placed under its supervision. The contributions of members are calculated on the fixed premium plan, account being taken both of classes of risk and of wages bills. The associations contribute to the administrative expenses of the National Office and the Insurance Council. When an employer is bound, in virtue either of an undertaking given by him or of another law, to pay an allowance in case of industrial accident, or when such allowance is paid by a provident fund to which the injured workman belongs and which is financed to the extent of at least two-thirds of its income by the employer, the insurance institution has the right, under certain conditions, to reduce the compensation payable by it to the extent of the allowance and likewise to reduce the employer's contribution. Nevertheless, such self-insurance by an employer is only of a subsidiary character, since the insurance institution remains finally responsible for the payment of compensation. The supervision of insurance institutions is undertaken by the Insurance Council, which is composed of at least 7 members, of whom 2 are employers', and 2 are workers', representatives; all are appointed by the Government. Appeal is allowed to the Insurance Council against any decision of the National Office or a mutual association; decisions can be altered by the Council even if no appeal is made. The Council's award is final. Portugal. — Employers must insure workers employed by them either with mutual associations, or with fixed premium companies working under government supervision and control. They are also entitled to carry their own risks, provided they deposit the value of pensions payable with the Institute of Social Insurance as security, to the account of the Minister of Labour. This deposit may be replaced either by a mortgage, by caution money, or by security furnished to the Governing Body of the Institute. If, as — 422 — appears probable, security is only demanded in cases where an employer is actually liable for the payment of pensions, Portuguese legislation, although officially described as a compulsory insurance system, should more properly be classed with voluntary insurance systems. The Decree by which it is proposed to organise a compulsory system of insurance provides for taking a census of employers, and wage-earners, employees, or domestic servants in each commune. Employers must furnish all workers affected with a membership card denoting their affiliation to the system of compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents. The formation of at least one employers' or joint mutual association, legally authorised to deal exclusively with labour accident risks, is compulsory in every commune. The general management of the insurance system is carried on by the Compulsory Social Insurance and General Provident Institute, attached to the Ministry of Labour, and administered by a Governing Body appointed by the Government. A Superior Council of Social Welfare and an Insurance Council work in connection with the Institute, their duty being to examine all legislative reforms which appear necessary; and for this purpose representatives of employers' and workers' industrial organisations are included. Chile. — With reference to the new legislation introduced by the Act of 8 September 1924, a similar remark applies to that already made in the case of Portugal. While the Act institutes compulsory insurance, on one hand, either with a mutual association, or a Chilean insurance company, or even with any institution with legal personality, employers can, on the other, be exempted from liability to insure by providing adequate security for the payment of pensions for which they are liable. Employers, however, are subject to an obligation not imposed by Portuguese legislation: they must contribute to the creation of a Security Fund, out of which any compensation, owed by insolvent employers or insurers is paid. Australia. — Three of the Australian States (Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia) now possess compulsory insurance legislation. In Victoria, employers must insure either with the State Accident Insurance Office, or with an insurer approved by the Governor in Council. But although insurance is compulsory, it does not transfer the legal liability for compensation from employer to insurer; and the former is always deemed legally responsible, subject to the right of recovering amounts due — b'2ó — from the insurer. Where an employer becomes insolvent, however, his rights against the insurer are transferred to the worker. The law also provides, in certain cases, for "contracting out." In South Australia and Western Australia, the laws provide simply that every employer shall obtain from an insurance office a policy for the full amount of his liability to pay compensation to all the workmen employed by him. The South Australia Act does not define "insurance office", which may be supposed to be a private company or a mutual insurance association. The Western Australia Act says "an incorporated insurance office" Both Acts permit exemptions. In Western Australia exemption is allowed in one case only: where the employer has established his own insurance scheme and has deposited with the State Treasury securities sufficient to cover all compensation payments which may become due. In South Australia likewise, an employer who has established his own scheme, which is actuarially sound, is exempt; further, any employer who proves that his financial resources are sufficient to meet all probable claims may obtain exemption. Cuba. — Cuban legislation stipulates that all employers subject to its provisions shall insure either with a limited liability company, or with a mutual association. All employers, however, able to prove their solvency in the form prescribed by law may, if they so desire, insure their own risks after receiving a certificate issued by the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labour. Insurance institutions must be authorised by the Secretary. The members of a mutual association are jointly liable; and both companies and mutual associations must deposit caution money. GROUPS IV AND V Compulsory Insurance with a Specified Insurer The study of security systems in the case of the legislative systems remaining to be described coincides with that of the administrative and financial organisation of insurance institutions. Although the conception still partly survives that accident insurance constitutes insurance against the civil liability of heads of undertakings, the guiding principle of these legislative systems justifies them being classed with social insurance systems properly so-called: throughout this part of the study therefore the term "insured" refers exclusively to workers employed in undertakings covered by the system. — 424 — Group IV : Insurance by Trade Associations (Austria; Czechoslovakia; Esthonia; Germany; Hungary; Japan (new legislation) ; Latvia; Luxemburg; Poland; Roumania; Serb-CroatSlovene Kingdom.) In countries where compulsory insurance is undertaken by associations of heads of undertakings, they generally enjoy a considerable administrative autonomy by law; but the financial administration of the insurance system is, on the other hand, subject to strict regulation. Finally, the security afforded to creditors in the last resort is based on the unlimited joint liability of the affiliated employers, which does not generally come into play directly, as the payment of claims is undertaken by the State which subsequently obtains a refund of the sums paid from the insurance institutions liable. 1. — SUMMARY OF ONE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM: GERMANY 1 German legislation defines the following insurance institutions: (1) mutual trade associations; (2) the Reich, or an individual State, when the latter is actually the employer 2 , and in a certain number of other permanent or temporary undertakings; (3) the communes, or communal unions, and other public bodies in respect of construction work undertaken by them as contractors. In spite of the name of the system, compensation for industrial accidents, where it is not undertaken by trade associations, is not based on insurance, since the cost is defrayed as it arises by the individual resources of the institution concerned (Eigendeckung). There is, however, no need to study this method of covering compensation costs in detail, as the worker's claim is sufficiently secured by the nature of the debtor. It may, however, be noted t h a t in certain branches of industry the law authorises the adherence of the Reich, the States, or Communes to mutual trade associations. Mutual Trade Associations 3 1. Definition; Aims; Constitution. Accident associations are compulsory associations with legal personality, composed of all heads of undertakings engaged in a 1 Reichsversicherungsordnung, edition 1924, Art. 623-629. The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft" has become, since the inception of the Dawes Plan at the end of 1924, the institution for insuring the staff of the railways controlled by it. » Designated below as "accident associations". 2 — 425 — similar industry in a given district. The principal aim of these associations is to ensure that workers employed in any of the affiliated undertakings shall receive the compensation for accidents to which they are legally entitled; sickness or invalidity benefits are, however, during the first thirteen weeks paid by the social insurance sickness funds 1 . Associations can also insure their members against liability in those exceptional cases where the law provides for partial maintenance of common law liability (penal liability of the employer). They can also set up pension funds, both for members and for insured persons, and can deal with the question of finding employment for workers disabled by industrial accidents. They are also entrusted with the duty of prescribing safety measures and supervising their application. The existing accident associations were for the most part set up when new legislation was adopted in 1884. They were established by the Act itself in the case of the underground construction (Tiefbau) and shipping industries. Other associations were subsequently set up by the Bundesrat on the basis of preparatory studies by the Reich Insurance Office in conformity, as far as possible, with the desiderata expressed by employers' associations ; and in the agricultural industry they were sometimes created by State legislation. Since that period, however, very few of them have been created owing to the progressive increase in the number of insured. In 1924 there were 32 associations covering the whole of the Reich, with 36 industrial and 44 agricultural associations for a single State or province only. The fusion of several associations is permitted by law ; and the insurance of certain branches of industry can be transferred from one association to another by a resolution of the general meeting of the associations concerned, subject to approval by the Reichsrat 2 . 2. Affiliation. All occupiers of undertakings in those branches of industry assigned to an association, whose principal place of business is situated in the district of that association, are members of an accident association3. Where different branches of industry are carried on in one establishment, it is to be assigned to the associa1 2 3 Reichsversicherungsordnung, 1924, Art. 558. Ibid., Art. 636-638. Ibid., Art. 649. — 426 — tion to which the principal branch corresponds 1 . Affiliation dates from the opening of an establishment or from the date it becomes subject to insurance 2. Within a week of the date of affiliation, all occupiers of undertakings must forward a declaration to the local insurance office of the district in which the undertaking is situated, defining the nature and scope of the undertaking, the number of persons insured, the association to which it is affiliated and, if the undertaking was opened or became subject to insurance after the Act came into force, the date of affiliation. This declaration must be forwarded to the managing committee of the association by the office, unless the latter considers that the undertaking properly belongs to another association, in which case the declaration is forwarded to the latter, after the former and the occupier have notified 3. If the managing committee accepts affiliation, the fact has to be registered and a certificate granted to the occupier, which constitutes proof of membership ; when it is declined, the occupier must be informed of the decision, against which he can appeal, as also against acceptance, to the Superior Insurance Office within 30 days. Membership ceases when the occupier ceases to carry on business, when the undertaking ceases to be subject to insurance, or when it is transformed in such a manner as properly to belong to another association. Where the occupier of an undertaking changes, the new occupier immediately becomes a member of the association. and all such changes must be declared within the period specified by the Act. . 3. Administration. The administrative systems of associations are determined by their regulations in as far as they are not imposed by the Act 4 . The regulations must be drawn up by a first general meeting of the association, and must subsequently be approved by the Federal Office, and the general meeting must draw up fresh regulations if such approval is refused; if it fails to do so the regulations must be drawn up by the Office. The administrative organs specified by law consist of the general meeting of the association and the managing committee. 1 2 3 4 Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Art. 631. Art. 650. Art. 653-655. Art. 675-684. — 427 — The regulations may specify whether the general meeting shall include all members, or only representatives of the latter. The general meeting is the supreme authority of the association, elects members of the managing committees, can amend the regulations, and approves the accounts for each financial year. The managing committee is responsible for current business, and represents the association. It is empowered to take all decisions or necessary action, subject to its responsibility to members of the association on the one hand, and to the supervisory authorities on the other. The association may decide that it shall be divided into autonomous sections, with a separate committee and general meeting for each section. In this case, however, the association as a whole remains the insurance institution, and alone possesses legal personality. Both insured persons and "Works Councils" are entitled, under the Act, to participate in all discussions concerning safety measures. The insured must also be represented in all deliberations for determining the amount of compensation. Associations can appoint confidential local agents (Vertrauensmänner) x, whose duty it is to inform the association whenever an enquiry is undertaken concerning an accident, to supply it with information for classifying undertakings according to risk, and to represent the association at enquiries. 4. Financial management. The financial régime is that of the distribution of annual compensation, except in the case of Underground Construction Associations, which have adopted the capital distribution system; and except also in the cases of construction work insured by branches (see below), of the branches of the Maritime Association, and of the Association of Owners of Draft and Saddle Animals (not for industrial purposes), all of which have adopted a fixed premium system 2. (a) Distribution of annual compensation payments or capital3. (1) Current expenses: distribution only takes place at the end of the financial year, and current expenses are covered by advances from members, deducted from the final contribution for which they are liable. The Post Office administration undertakes the payment of compensation to victims of accidents 1 s 8 Ibid., Art. 678. Ibid., Art. 731. Ibid., Art. 726-782. — 428 — (or their dependants or legal representatives); and until quite lately it advanced the sums payable, which were only refunded when costs were distributed. Since 1 November 1923, however, associations must pay the Post Office, at the beginning of each month, the sums presumed necessary for paying compensation during that month, which compels them to keep a considerable cash reserve. If the sums due to the Post Office are not refunded within the proper time, the Reich Insurance Office can take legal proceedings against an association to enforce payment; and should the funds of the latter be insufficient to meet this liability, the Office can proceed against each member individually until the amount due has been paid. (2) Distribution : The liabilities at the conclusion of each financial year include the benefits paid during the year (in the case of pensions, either annual payments due, or the capital value of the pensions which have commenced to become payable during the financial year), amounts due to the reserve fund, any amounts necessary for maintaining the required cash reserve, and, finally, administrative expenses. The method of distribution is based on published classes of risk and on the total wages paid, as explained in the preceding chapter. In the case of agricultural associations, distribution may also be effected on the basis of taxation, or on that of cultivated area or net yield. The information required for determining co-efficients of risk is supplied by statements furnished by occupiers of undertakings to the association, during the six months following the conclusion of the financial year. These statements must indicate the number of insured persons in the undertaking and the wages paid. As associations draw up accident statistics, specifying the undertakings where they occur and the compensation payable, they possess all the necessary data for determining and classifying co-efficients of risk. Scales of risk are drawn up by the general meeting, subject to revision at least every five years, and must be approved by the Reich Insurance Office. The association may either impose additional contributions, or grant reductions to occupiers of undertakings, when scales are renewed, on the basis of the number of accidents which have occurred. But during the period for which the scale applies, no account of the cost of a particular establishment to the association can be taken in assessing its contributions. — 429 — Contribution rates may, however, be modified should it appear that the declarations made by an employer were false or that changes have occured in working conditions (Art. 706-712). Contributions must be paid, under pain of distraint, within a fortnight of the date on which occupiers of undertakings receive an extract from the contribution scale, which contains all the information necessary for enabling employers to verify the accuracy of the calculations. Members of the association may contest the sums due, without prejudice to their payment within the prescribed period, and can appeal to the Superior Insurance Office. Unpaid contributions which cannot be recovered must be borne by the members of the association as a whole. When it becomes necessary to make advances during the financial year, they must be distributed in proportion to the contributions payable during the preceding financial year. (3) Reserve Fund: The provisions concerning the maintenance of a reserve fund, as laid down in the Act of 1884 and amended in 1900, were again revised in 1923. At present the reserve fund is maintained by accumulating an annual sum equal to 10 per cent. of the amount required for the payment of pensions until the fund reaches three times this amount x . At the request of the managing committee of an association, the Reich Insurance Office may authorise levies on the reserve fund. The Office settles the amount of the additional contributions which must be paid annually thereafter in order to replace the sums thus withdrawn from the reserve fund 2. (b) Fixed premiums 3. — Branches (Nebenzweige) are insurance funds which, in view of the special conditions prevailing in certain branches of industry, are administered financially independently of the principal Association to which they are, however, administratively attached. Branches have been set up in the Construction Work Associations for employers who do not habitually undertake construction work and in the Maritime Association for small undertakings. Branches work on a fixed premium system; which is also used by the Association of Owners of Draft and Saddle Animals. Let us take a branch in one of the Construction Work Associations as an example. The cost of insurance only falls on the em1 2 3 Ibid., Art. 741-744. Ibid., Art. 746. Ibid., Art. 783-824. — 430 — ployer in connection with contracts involving more than six days actual work. The scale of premiums is fixed at least every five years by the Reich Insurance Office on the basis of probable costs (capital value of pensions payable; additional payments for reserve funds; cost of administration), estimated on the basis of the average number of accidents annually in long time contracts. The managing committee of the association afterwards assesses the premiums due from each occupier on the basis of this scale and the wages paid. The amounts due are recovered from the occupier by the communal administration. For short period works (less than six days), the system of distribution remains in force ; and the cost of insurance is borne in this case, not by occupiers of undertakings, but by the communes included in the territorial district covered by the Association, in proportion to their population. 5. Supervision1. The supervision of accident associations is carried out by the Reich Insurance Office or the State Insurance Offices (in Bavaria, Saxony, and in Baden, for associations none of whose members are established outside the limits of the several States). The Reich Insurance Office contains permanent members appointed by the President of the Reich, and temporary members elected by employers and workmen (the composition of the State Offices is similar). The associations are required to submit to it reports and accounts of their administration ; at the end of each year the Office lays before the Reichstag a general report on the financial results of the year. When an accident association is unable to pay compensation, i.e. becomes insolvent, it may, at the instance of the Reich Insurance Office, be liquidated by the Reichsrat. In that case its rights and liabilities are transferred to the Reich or one of the States. 2. — SIMILAR LEGISLATION Austria. •— The monopoly of industrial accident insurance is divided among mutual inter-trade associations (Alle Berufe umfassend) organised by district. Three of these institutions exist with their headquarters at Vienne, Gratz, and Salzburg respectively. All occupiers of undertakings subject to insurance in a district, together with the employees and workers in those undertakings are 1 Art. 35-109. — 431 — members of the association. Occupiers of undertakings not subject to insurance can also adhere; and in that case their workers and employees also become members of the association. These institutions are administered by a governing body (onethird consisting of elected representatives of the employers, onethird of elected representatives of the insured, and one-third of persons nominated by the Minister of Social Welfare), and by a managing committee consisting of nine members, of whom three are elected by each of the three groups of the governing body respectively. The cost of insurance falls entirely on occupiers of undertakings. The financial system formerly adopted was that of annual distribution of capital charges; but since the Act of 11 April 1924 this has been replaced by the system of distribution of annual compensation payments. Advances on contributions for providing an adequate reserve to meet current liabilities are payable at the end of each financial year. Undertakings are grouped in 16 classes of risk for purposes of distribution, with maximum and minimum co-efficients corresponding to each class. The co-efficient for each undertaking is then determined within these limits on the basis of the special conditions prevailing. Every association must constitute a reserve fund, the amount payable to it being fixed annually by the Minister of Social Welfare. Two-thirds of this amount are paid into a special fund belonging to the association, and the remaining third into a reserve fund common to the three associations, which is managed by the State. Associations are subject to State supervision and control, exercised by the Minister of Social Welfare. The Minister may dissolve the managing committee of an Association and temporarily appoint a commissioner in its place. The public authorities also intervene for enforcing by legal process the payment of contributions in arrears. Poland. — In Poland, in former German territory accident insurance for industrial undertakings is dealt with by the Accident, Department of the District Insurance Office at Poznan; for agricultural undertakings, it is dealt with by the Agricultural Accident Insurance office at Poznan. In those formerly belonging to Austria, and, under the Act of 30 June 1924, throughout former "Congress" Poland, the provisions of the Austrian Act of 28 December 1887 remain or have been put into force. There is a single general mutual trade association for these territories, situated at Lvow. — 432 — In Polish Upper Silesia accident insurance is entrusted to a single intertrade institution, namely: the accident insurance service of the social insurance institution of Silesian Voivodeship the headquarters of which is at Huta Krolewska. Czechoslovakia. —• Insurance is also undertaken by general mutual trade associations organised on a regional basis, of which there are three with their headquarters at Prague, Brno, and Bratislava respectively. The system of capital distribution has been maintained. Hungary. — Industrial accident insurance is administered by a single fund with its headquarters at Budapest. This is an autonomous organisation, of which all employers and workers subject to insurance are members. Under the Central Fund, district funds also exist, as local "offices only, enjoying administrative but not financial independence. The Central Fund and the district funds are partly responsible for sickness insurance. The administrative expenses of the Fund are repaid by the State. The financial régime in force is that of distribution of annual compensation payments among employers. Certain construction undertakings, however, whose principal place of business is situated outside Hungary, and also some of a temporary character, are specially classified for risk purposes, and distribution of capital is applied to them. On the other hand, certain small undertakings and voluntary insured pay fixed premiums. Reserve funds must be constituted, and an advance on contributions may be demanded from employers for this purpose. The management of insurance is supervised by the National Workers' Insurance Office, which includes permanent members appointed by the Government, and non-permanent members elected by the employers and workers who are members of the fund. Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. — Industrial accident insurance is organised on similar principles in this country. The Central Workers' Insurance Institute is a public corporation managed by insured and employers. The local offices, or district institutes, are merely executive organs ; while the Central Institute also controls funds, not organised on a regional basis, in the transport and mining industries. The financial régime in force is that of distribution of capital with constitution of reserve funds. The Minister of Social Affairs is responsible for general administrative supervision. — 433 — Luxemburg. — There is one single insurance institution grouping all employers subject to insurance. This association is a public utility body working under State supervision and control, and includes an industrial and an agricultural section. Each section is administered by a general meeting and a managing committee appointed by the former. The chairman of the general meeting is not appointed from members of the association, but by the Government. The association can appoint local agents for obtaining all the necessary information from undertakings with a view to classifying them according to risk. The financial system in force is that of distribution of capital with constitution of a reserve fund; contributions are recovered by the revenue authorities; scales of risk first settled by the Government are verified at least every three years by the general meeting of the association, which is competent to modify them subject to Government approval. If the safety measures adopted by an undertaking are considered inadequate, or if the frequency of accidents is due to this cause or to defective supervision, the co-efficient of risk for that undertaking may be increased 50 per cent., and may be decreased 5 per cent, for all undertakings which, by organising work on certain lines or adopting special safety measures, involve less risk than was estimated when the scale was drawn up. Esthonial and Latvia. — A single inter-trade association exists in these countries administered under the supervision and control of the State. This body is administered by a general meeting, by a managing committee elected by it, and by an administrator, appointed by the committee outside members of the association; and also by a supervisory finance committee elected by the general meeting. The financial system is theoretically that of straightforward distribution of costs for each financial year; but a provisional contribution is assessed at the beginning of each year, and these contributions have so far proved sufficient to cover expenditure. The association must constitute a pension and a reserve fund. A Workers' Insurance Council, including the Minister of Labour, members nominated by the authorities, and representatives of employers and insured, is responsible for the supervision of the association. Local supervision is exercised by insurance offices. 1 la Esthonia a second inter-trade association was set up on 1 January 1925 for industrial undertakings, municipalities, and co-operative societies. 28 — 434 — Roumania. — A single inter-trade association has also been set up by Roumanian legislation. This association has adopted two financial systems : straightforward distribution of annual compensation payments with constitution of a reserve fund for the majority of undertakings ; capital distribution for forestry, mining, construction work, earthworks, and all temporary undertakings. Employers' contributions are collected by the Central Office of Crafts, Credit and Workers' Insurance in the same way as State taxes. The Central Office also exercises general supervision and control over insurance. It is administered by a governing body, whose members are appointed by Royal Decree for seven years. Two are nominated from a list of employers and workers elected by the general meeting of the craft guilds including both employers and workers. The Office is also responsible for the cost of the administrative secretariat of the insurance association. Japan. — The new Japanese legislation, the provisions of which will only come into force after the issue of public administrative regulations, is of a mixed type, in the sense that insurance is undertaken partly by sickness insurance associations of which both employers and insured are members, and partly by the State. All employers, or groups of employers, habitually employing; more than 300 workers subject to insurance, may set up an association, subject to the consent of more than half of the insured, and to the approval of the competent Minister, who may also order an association to be formed. Insurance covers both invalidity and sickness. Persons subject to insurance, who are not members. of an association, are directly insured by the State. The cost of insurance undertaken by associations is divided according to a scale laid down by Imperial Order, between the Treasury, the insured, and employers. Contributions from the insured may in no case exceed 3 per cent, of daily wages, from which they are deducted. Group V: Compulsory Assurance with a Specified Insurer, consisting of a Special Institution (of a non-industrial character) (Australia (Queensland) ; Bulgaria; Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario) ; Italy (agricultural accidents) ; Norway ; Russia ; Switzerland.) This category includes two kinds of insurance institutions; autonomous institutions (Switzerland, Italy), State institutions. administered by public officials in the other countries. — 435 — Generally speaking, moreover, insurance institutions are responsible for fixing rates, classifying undertakings according to risk, and determining compensation rates. In some cases also, they, are responsible for managing, wholly or partially, other branches of social insurance. 1. — SUMMARY OF ONE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM: SWITZERLAND1 Industrial accident insurance in Switzerland is entirely automatic or, in other words, all persons employed in undertakings subject to insurance are actually insured, without having to take any action for this purpose. Occupiers of undertakings subject to insurance must of course notify their existence to the insurance institution concerned, which is competent to investigate what. undertakings are subject and to compel them to contribute to the cost of insurance. If, however, owing to negligence or to error, an undertaking which, although subject to insurance by legislation, has not been placed within proper time on the list of those paying premiums, the workers employed therein are nevertheless insured, and are entitled to receive any compensation due in respect of accidents notified within the prescribed period. Only one insurance institution exists, the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund, an organ completely independent of the Federal administrative services, working under the supervision and control of the Federal Council ; and in receipt of a subvention from the Federal Government. A study of the system of guarantees provided in Switzerland may therefore be confined to a study of the functions, the administrative organisation, and the financial management of the National Fund. Functions of the National Fund 2 Its three principal duties are: (1) the supervision and control of undertakings subject to insurance legislation; (2) the prevention of accidents; (3) the provision of insurance. (1) When an undertaking included in the categories mentioned in Article 60 of the Act of 13 June 1911 commences or ceases working, the fact shall be notified by the employer or his representative within 14 days from the date of opening or closing. In the event of an inevitable delay in notifying the date of opening, »s Federal Act of 13 June 1911 concerning Sickness and Accident Insurance. Cf. Les Annales de la Régie directe (février-mai 1923); La Caisse nationale suisse. By A. TZAUT. — 436 — industrial accident premiums payable are doubled 1 . Some heads of undertakings, however, may display negligence, or endeavour to evade their obligations, while an employer may, on the other hand, notify an undertaking not really subject to insurance. The Fund therefore possesses all the necessary powers of enquiry and compulsion, and can decide as to the nature of undertakings, subject to an appeal from its decisions by the employer to the Federal Social Insurance Office. A further appeal from the decisions of this body can be made to the Federal Council, which constitutes a final Court of Appeal for all disputed points in connection with the classification of undertakings. (2) The National Fund must issue the necessary instructions for the adoption of measures for preventing accidents, and must prepare draft regulations of a general character to be issued by the Federal Council, after consultation with the principal industrial organisations. It must also supervise the application of such instructions and regulations. The penalties provided for contraventions of the Act include increases in the rate of premiums, pronounced by the National Fund ; also penal sanctions, including fines and imprisonment, pronounced by the Cantonal courts, after complaint from the National Fund. (3) Insurance covered by the National Fund includes: Compulsory insurance against industrial accidents; Compulsory insurance against non-industrial accidents; Voluntary insurance; Voluntary insurance of third party risks. The three latter branches will not be referred to in this study, and it will be sufficient to indicate the nature of non-industrial compulsory accident insurance. The beneficiaries are the same as those insured against industrial accidents; but insurance also covers all accidents not arising out of employment unless they are due to dangerous and foolhardy exploits. Premiums are fixed separately from those for industrial accident risks, and 75 per cent. of their amount is borne by the insured themselves, the remaining 25 per cent, by the Confederation. Separate accounts are to be kept for each of these four branches of insurance business. The Administrative Organisation of the National Fund 2 The Fund is organised so as to ensure the necessary centralisation and at the same time to confer a considerable amount of in1 Art. 63 of the Act. * Art. 41-46 of the Act. — 437 — dependence on its local organs. The central organs of the Fund are the governing body with its commissions, and the management, including a general secretariat and 9 sections. The governing body consists of forty members: 12 representatives of compulsorily insured persons; 16 of private employers subject to insurance; 4 representatives of voluntarily insured persons; and 8 Federal representatives. The members of the governing body are appointed for 6 years by the Federal Council on the advice of industrial organisations covering a certain portion of country. The governing body draws up the constitutional regulations of the Fund, makes proposals to the Federal Council respecting the composition and nomination of the management, classifies risks, publishes degrees of risk and premium rates, fixes the basis on which actuarial (mathématiques) reserves must be constituted, and examines and approves the annual reports and accounts. The management is appointed by the Federal Council on the basis of proposals from the Governing Body, though it is not bound to adopt them. The management is responsible for the administration of the Fund and represents it. The nine central services include the legal branch, the staff branch, the accounts branch, a branch for the administration of assets, fixed and liquid, and a medical service; a service for deciding what undertakings are subject to insurance, and notifying them; one for preparing rates, classifying undertakings, and compiling statistics ; an accident prevention service (including inspection of undertakings, regulations, and study of safety appliances) ; and finally a service for supervising the settlement of accident claims through the intermediary of local agencies and the pensions service. The local machinery of the National Fund includes nine district agencies: Lausanne, Chaux-de-Fonds, Berne, Basle, Aarau, Lucerne, Zurich, Winterthour, St. Gall, which are by no means of equal importance. They are managed by a chief of agency, and are divided into five sections: registration and classification of undertakings ; premiums ; accidents ; accounts and cash ; and a medical section. They are also responsible for examining the working conditions prevailing in undertakings, and for preparing proposals for the inclusion or non-inclusion of undertakings in insurance, for issuing preliminary notices regarding classification of undertakings, for levying premiums, and for assessing and paying insurance benefits exclusive of pensions or annuities. It will be seen there- — 438 — fore that, except for assessing benefits other than pensions, all decisions are taken by the central services, the agencies being merely organs of preparation and execution. There are also principal and ordinary agencies, working under the district agencies; of which only the former are organised in the sense of possessing a chief of agency and a specialised staff. Ordinary agencies are merely information organs, in close and permanent touch with the district funds. Agency services for all matters connected with Federal employees in the Federal railways and the post, telegraph and telephone services are entrusted by the National Fund to the Federal administrations concerned. The National Fund was authorised (by Articles 54 and 55 of the Act) to entrust its agency services to the sickness funds, and also to transfer to the latter all business connected with the provision of medical expenses and drugs for persons domiciled within their district, and for the payment of allowances during the first six weeks. Owing, however, to the difficulties of reconciling the different interests of sickness funds and those of the National Fund, the latter has not made any use of the faculty granted by the Act. The National Fund is under the supervision and control of the Federal Government: and its fundamental regulations, and annual reports and accounts must be submitted to the Federal Council for approval. The Fund is exempt from taxation and its communications are posted free of charge. Industrial organisations covering large districts can at their own request" be called on by the National Fund to give their advice as to classification of risks, degrees of risk and rates of premium; regarding the basis adopted in fixing actuarial reserves; regarding accident prevention, the conditions of voluntary insurance, and the voluntary insurance of third party risks. Technical and Financial 1. Classes of Risk and Rates of Management1 Premium. The Fund is managed on a fixed premium system subject to annual revision. In fixing premium rates the various kinds of undertaking are, under the Act, classified according to risk, each class being in turn sub-divided into several degrees according to risk. Every undertaking in a class 2 is graded according to the 1 2 Art. 102-114 of the Act. Insured persons in the same undertaking may be grouped in different degrees of risk. — 439 — preventive measures adopted or any other circumstance likely to influence the degree of risk. Each class and each degree of risk constitutes a financially autonomous group, which implies that premiums payable should correspond to the amount the group costs the Fund. The National Fund has endeavoured to form groups of risk as homogeneous as possible, including, that is, undertakings where accidents occur approximately with the same frequency and therefore involve the same average cost per accident. This could only be done by constituting a great number of classes ; and the premium scale in fact includes nearly 400 of these. In these circumstances, each class can only include a few undertakings, and the statistical information regarding serious accidents is consequently insufficient to estimate the risk of danger in each special case. In order, however, to calculate sufficiently stable premium rates, a certain number of classes presenting certain similarities are grouped together, and premium rates are then calculated by a method which takes into account not only division into classes but also their regrouping in wider categories. The basis adopted is the average cost of "less serious" accidents in all undertakings in a class, together with the average cost of "serious" accidents throughout the group of classes as a whole. Premium rates are calculated per mille of wages paid. The amount of premium is assessed in advance on this basis provisionally for the complete insurance year. Premiums must be paid at the beginning of the insurance year. Should it become probable in course of the year that the final amount chargeable will be noticeably higher than the amount assessed provisionally, the Fund can demand additional contributions. The final amount payable is determined by the Fund at the conclusion of the insurance year, on the basis of the total actual wages of the insured, calculated from the wages lists which employers are obliged to keep. 2. Actuarial Reserves (réserves mathématiques). The Fund must include in its liabilities the present value of the probable liabilities of the Fund in respect of accidents occurring during the current financial year. In other words an actuarial reserve (or pension fund) for the pensions payable must be formed. 3. Reserve Fund. The Reserve Fund is maintained by annual contributions fixed by the Governing Body as a quota of premiums. These payments must be continued until the Reserve Fund has attained at least _ 440 — half the average amount of premiums paid and of the Federal grants received during the preceding five years. Half the cost of administration is repaid by the Federal Authorities to the National Fund ; and a sum of 5 million francs is also granted to constitute a cash reserve; while an equal amount was also granted to the Fund towards the creation of the Reserve Fund. 2. — SIMILAR LEGISLATION Italy (agricultural labour accidents). — Under Italian legislation several insurance institutions deal with this form of insurance. The kingdom is divided into a number of districts, which are in turn sub-divided into sub-districts, and each territorial division is assigned to a specified insurance institution enjoying a monopoly in the district. These may be either institutions already in existence before the adoption of the present Act and specially authorised for the purpose, or a Compulsory Mutual Insurance Fund, or, as is most frequently the case, the National Accident Insurance Fund x. The National Fund is responsible for the general administration of agricultural labour accident insurance, and all the above insurance institutions are subject to the supervision and control of the Minister of Labour, who can order both the headquarters and the local branches of the institutions to be inspected. All agricultural undertakings situated in a district where the monopoly of insurance business has not yet been assigned to an already existing institution or to a compulsory fund 2 are ex officio insured with the National Fund. This body must set up a special department for this form of insurance, with separate branches for each district or sub-district. As already noted representatives of the owners or occupiers of industrial undertakings, and representatives of the agricultural workers, sit on the Superior Council of the National Fund. They are nominated by the employers' and workers' organisations included in an official list drawn up by the authorities. Previously existing institutions must be authorised by the Minister of Labour to cover insurance risks in a given sub-district. The governing body of an authorised institution must consist of at least nine, and not more than twelve members, of whom at least 1 Insurance institutions are sometimes trade associations; but the occupational character of these bodies does not affect the administration and general management of insurance business. 2 The assignment of a sub-district to the National Insurance Fund therefore has only a temporary character. — 441 — a third must consist of persons insured by the institution and nominated by the workers' organisations. Authorisation by the Minister can be withdrawn. Finally, the Minister of Labour may declare the formation of a mutual fund compulsory in a given district ; and this fund possesses a monopoly of insurance business in the district assigned to it from the date of the publication of the Royal Decree constituting it. The management of insurance is conducted on uniform principles, in all the insurance institutions. The financial system is one of fixed premiums for each financial year, with the possibility of covering deficits occurring in one year by raising premiums during the next, and by drawing on a reserve fund. As soon as the financial requirements of the year have been determined, the probable cost is distributed between the persons responsible for defraying the cost of insurance by a Commission including an official of the Land Survey Department, an agricultural expert appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture, two representatives of the insurance institution nominated by that body, and two persons subject to insurance chosen by the Minister of Labour in agreement with the Minister of Agriculture from among owners, métayers, or farmers in the sub-district. Distribution can be effected according to two methods; either proportionately to the area of the land under cultivation and the nature of the crop (rate per area and per class of crop) ; or proportionately to the amount of the land tax levied on agricultural owners (rate per tax). The Minister of Labour shall decide, in agreement with the Minister of Agriculture, which of these two methods of distribution is to be adopted in each sub-district. Contributions after being assessed are levied in the form of additional centimes of the land tax. The central administration of agricultural accident insurance is exercised by the National Fund ; which is responsible for collecting all the reports and balance sheets communicated by insurance institutions and uniting them in a single report. The Fund must, at the request of institutions, pay the sums required for installation expenses and current expenditure, in the form of repayable loans, subject to the conditions and the guarantees approved by the Minister. The Fund is also empowered to invest or receive a» a deposit the reserve funds constituted in the various districts or sub-districts. — 442 — A special committee also exists, the Social Insurance and Provident Council, which participates in the administration of agricultural accident insurance. This Committee includes the DirectorGeneral of Labour and Social Welfare, and four members of the Council nominated by the Minister of Labour. Norway. •— A public institution, the Royal Institution for Social Insurance, administered by public officials under a State guarantee, enjoys a monopoly of insurance. This body insures industrial workers, seamen, and fishermen. The administrative organisation of the Office is regulated by Royal Order; and inspectors, appointed by the communal authorities but acting directly under the orders of the Office, act as its local agents. Accident insurance is automatic (except for fishermen), that is to say that the risk of industrial accident is covered in the case of persons within the scope of the law, even if their employers have neglected to notify their undertakings to the insurance institution. The Office assesses the compensation due for accidents, and is responsible for payment. Classes of risk and premium rates are determined by the Crown, subject to revision every five years by the Storthing. The Office classifies undertakings according to risk ; and employers can appeal to a special Commission composed of seven members, 3 appointed by the Crown and 4 by the Storthing. Undertakings which effectually adopt the safety measures proposed can obtain a decrease of premium. The financial system provides for the constitution of the capital value of annuities payable; while the cost of administration is borne by the State. Fishermen's insurance is maintained by premiums paid in fixed proportions by fishermen, the State, the Fishermen's Fund and the Harbour Fund. A list of persons compulsorily subject to insurance is issued each year by the communal authorities; and communes are responsible for the payment of premiums. Bulgaria. — The National Social Insurance Office enjoys a monopoly of insurance business, is administered directly by the State, and is attached to the Labour Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour. It includes an administrative, a hygiene and an accountancy section. Its local organs consist of labour inspectors, local commissions for estimating loss of working capacity, and arbitration courts; while the communal authorities act as auxiliary organs. — 443 — The financial system consists in distribution of annual compensation payable according to the degree of risk and the amount of wages. Canada. — Funds directly administered by the State are also met with in those Canadian Provinces where insurance is compulsory, but this form of insurance is not, strictly speaking, social insurance, but consists rather of individual insurance rendered compulsory in order to exonerate the employers from liability and to secure the payment of compensation. In the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario a Board of Compensation exists which is responsible for the financial management of insurance, and also possesses judicial functions. The Board, generally speaking, is competent to deal with all questions affecting industrial accidents. It is administered by public officials; and the cost of administration is borne by the Provinces, which in turn determine classes of risk and decide in which categories employers shall be classified. In Ontario there is a standard rate fixed for compensation assessment, and employers who violate safety laws may have to pay a penalty up to 25 per cent, more than the standard rate, while careful and progressive employers may receive a reduction from the rate of up to 30 per cent. Thus, by this "merit system" for employers' assessments, there can be a considerable variation in assessment between an employer who is doing his best and him who allows the worst to happen in his factory. The financial system is one of provisional contributions levied at the beginning of the financial year; and the various regulations provide in theory for these contributions being regarded as fixed premiums. If, however, contributions levied at the beginning of the financial year appear during that year to be insufficient, fresh contributions may be levied. Conversely if the insurance resources available appear sufficient, the Board is competent to reduce contributions, or even to remit them entirely. The Board must maintain actuarial reserves, special reserves for "catastrophe" risks, and also a supplementary reserve fund. Public resources may be used, generally speaking, to provide the Board with working capital, but the general principle is that the financial management of insurance shall be entirely independent of public finances. In British Columbia the Board has formed a special reserve fund called the "medical fund," from which the necessary amounts are — 444 — levied, either to cover the cost of medical benefit, or to reimburse those employers who themselves provide this benefit with the permission of the Board. In New Brunswick the State Fund, managed by the Board, is authorised to re-insure. In Ontario undertakings are classified by law in three categories: those in the first class are subject to insvirance with the Board; in the second class, employers are liable for the payment of compensation under Workmen's Compensation legislation in force, but are not bound to contribute to the Accident Fund administered by the Board; finally, undertakings belonging to neither of these two categories are subject to the employers' liability rules. Russia. — The social insurance system is a unified one, and the same institutions insure against temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity, unemployment, and the cost of medical benefit. The occupational character of industrial accidents giving rise to compensation only affects the system of distributing the cost of insurance. The benefits of insurance are in theory granted to victims or to their dependants without regard to any possibility of recovering the expenditure incurred from the particular industry involved. It would seem, however, in fact that since the application of the New Economic Policy, there is a tendency to make actual benefits proportionate to the real financial resources obtained by contributions levied from the particular industry involved for this purpose. The administrative organisation of insurance includes Local Funds, on the one hand, which are regular insurance institutions, and Government services on the other, whose main functions are to supervise and control the application of relevant Acts and Regulations by the local institutions; but which also and to a certain extent and for certain classes of risk, namely unemployment and permanent invalidity, act as insurers. Insurance is administered centrally by the Central Insurance Office, a public service attached to the Commissariat of Labour and administered by public officials. It draws up instructions for the application of legislation, determines the mode of levying contributions, and may appoint inspectors to supervise the working of the Government offices and the local institutions. A departmental office administered by public officials exists in each Government, whose attributions are similar to those of the Central Insurance Office. It also administers unemployment and permanent invalidity insurance directly, as well as the insurance in favour of dependants in case of death. — 445 — The local institutions are mutual inter-trade associations on a territorial basis, and include all the insured persons resident in the district. Institutions of an occupational character also exist for certain mobile workers (railways, river transport, construction work, etc.). Local institutions in fact only insure against temporary incapacity, so far as industrial accidents are concerned. If the number of insured in any given district is not sufficient to justify establishing an institution, insurance agencies are set up or representatives are appointed. The financial system is that of distribution of annual expenditure among undertakings subject to insurance. There are separate funds for temporary incapacity (Fund A managed by the local institutions), for permanent incapacity and for unemployment (Funds B and C managed by the departmental offices), and for medical benefits (Fund D managed by the departmental public health office). In addition to these, two National Funds also exist, the National Social Insurance Reserve Fund, administered by the Central Office and maintained by a levy on the payments to Funds A, B, and C, and from possible profits from corresponding branches of insurance ; and the National Medical Reserve Fund, maintained by a levy on the resources and profits of Fund D. This Fund is administered by the Commissariat of Public Health. The contributions for which each undertaking is liable are based on the class of risk involved and the wages paid. Insurance premiums are generally paid by the employer in the case of private undertakings; as trading costs by the undertaking in the case of independent nationalised undertakings; as trading costs by the management of a group of undertakings, in the case of a group of independent nationalised undertakings; and by the State itself in the case of nationalised undertakings figuring on the budget, unless the State itself directly insures benefits without having recourse to insurance funds. PART V PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING COMPENSATION AND SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES After discussing the rights and obligations of the two parties as determined by the law, the next point to be considered is the manner in which the various laws ensure that these regulations will be respected and applied. Once the accident has taken place, it becomes necessary to define, firstly, what procedure must be adopted by the injured person to obtain compensation for his injury, whether his claim is settled by amicable agreement or is disputed and leads to litigation, and, secondly, what authorities are empowered in the latter case to settle the dispute. Hence it is that legislation sets up machinery which begins to work as soon as the event takes place which constitutes the occurrence of the risk. In general, one stage of the procedure is always passed through, whatever the manner in which the claim is settled, whether by amicable agreement or by the decision of the competent judicial authorities. If, however, the settlement is effected by amicable agreement between the parties or on the friendly intervention of the competent authorities, matters go no further. But such settlement by agreement is not always possible, and the administrative or judicial authorities are then called on to settle the dispute; the rest of the machinery is set in motion, the litigious stage of the procedure having been reached. The subject at present under consideration will therefore be considered under two heads. The first chapter, dealing with uncontentious procedure, will cover the notification of accidents, enquiries, and medical certificates; the second, dealing with litigation, will cover the nature of proceedings, authorities, awards and appeals. Finally, the conclusions which suggest themselves will be briefly surveyed. CHAPTER I DNCONTENTIOUS PROCEDURE Immediately a worker suffers an accident during the course of his work he may claim compensation for any injury he has sustained. In nearly every case, however, the law requires him to go through certain formalities before the amount of compensation or pension is definitely settled. In the first place, either the employer or the worker or his dependants, or sometimes even another person, must notify the accident to certain persons or to the competent authorities. Secondly, an enquiry is necessary to determine exactly where the responsibility lies. Finally, the production of a medical certificate is indispensable under the law, irrespective of the notice and the minutes of the enquiry. § 1. — Notification of the Accident Notification of the accident is essential, both as a public and police measure, and as the first step in proceedings before the administrative or judicial authorities who, if need be, may be called on to decide. Although the form of the notice may vary (for seamen, for instance an equivalent and more appropriate formality is substituted, that of a record in the ship's log) the majority of laws always insist on notification on pain of various penalties. The subject will be considered under the heads of the object of notification, the cases in which it must take place, the persons making and the authorities receiving the notification, the form to be used and the points covered. OBJECT OF NOTIFICATION Notification is intended to fulfil certain definite ends. Firstly, the official notification of an accident provides, from the legal point of view, the starting point of all proceedings, in particular the commencing date of the various periods fixed by law for making a claim to recover compensation, or with respect to the forfeiture — 449 — of the rights of the injured person. In every country the date of the accident is considered the starting point for the period within which proceedings must be taken, and this starting point cannot be determined unless the accident is notified. Secondly, notification makes it possible to obtain immediate particulars of the accident before too long a period has elapsed. If an enquiry were not undertaken until some weeks after the accident, the persons concerned, both employer and worker, and even the witnesses might produce varying statements. They would no longer remember so clearly. At the time of the accident, on the other hand, there is more likelihood of obtaining agreement. Certain facts are still indisputable, and it is easier to determine the question of responsibility. In the majority of cases the enquiry cannot take place immediately, and in the interval pressure may be brought to bear on the witnesses. This danger is averted by an immediate notification. Any subsequent manœuvres may then easily be counteracted. Speedy and detailed notification is therefore essential to the efficiency of every enquiry. It allows of establishing apparently insignificant details which often prove of capital importance to the investigator. The importance of notification has not been ignored, and in nearly every country the law requires the employer to notify within a very brief period the date, time, and place of the accident, the circumstances in which it took place, the names and addresses of witnesses, and often the names and addresses of the medical practitioners who gave first aid to the victim. Failure to notify is often punished by very severe penalties, high fines or imprisonment up to as much as six months. Thirdly, under certain laws the notice contains a clause by which the worker is secured first aid in a very effective manner. The employer is instructed to obtain the necessary medical assistance for the injured person without delay, and the notice must state whether the worker has been given first aid and what doctors gave it. If the injured person is not given first aid, the authorities may immediately appoint practitioners to treat the case, with a view to preventing complications, promoting recovery, and, if possible, preventing disablement. Thus, in the Argentine Republic, the employer must immediately provide for medical treatment and notify the National Labour Department within forty-eight hours of the names and addresses of the practitioners he designates for the purpose. A somewhat similar system is in force in Ecuador. 29 — 450 — In Spain, the law provides that the medical practitioner selected by the worker may co-operate in attendance with the practitioner nominated by the employer. If the two practitioners disagree, the authorities can call on a practitioner of the municipal relief institution to give his opinion, which may be used, if need be, as evidence before the judge of the court of first instance. In Salvador, the alcalde, on receipt of the notice, which must be given within twenty-four hours, must arrange for the treatment of the injured person by two certificated surgeons or medical practitioners. Thus, in nearly every country notification is a fundamental formality, which serves as a starting point for the periods fixed for procedure and as a basis for the determination of responsibility. Its very precision and completeness, besides serving as a guarantee for the worker, offer a certain means of arriving at definite conclusions with respect to responsibility. C A S E S TO B E NOTIFIED Whereas under certain laws notification is necessary for every accident, under others it is compulsory only for certain specified classes of accidents. In a general way, the term "accident" is interpreted very widely. In view of the obligation to notify within a very short period and of the difficulty often experienced in judging the exact degree of seriousness of the accident, it is a matter of some delicacy to distinguish between accidents from the point of view of their presumed origin. Consequently, most laws specify in which cases the persons concerned are required to notify, their discretionary powers being reduced to a minimum in this respect. Compulsory Notification In many countries all industrial accidents must be notified without distinction. In the Argentine Republic (Sections 17 and 18 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916 for the administration of the Act of 11 October 1915); Bolivia (Sections 1, 11, 12 and 13 of the Act of 17 January 1924); Brazil (Section 18 of the Act of 15 January 1919); Bulgaria (Section 9 of the Act of 6 March 1924); Denmark (Sections 44 and 64 of the Act of 6 July 1916) ; Guatemala (Sections 1 and 12 of the Decree of 21 November 1906); India (Act of 5 March 1923); Netherlands (Section 66 of the Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923; Section 62 of the Act of 1922-24 on the accident insurance of agricultural workers); Roumania — 451" — (Section 158 of the Act of 25 January 1912, amended by Acts of 26 April and 31 May 1913) ; Spain (Section 7 of the Act of 10 January 1922) — in these countries notification is compulsory for all accidents. The Cuban law does not specify which accidents are to be notified, but it would appear from the regulations that notification is compulsory for all accidents (Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916). Conditional Notification Certain laws, on the other hand, while very strict on the principle of notification, do not apply it absolutely. The obligation to notify is subject to certain conditions, such as bodily injury to the victim of the accident, incapacity for work, or a bodily injury which may be expected to lead to the payment of compensation. Thus, in Belgium, notification is compulsory for all accidents likely to lead to incapacity for work (Section 24 of the Act of 24 December 1903). In Chile, notification is compulsory for all accidents resulting in incapacity for work (Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924)1. In Finland, notification is compulsory only for accidents likely to result in the temporary or permanent disablement of the inj ured person (Section 25 of the Order of 18 August 1917). Under French law, all accidents resulting in incapacity for work must be notified. It is the practice of the courts and appeal courts to consider any injury as an industrial accident if it is caused by or during work. The law does not require that the accident itself should be due to a chance or unexpected cause, nor that it should be closely connected with the work assigned to the worker (Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898 amended by the Act of 22 March 1902). In Peru, notification is compulsory for all accidents leading to incapacity for work (Section 36 of the Act of 20 January 1911). Under Swiss Federal law, all accidents must be notified if they lead to, or are likely to lead to, sickness or disablement (Section 69, subsection 1, of the Act of 13 June 1911). According to the regulations in force in Ecuador, any bodily injury suffered during or in consequence of his employment by a worker, day-labourer, or apprentice must be notified if it leads to 1 It should be observed that under the provisions previously in force, notification was compulsory only for accidents involving loss of working capacity for more than four days (Section 13 of the Act of 27 December 1916 and Sections 60 and 61 of the Regulations of 19 June 1917). — 452 — total or partial incapacity for work. The Act defines workers, day-labourers and apprentices as persons ordinarily carrying out • manual labour away from home, whether the work is paid for or not (Section 1 of the Act of 30 September 1921 and Section 6 of the Regulations of 22 April 1922). In Panama, notification is compulsory for all accidents occurring during work or directly caused by the work. The term "accident" is taken to mean any bodily injury suffered by workers or employees in all classes of employment or industry carried on in the territory of the Republic (Sections 1 and 18 of the Act of 16 November 1916). Under the system in force in Salvador, notification is compulsory for all accidents resulting in bodily injury which are met with by the worker during or in consequence of work performed on account of another, the term "worker" being taken to mean any person who is habitually employed in manual work elsewhere than in his home, whether paid for or not, and whether employed by the day or the piece, in virtue of a verbal or written contract (Sections 1 and 3 of the Act of 11 May 1911 and Section 5 of the Regulations of 7 September 1911). In Esthonia and Latvia, notification is compulsory for all accidents met with during or in consequence of the work and resulting in disablement for which a pension or compensation is due (Section 36 of the Russian Act of 23 June-6 July 1912, amended by the Act of 18 June 1917). In Sweden, all accidents must be notified which involve the payment of compensation to the injured person (Section 22 of the Act of 17 June 1916). In certain countries, while the notification rests on the incapacity for work due to the accident, it has been thought necessary to fix a minimum period for such incapacity below which notification is not compulsory. In Austria (Sections 29 and 30 of the Act of 28 December 1887 and 20 July 1894, amended by the Acts of 29 April 1912, 21 August 1917, and 12 April 1924), Czechoslovakia (former Austrian Insurance Acts amended by the Act of 10 April 1919 and Sections 29 and 30 of the Act of 12 August 1921), Germany (Sections 1552-1558 of the Imperial Insurance Act of 19 July 1911), Luxemburg (Section 16 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903), Poland (German Insurance Act and former Austrian Insurance Acts), Uruguay (Section 32 of the Act of 15 November 1920), notification is compulsory for all accidents resulting in total or partial incapacity for work lasting for more than three days. — 453 — In Lithuania, notification is compulsory for all accidents arising during or in consequence of the work and resulting in bodily injury involving incapacity for work lasting for more than three days (Section 1 of the Act of 2 June 1903 on Industrial Accidents to Persons employed in Factories, Mines and Metal Works). Under the Act of 28 June 1912 notification is also compulsory for accidents to railwaymen and transport workers on railways. In Norway, notification is compulsory for all accidents involving incapacity for work lasting for more than three days, provided that the undertaking in which the accident takes place is liable to insurance (Act of 13 August 1915, amended by the Acts of 19 July 1918 and 11 July 1919). For seamen, the notification must be accompanied by a reference to the ship's log and is compulsory for any accident which may involve the payment of compensation (Acts of 18 August 1911 and 16 February 1923). In Great Britain, according to the two Acts of 21 December 1906 (the Workmen's Compensation Act and the Act on Notice of Accidents in mines, quarries, factories, and workshops) as amended by the Act of 16 November 1923, notification is compulsory for all accidents in mines, quarries, factories, and workshops, if the injury disables the worker for more than three days from earning full wages (Section 10 of the Act of 16 November 1923 and Sections 1 and 4 of the Notice of Accidents Act of 21 December 1906 amended by the Act of 16 November 1923). These provisions apply also to masters, seamen and apprentices in the sea service and apprentices in the sea fishing service*, except if the accident happened or the incapacity commenced on board ship, in which case no notification is necessary (Section 7 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906). Notification is also compulsory for accidents to other persons employed on board vessels in the sea service or the sea fishing service, provided t h a t their annual earnings do not exceed £350 (Section 9 of the Act of 16 November 1923 amending Section 13 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906). Under the legislation recently introduced in the Serb-CroatSlovene Kingdom, all accidents must be notified which take 1 In sea fishing no notification is necessary for accidents to members o* the crew of a fishing vessel who are remunerated wholly or mainly by shares in the profits or gross earnings of the working of the vessel, except in such cases as the Secretary of State may provide by Order subject to the conditions defined in the Act. — 454 — place in the undertaking and result in the loss of more than three days' wages (Section 99 of the Act of 14 May 1922). In Italy, notification is compulsory only for industrial accidents which result in incapacity for work lasting for more than five days (Section 36 of the Act of 31 January 1904, amended by the Acts of 17 November 1918 and 20 March 1921, and Section 71 of the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917 on accidents in agriculture). In Greece, notification is necessary if the accident results in incapacity for work lasting for more than a week (Section 10 of the Act of 31 December 1914 amended by the Legislative Decrees of 24 July 1920 and 20 January 1923). In Japan, there is a special system under which the heads of undertakings must make a monthly statement of accidents in their undertakings (Order of 3 August 1916 issued in pursuance of the Act of 20 March 1911). Under Section 33 of this Order, the head of any mining undertaking must notify any accident to a person employed by him for which he has had to pay compensation. In conclusion, the legislation in force in certain countries makes no provision for notification. This is the case in China (Decree of 29 March 1923) and Portugal (Decrees, Nos, 5637 and 5640, 10 May 1919). THE PERSONS REQUIRED TO NOTIFY From this point of view the laws in force may be classified in four groups: (1) In most countries the head of the undertaking is responsible for notification. (2) In certain other countries, but not so many, the worker has . to make the notification. (3) Under some laws, both these systems are in use, and they may be either compulsory or optional. (4) In one country, notification is entrusted to a third party, the medical practitioner who gives first aid. Notification by the Head of the Undertaking or his Representative In Queensland (Commonwealth of Australia), the employer mus* immediately notify all accidents which occur in his undertaking. Any breach of this regulation is punishable by a fine of up to £30 (Workers' Compensation Act 1916 and 1921). In Austria, under Sections 29 and 30 of the Act of 28 December 1887, the head of the undertaking or his representative must notify all accidents within eight days. If the notice is delayed the — 455 — employer is liable to a fine of not more than 200 shillings, which may be converted into imprisonment of not more than 20 days if the fine is not paid. If the employer makes a false statement, he is liable to a fine of 10 to 1,000 shillings, and in default of payment to imprisonment of one day to three months. The head of the undertaking is civilly responsible for his representative, who is liable under the law to the same penalties (Section 52). In Belgium, the head of the undertaking is responsible for notifying accidents. He is allowed three days to carry out this formality. The heads of undertakings, or their representatives, who are guilty of contravening the law are liable to a fine of 20 to 25 francs. The factory inspectors are empowered to investigate and establish contraventions (Section 25 of the Act of 24 December 1903). The injured person or his dependants are also entitled to notify the accident (Section 24). Further, in mines, surface mines, quarries and metal works, subject to the Act of 21 April 1810, all fatal accidents must immediately be reported to the competent official, as also all accidents likely to lead to the death or total or partial permanent disablement of the injured person. In Brazil, the employer must immediately notify all accidents. The injured person, and even third parties are also entitled to notify (Section 19 of the Act of 15 January 1919 and Section 41 of the Regulations of 12 March 1919). If the injured person is insured in a duly recognised insurance company, or in a trade union organised in accordance with the Decree of 15 January 1907, the employer must report the accident to the company or union within 24 hours (Section 31 of the Regulations of 12 March 1919). In Bulgaria, the employer or his representative must draw up a report of an accident in the undertaking within not more than three days. If he fails to do so, the injured person or his dependants may take similar action within six months (Section 9 of the Act of 6 March 1924). The factory inspectors, or other officials designated by the Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Labour, may draw up reports of contraventions of the Act. The reports when duly signed are sent to the Minister, who may impose fines of 5,000 to 10,000 leva (Section 49). In certain Canadian Provinces the employer must notify the accident. Thus, in British Columbia and Manitoba, the head of the undertaking is responsible for notification provided that he ha8 previously been informed of the accident by the injured person or his dependants. Omission on the part of the employer constitutes an offence and renders him liable to prosecution. — 456 — In Nova Scotia, the head of the undertaking must notify the accident within three days. In Saskatchewan, the employer must notify the accident within ten days, failing which he is liable to a fine, increased in amount for every additional day's delay. In Chile, the employer or his representative must notify accidents within 48 hours; otherwise he is liable to a fine of 50 to 200 pesos (Section 32, subsections 1 and 3 of the Act of 8 September 1924). The injured person is also entitled to notify the accident. In Cuban law, the head of the undertaking or his representative is allowed 24 hours to notify the accident; if he fails to do so, he is liable to a fine of 100 pesos (Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916 and Section 28 of the Regulations of 26 October 1917). For accidents on the high seas, the 24-hour period is reckoned from the time the vessel arrives at one of the ports of the Republic, or a foreign port where there is a consular or diplomatic representative of Cuba. In Czechoslovakia, the Austrian Act of 28 December 1887 still applies x. In Denmark, the employer must notify the accident. He is allowed eight days to carry out this formality except when the accident is fatal, in which case it must be notified within 48 hours (Section 44 of the Act of 6 July 1916, amended by the Act of 28 June 1920), and the employer or his representative who fails to notify an accident within the prescribed period is liable to a fine of 15 to 200 kroner (Section 45). If the accident takes place on board ship, the periods prescribed in the Act are reckoned from the date on which the ship touches at a port (Section 61 of the Act of 6 July 1916). If the injured person has insured himself, he is also entitled to notify the accident. The regulations in force in Ecuador require the employer to notify the competent authorities of the circumstances of the accident within 24 hours (Section 6 of the Regulations of 22 April 1922 for the administration of the Act of 30 September 1921). In Esthonia and Latvia, the head of the undertaking or his representative must immediately notify accidents occurring in the undertaking. The law prescribes, however, that if the state of the injured person allows, he must immediately inform the head of the undertaking (Section 36 of the Russian Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). If the head of the undertaking fails to notify, he may be prosecuted under Section 1404 of the Penal Code (Section 37). 1 Notification by the head of the undertaking within eight days. — 457 — Under the system introduced in Finland by the Order of 18 August 1917, the employer must immediately notify all accidents to the competent authorities. He must also record them in a special register immediately on learning of them. For accidents at sea, an account of the accident in the ship's log takes the place of notification. The employer who fails to notify in accordance with the above provisions is liable to a fine of up to 200 Finnish marks (Section 37 of the Order). In France, the head of the undertaking must notify the accident within 48 hours, but this period does not include Sundays and holidays (Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898). If he fails to comply with this provision, he may be fined from 1 to 15 francs, and for a second offence in the same year the fine will be from 16 to 300 francs. These contraventions of the law, however, are covered by Section 463 of the Penal Code 1 (Section 14). The injured person and his dependants are also entitled to notify the accident within one year of its date (Section 11). In Germany, according to Section 1552 of the Insurance Act of 19 July 1911, the head or manager of the undertaking must notify the accident within three days of being informed of it. Failing this, he is liable to a fine of up to 3,000 marks which may be imposed by the governing body of the insurance association. He may appeal against the decision of the association to the Insurance Office, whose decision is final (Section 1556). For seamen in particular, any accident met with on board during the voyage and resulting in more than three days' incapacity for work must be recorded in the ship's log and briefly described. Where no log is kept, the captain must draw up a special account of the accident (Sections 1746 and 1747). Accidents occurring before or after the journey must be reported by the captain to the competent authorities within three days of learning of them. (Sections 1748 and 1749). Accidents occurring in the coasting trade or in sea or coast fishery must also be notified, but no special account of accidents on board ship is required (Section 1750). In Guatemala, the head of the undertaking must notify the accident (Section 12 of the Decree of 21 November 1906). No special period is fixed by the Act, nor does it impose penalties to secure the observance of its provisions in this respect. Under the Italian system, the head of the undertaking must notify all industrial accidents within three days. If some time elapses before he learns of the accident, the three days are reckoned 1 This section makes allowance for extenuating circumstances. — 458 — only from the date on which it is reported to him. A fine of 50 to 100 lire is imposed for failure to comply with these regulations (Section 36 of the Act of 31 January 1904 amended by the Acts of 17 November 1918 and 20 March 1921). The worker, for his part, is bound to inform the head of the undertaking of every accident which may happen to him. If the worker neglects to do so, compensation for temporary incapacity is not payable for the days which elapse between the accident and the time when the head of the undertaking had knowledge of it. In shipping and fishing1 undertakings, the captain or owner of the ship must notify the accident within three days of touching at an Italian port, or a foreign port where there is an Italian consular agent. Particulars of the accident must be recorded in the ship's log. The conditions under which agricultural accidents are notified will be dealt with below. In Japan, there is no system properly so-called of notifying industrial accidents, but under the Order of 3 August 1916 (Section 24) 2, the head of any factory employing more than 50 workers must report once a month before the 20th of the following month all cases of sickness, injury, and death among his workers. Any head of such an undertaking who fails to comply with the regulations in force or makes a false statement is liable to a fine of not more than 50 yen (Section 26). It should be added that if a worker is injured, falls ill or dies during his employment in the factory or its dependencies, the head of the undertaking must immediately send for a medical practitioner, who if need be must make a post mortem examination (Section 14). By the Decree of 3 August 1916 concerning the administration of the Mines Act, the head of a mining undertaking who has paid compensation to any of his workers for sickness, accident or death, must notify the competent authorities (Section 33). The Decree fixes no period for the notification. If a miner meets with an accident, or contracts a serious illness, or dies during the course of his work, the head of the undertaking must immediately send for a medical practitioner, who must examine the injured man or certify the death (Section 34). In Lithuania, notification of the accident is also compulsory for. the head or manager of the undertaking, who must immediately inform the nearest police authorities and the competent factory or mines inspector (Section 20 of the Russian Act of 2 June 1903). Failure to comply with this provision is punished by a fine of 25 1 2 Excluding coast fishery. The Act of 29 March 1923 has not amended the provisions of this Decree. — 459 — to 100 roubles imposed by the chief factory or mines inspection authorities (Section 30). In Luxemburg, under Section 16 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903, the head of an undertaking liable to compulsory insurance must notify accidents in his undertaking within three days. In the event of omission or delay he is liable to a fine of 1 to 300 francs (Section 30 of the Grand Ducal Decree and Section 3 of the Ministerial Decree of 23 January 1903). In the Netherlands, the law requires the employer, or his representative at the place of the accident, to notify accidents in the undertaking 24 hours after medical treatment has been given, and in any case within 48 hours after the consequences of the accident have rendered medical treatment necessary (Section 66 of the Accident Insurance Act 1901-1921-1923). Any person who wilfully fails to notify an accident, or endeavours to prevent an accident met with by a worker from coming to the knowledge of the management or the insurance institution, is liable to imprisonment (Section 103). The penalty for agricultural undertakings is different. Here the trade association is empowered to expel employers who fail to carry out their obligations to notify accidents. In Norway, the accident must be notified as soon as possible and not later than three days after it occurs. For accidents at sea which are likely to involve the payment of compensation, the captain must record the particulars in the ship's log and fill in a form, drawn up for the purpose by the national insurance institution, to be sent to the competent authorities. If the accident is fatal, a certified extract from the ship's log must be attached to the special form (Section 17 of the Act of 18 August 1911). Contraventions of these provisions are punished by a fine, which may be increased in the event of a second offence or of failure to carry out on instruction the obligations prescribed in Section 17 (Section 38). In Panama, according to Section 18 of the Act of 16 November 1916, the employer must notify the accident within 24 hours to the police or legal authorities. The penalty for any failure on Ms part is a fine of not less than 25 balboas and not more than 50 balboas. In Peru, the head of the undertaking must notify the accident Mithin three days (Section 36 of the Act of 20 January 1911). Accidents to seamen must be notified by the captain. If they take place during the voyage, the period is reckoned from the date the vessel arrives at a national port (Section 37). Failure to notify is punished by a fine of £1 to £5, imposed by the competent authori- — 460 — ties (Section 82). The injured person and his dependants are also entitled to notify the accident within one year of its date (Section 37). In Poland, the notification of accidents in former Austrian and Russian territory is subject to the provisions of the Austrian Act 1 and in former German territory to German law 2. In Roumania, the employer must immediately notify the accident (Section 158 of the Act of 25 January 1912 amended by the Acts of 26 April and 31 May 1913). If he fails to comply with this provision, he is liable to a fine of 100 to 3000 lei, imposed by the administrative council of the Central Office for Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance. If the offence is repeated within two years, the fine may be raised to 5,000 lei. The fines are paid into the employers' association which is responsible for paying compensation. False statements are punished by a fine of up to 500 lei (Section 159). In Salvador, the Regulations of 7 September 1911 for the adminis^ tration of the Act of 11 May 1911 require employers to notify industrial accidents within 24 hours. If the employer is prevented from notifying within this period, be must send the competent authorities a written statement signed by the worker or his dependants. The legislation in force in the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom requires the employer or his representative to notify accidents within 24 hours of learning of them (Section 99 of the Act of 14 May 1922). For accidents at sea, a description must be entered either in the ship's log or in a special register. A copy of the entry serves as notice of the accident. These provisions do not apply to vessels with a gross tonnage of not more than 50 tons which cannot be propelled by mechanical power, nor to vessels used in fishery. The captains of such vessels must notify accidents on reaching port (Section 99). Special procedure is prescribed for accidents occurring during the journey (Section 101). Failure to comply with the regulations concerning the notification of accidents is punished by a fine of 100 to 2,000 dinars which may be increased to 5,000 dinars for a second offence (Section 197). In Spain, the employer must make a report on the accident within 24 hours (Section 14 of the Regulations of 29 December 1922 for the administration of the Act of 10 January 1922). For accidents at sea, the period is reckoned from the date on which the vessel touches at a Spanish port, or a foreign port in which there is a representative of Spain. If the vessel is fitted with wireless apparatus 1 a Notification by the head of the undertaki ng within eight days. Notification by the head of the undertaking within three days. — 461 _ the captain must immediately notify the first port at which he is to touch if there is a representative of Spain in such port (Section 17 of the Regulations). The employer who fails to notify an accident in compliance with Section 7 of the Act and Sections 14 and 17 of the Regulations, or exceeds the periods fixed, is liable to a fine of 25 to 100 pesetas (Section 78 of the Regulations). Nevertheless, if the accident is slight, the employer cannot be fined unless it is established that the worker or his dependants informed him of the accident. No excuse is allowed if the accident is serious. In Sweden, the employer must immediately notify the accident (Sections 6 and 7 of the Act of 17 June 1916). For accidents on board ship, the notification must take place before the vessel leaves port. If the employer or his representative fails to notify an accident, he may be fined. If he makes a false statement, he is liable to a fine of not less than 25 kronor and not more than 1,000 kronor or to imprisonment. The fines are paid into the insurance fund. Failure to pay a fine renders him liable to penalty under the provisions of the Penal Code (Section 34). In Uruguay, Section 32 of the Act of 15 November 1920 required the employer to notify industrial accidents within 5 days, including Sundays and holidays. Any employer who fails to comply with this provision is liable to a fine of 25 to 100 pesos, which may be increased to 600 pesos for a second offence (Section 54). The injured person and his dependants are also entitled to notify the accident within 15 days (Section 33). Notification by the Injured Person or his Dependants In most of the British Dominions, the system preferred is that of making the injured person or his dependants responsible for notifying the accident. In Great Britain, this system was introduced by the Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906 for all undertakings other than mines, quarries, factories and workshops, which are subject to special provisionsx. According to Section 2 of the Act, the injured person must give notice of the accident to his employer, who is considered the competent authority to receive such notice. The employer must make an annual report to the Secretary of State, in the manner determined by the law, of all accidents for which he has paid compensation. The penalty for failure to comply with this provision is a fine not exceeding £5 (Section 12). 1 See below p. 463. — 462 — Section 10 of the Act of 16 November 1923 (subsection 3) merely specifies the conditions under which, and the persons to whom, notice is to be given. The provisions contained in sections 1 and 12 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 are left standing. British law does not fix a definite period for notification, but notice must be given as soon as practicable after the accident and before the worker has voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured (Section 2 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906). Accidents to seamen (other than the civil staff, to whom the above provisions apply) must be notified by the injured person. If the accident occurs or the incapacity commences on board, no notification is necessary (Section 7). In this connection it may be mentioned that on every vessel a summary of the requirements of the law with respect to the notification of accidents, drawn up in the form fixed by the Secretary of State, must be posted up in some conspicuous place. The summary must be renewed in the event of its becoming effaced, obliterated, or destroyed. Failure to comply with these provisions is punished by a fine of not more than £5 (Section 10 of the Act of 16 November 1923). In addition to the penalty to which the head of the undertaking is liable if he fails to make a return to the Secretary of State under the prescribed conditions, British law provides also for a penalty for workers who fail to notify. An injured person who has not notified the head of the undertaking of the accident is barred from taking proceedings for the recovery of compensation, provided, of course, that the employer is shown to have been prejudiced by the failure to notify. Even in this case, proceedings are maintainable if it is shown that the failure to notify is due to a mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, other reasonable cause, or force majeure. Section 10 of the Act of 16 November 1923 further lays down that the absence of notification is not a bar to the maintenance of proceedings if the employer is proved to have had knowledge of the accident from any other source at or about the time of the accident. The main features of this system have been adopted in most of the British Dominions, namely five States of the Australian Commonwealth: New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania 1 (Workmen's Compensation Act 1918), Victoria, Western Australia1 (Workmen's Compensation Act 1912); Newfoundland1; New Zealand (Workmen's Compensation Act 1922) ; and the Union of South Africa 1. 1 In Tasmania, Western Australia, Newfoundland and the Union of South Africa, notice must be given in writing. — 463 — In Canada, in the Province of Alberta, the injured person or his dependants must notify the employer on the day of the accident if possible, but in any case before he has voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured. In the Province of Ontario, the injured person or his dependants also give the notice, but in this case, to two separate authorities. In India, the Act of 5 March 1923 requires the worker to notify the accident as soon as practicable after it takes place, and before he has voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured. If he fails to give such notice, he cannot take proceedings to recover compensation. A claim may be instituted, however, if the Insurance Commissioner considers that the delay in notifying the accident is due to a reasonable cause. By notification in the Gazette of India, the Governor-General in Council may direct that any person employing workers, or any specified class of employers, shall furnish the specified authority, within the period fixed and in the form specified, with a return of the number of accidents for which compensation has been paid by the employer during the previous year and of the amount of such compensation, together with any other information that may be required. Notification by the Head of the Undertaking and the Injured Person Some countries have aimed at establishing special guarantees for notification, and in order that the procedure may be effective they require both employer and worker to notify accidents. Thus, in Great Britain, a double declaration is necessary for accidents occurring in mines, quarries 1 , factories and workshops 2. In such undertakings, the employer must give immediate notice of the accident, in writing, on pain of a fine of not more than £10 (Sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Notice of Accidents Act of 21 December 1906, amended by Section 28, subsections 1, 2, and 3, of the Act of 16 November 1923). Nevertheless, Section 2 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 remains in force, and the injured person or his representative must notify the accident, as soon as practicable after it happens and in any case before he voluntarily leaves the employment in which he is injured, to the head of the undertaking, any foreman or other official under whose supervision he is employed, 1 Accidents on railways or sidings used exclusively by mines and quarries must be notified in the same manner as accidents in such undertakings (Section 3 of the Notice of Accidents Act of 21 December 1906). 2 The term factories and workshops cover all undertakings subject to thevarious Factory and Workshop Acts from 1901 to 1920. — 464 — or any person designated for the purpose by the employer (amending provisions of the Act of 1923). In order to facilitate the notification of accidents by the worker, a register must be kept in which all the particulars required by law must be entered. The register must be readily accessible at all times to any injured worker, or any person acting on his behalf. An entry in the register is considered sufficient notice to the employer (Section 10, subsection 4, of the Act of 1923). With a view to securing the observance of the above provisions, a summary of the requirements of the law must be kept constantly posted up in some conspicuous place, and must be replaced at once if effaced or destroyed. Any contravention of this provision is punished by a fine of not more than £5 imposed by the competent factory or mines inspector (Section 10, subsections 1 and 2, of the Act of 1923). The worker's obligation to notify is also enforced by penalties. Failure on the part of the worker to notify the accident may constitute a bar to proceedings for the recovery of compensation, unless such failure is due to a mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, or any other reasonable cause (Section 21 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906) or: (a) the employer is proved to have had knowledge of the accident from some other source; (b) the summary has not been posted up in accordance with the provisions laid down; (c) the accident has been notified by the employer or in his name to a factory inspector; (d) the accident has been entered in the special register kept for the purpose; (e) the injury has been treated in an ambulance room in the undertaking (section 10, subsection 2 of the Act of 1923). Under Section 12 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906, the Secretary of State may direct that employers whose undertakings are covered by his directions shall make a return of the number and nature of accidents which occurred during the previous year. Employers who fail to make this return are liable to a fine of not more than £5. The system introduced in New Brunswick under the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1918, although differing in slight details, is very similar. Both the head of the undertaking and the worker must notify the accident. The former is allowed three days within which to notify; the worker or his dependants, 14 days. — 465 — In the Argentine Republic, notification must be made by (a) the employer who must notify all accidents in his undertaking within 24 hours of the time of the accident, or of his learning thereof. If he is not present at the time of the accident, he is presumed to have learned of it within the following 24 hours. If he fails to notify, he is liable to a fine of 50 to 100 pesos (Section 18 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916 for the administration of Section 25 of the Act of 11 October 1915). (b) the worker or his dependants who must inform the competent authorities of the accident within 30 days. Any failure to do so, not due to force majeure or other duly proved cause, may lead to a reduction of 25 per cent, in the compensation paid (Section 17 of the Regulations, Section 25 of the Act). In Bolivia, Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924 similarly provides for double notification. Firstly, the injured person or his dependants must notify the accident to the nearest competent authorities within 48 hours, unless prevented by force majeure or some other duly proved reason. Secondly, the head of the undertaking must also carry out this formality, but in his case the 48-hour period is reckoned from the time he is informed of the accident. The employer is liable to a fine of 100 bolivianos for failure to notify. In Greece, under Section 27 of the Mines Act of 21 February 1901 1 a worker employed in any of the undertakings covered by the Act must notify within three days any accident he meets with. The head of the undertaking must notify the accident within ten days. If he fails to do so, the magistrate informs him of the notification received from the injured person within eight days of such receipt. For other undertakings (including shipping), Section 10 of the Act of 31 December 1914, amended by the Legislative Decrees of 24 July 1920 and 20 January 1923, contains similar provisions. In this case, however, the period allowed the employer is extended to fifteen days, and failure to notify is punishable by a fine of 50 to 200 drachmas. In the Swiss cantons, the Federal law applies (Act of 13 June 1911 amended by the Acts of 18 June 1915 and 9 October 1920). Here the procedure for notification has certain special features. As soon as an accident takes place the injured person or his dependants must immediately notify the employer or his representative, who must issue a certificate stating the date of notice. If the employer 1 Amended by the Acts of 7 January 1912,11 March 1920, and 15 December 1923. Î0 — 466 — refuses to issue this certificate, the injured person or his dependant» are entitled to notify the local authorities of the accident (Section 69, subsection 1, of the Act of 1911). If the notification is delayed without good cause, the injured person or his dependants may forfeit all or part of the cash compensation payable in respect of the period before the date of notification, and if such delay on the part of an insured person prevents the National Insurance Fund from learning of the accident or death witEin three months, it may refuse to pay any compensation (Section 70). Further, under Section 69, subsection 3, as soon as an employer learns of an accident to one of his insured workers he must immediately notify the National Fund. If he delays to do so without good cause he is liable to repay to the Fund any compensation it has already paid (Section 70). In each case the National Fund is competent to decide whether there is good cause for the delay or not. The decision of the Fund is notified to those concerned, who are allowed six months to appeal against it. Notification by a Third Party In one country the duty of notifying industrial accidents i» entrusted to third parties. This is Italy, in the special case of accidents in agricultural undertakings. Here the law requires the medical officer of health or practitioner who gave first aid to the injured person to notify the accident (Section 71 of the Regulations of 21 November 1918 for the administration of Section 27 b of the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917, amended by the Act of 20 March 1921). A medical officer of health or practitioner may not refuse to comply with the request to give first aid to the victim». of accidents, nor to issue the certificates asked for (Section 83 of th& Regulations). The management of any hospital to which the injured person is transported is under the same obligations (Section 84). Any medical officer of health or practitioner who fails to notify an accident in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations. is liable to a fine of 25 to 100 lire (Section 87). THE AUTHORITIES TO BE NOTIFIED The authorities to whom accidents must be notified vary in the different laws in force. Six systems may be distinguished, namely, notification to: (1) the police or administrative authorities; (2) the judicial authorities; (3) the factory inspectorate or a department of the Ministry of Labour; (4) the insurance institution; (5) specified individuals; (6) two separate authorities. — 467 — Notification to the Police or Administrative Authorities In certain countries, the law requires the notification to be made to the local police authorities or administrative authorities; mayors, prefects or local governors. Thus, in Austria, the notification must be made to the administrative authorities of the first instance (prefectural authorities), who immediately transmit a copy of the notice to the insurance institution (Sections 29 and 30 of the Act of 28 December 1887). In Brazil, Section 19 of the Act of 15 January 1919 requires the employer to notify the local police authorities. In Ecuador, the employer may give notice to the superintendent of police or the administrative authorities, but only if there is no factory inspector at the place where the accident occurred (Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921 and Section 6 of the Regulations of 22 April 1922). According to the system in force in Finland, the local police authorities are competent to receive the notification (Section 3 of the Order of 18 August 1917). If the accident occurs on board ship, the notice must be sent to the competent authorities of the Finnish port at which the accidents occurs, or of the first Finnish port at which the ship casts anchor after the accident. An account of the circumstances of the accident must be given to the competent authorities in the form of an extract from the ship's log. If the ship does not touch at a Finnish port within thirty days of the accident, an account of the accident drawn up under the prescribed conditions and addressed to the first port at which the vessel touches is sent to the insurance fund and takes the place of a notice (Section 4). In France, Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898 requires the head of the undertaking to inform the mayor of the commune, who must draw up a report and immediately acknowledge the receipt of the notice. In Japan, the local governor is competent to receive the monthly returns of accidents in industrial undertakings (Section 24 of the Legislative Decree of 3 August 1916). For accidents in mining undertakings the competent authority is the Director of the Office of Mines. In Panama, the police authorities are competent to receive the notices of accidents, but it should be observed that the employer is entitled, should he so prefer, to notify the judicial authorities (Section 18 of the Act of 16 November 1916). — 468 — In Peru, the administrative authorities (prefectural authorities) are designated by Section 36 of the Act of 20 January 1911 to receive notices of industrial accidents, and they must acknowledge the receipt of the notice. If the head of the undertaking is insured, he must also furnish the insurance company with a report on the accident and the attendant circumstances, at the earliest possible date (Section 30 of the Decree of 4 July 1913). For accidents to seamen, the notice must be given to the chief of the port, or if the accident occurs during a voyage, to the chief of the first national port at which the vessel touches. In Roumania, according to sections 158 and 162 of the Act of 25 January 1912, the head of the undertaking must notify industrial accidents to the communal, departmental or police authorities in the manner prescribed by the Central Office for Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance. The Central Office itself is informed of notices of accidents by the administrative or police authorities. In Salvador, notice must be given to the prefect. If there is no mayor in the locality, notice may be given to the magistrate or, failing him, to the nearest administrative authorities (Section 5 of the Regulations of 7 September 1911). In Spain, the prefectural authorities are competent under the provisions of Section 14 of the Regulations of 29 December 1922. If the accident takes place at sea the notice must be handed in at the first Spanish port at which the vessel touches, or at the first foreign port where there is a diplomatic or consular representative of Spain. Notification to the Judicial Authorities Certain laws entrust the duty of receiving notices of industrial accidents to the judicial authorities, as a rule the magistrate. This provision may be explained by the fact that in most cases these are the authorities competent to open an enquiry into the accident. In the Argentine Republic, the magistrate is normally competent to receive notices of accidents x (Section 19 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916 for the administration of the Act of 11 October 1915). Notification may also be made to the local police authorities. In Queensland (Commonwealth of Australia,) the report on the 1 In the federal capital this competence devolves on the local police commissioner, but if the persons concerned so prefer, they may notify the National Labour Department. — 469 — accidents must be addressed to the petty sessions clerk (Workers' Compensation Act 1916-1921). In Belgium, the magistrate or the arbitration committee is competent to receive notices (Sections 24 and 25 of the Act of 24 December 1903). In Bolivia, Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924 lays down that the notice must be given either to the judicial authorities or to the nearest police authorities. In Chile, notice must be given to the magistrate (Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924). In Cuban law, the notice must be given to the district magistrate (Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916). For accidents at sea, the consular or diplomatic representative of Cuba must be notified. In Greece, if the head of the undertaking is responsible for notifying, he must do so before the magistrate, orally and accompanied by two eye-witnesses (Section 12 of the Act of 31 December 1914). In Uruguay, under Section 32 of the Act of 15 November 1920, industrial accidents must be notified to the magistrate of the district in which the accident takes place. Notification to the Factory Inspectorate or the Ministry of Labour Since in most cases accidents involve action either by the factory inspectorate or the competent department of the Ministry of Labour, these authorities have been given the necessary competence to be informed of the notice of the accident. Thus, in Bulgaria, the notice, signed by two witnesses, must be sent to the factory inspectorate, together with the identity card issued to the insured person by the management of the Social Insurance Fund (Section 9 of the Act of 6 March 1924). In Saskatchewan (Dominion of Canada), the employer must give notice in the form of a report to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labour and Industries. In Ecuador, under Section 6 of the Regulations of 22 April 1922, notice must be given to the factory inspector, or if there is no factory inspector in the district, either to the commissioner of police or to the prefect. In Guatemala, notice must be sent by the employer to the Ministry for Industry through the medium of the local administrative authorities (Section 12 of the Decree of 21 November 1906). In Norway, the factory inspector is competent to receive notices of accidents (Act of 13 August 1905). He transmits them without delay to the regional factory inspectorate. For accidents at sea, the — 470 — notice takes the form of an extract from the ship's log addressed to the inspector of the insurance institution in the first Norwegian port at which the vessel touches, or if the vessel is in foreign waters, to the consular authorities of the first port at which it is to touch. Notification to the Insurance Institution In countries where insurance is compulsory and in the hands of institutions which enjoy a legal monopoly of such insurance, it is obvious that such institutions are given the necessary authority to receive the notification. This system is in force in certain Canadian provinces, namely, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where notification takes the form of a report to the Workmen's Compensation Board. In Czechoslovakia, the workers' insurance institution must be notified (Section 29 of the Act of 28 December 1887 amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921). In Denmark, notice is given to the Workers' Insurance Council (Section 44 of the Act of 6 July 1916 amended by the Act of 28 June 1920). For accidents at sea, the notice must be sent to the Danish consulate in the first port at which the vessel touches. In Luxemburg, under Section 16 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903, notice must be given to the Accident Insurance Association set up under Section 26 of the Act of 5 April 1902. The Ministerial Decree of 23 January 1903, which deals more particularly with the notification of and enquiry into industrial accidents, lays down that the accident must also be notified to the nearest gendarmerie station and the factory inspector1, and (a) in , mines, surface mines and quarries, to the district mines inspector, (¿>) in public works, to the manager of public works, (c) in transport undertakings, to the Railway Supervisory Commission, (d) in State industrial undertakings, to the higher officials of such undertakings. In the Netherlands, the notice is despatched through the medium of the post office to the Insurance Bank, the post office acknowledging receipt of the notice (Section 66 of the Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom the employer must notify the accident on the form prescribed by the workers' insurance fund for transport undertakings. This form is then sent to the local workers' insurance institution or the transport insurance 1 These provisions apply also to accidents in agricultural undertakings (Act and Ministerial Decree of 20 December 1909). — 471 — fund, as the case may be (Sections 99 and 100 of the Act of 14 May 1922). Accidents to seamen must be recorded either in the ship's log or in a special accidents' register. A certified copy must be submitted to the authorities or the Serbo-Croat-Slovene consulate in the nearest port, for transmission to the local workers' insurance institution, or the workers' insurance fund in the case of transport undertakings. In Sweden, too, the insurance institution receives notices of accidents (Section 21 of the Act of 17 June 1916). The local police authorities must also be notified of accidents, and they, in turn, must inform the factory or mines inspector who transmits the notice to the Social Board. Under Swiss Federal law, the injured person must notify the employer, who furnishes him with a certificate showing the date of notification. If the employer refuses to supply this certificate, the injured person or his dependants may notify the accident to the local authorities who, in turn, notify the National Insurance Fund (Section 59, subsection 2, of the Act of 13 June 1911). The employer must himself notify the National Insurance Fund (Section 59, subsection 3). It should be remarked that in Austria, although the notice is sent to the administrative authorities (Section 29 of the Act of 28 December 1887) the insurance institution is definitely informed through the intervention of these authorities. Notification to Individuals Under certain laws the employer, in view of his heavy responsibilities towards his workers, has official duties with respect to the notification of accidents. All notices must be addressed to him, whether they are given in writing by registered letter, or verbally, or are recorded in a special register kept by him for the purpose in the undertaking. In one country the law presents special features, for it has been considered preferable to empower the communal medical officer of health to receive the notice of the accident, probably on account of his general education and special knowledge. The system of notification to the employer has been adopted in most of the British Dominions which, in this respect, have copied the legislation in force in Great Britain (subject, however, to the amendments introduced by the Act of 16 November 1923 amending the "Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906). The notice given to the employer may be either verbal or written. An entry — 472 — in the special register prescribed by Section 10 of the Act pf 1923 for undertakings classified as mines, quarries, factories or workshops serves as notice to the employer. For accidents to seamen, the captain or master is considered the employer for purposes of notification, except in the cases specified above *. This system, in its main features, is in force in most of the States of the Commonwealth of Australia; New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia; also in the Province of Alberta (Dominion of Canada), Newfoundland, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. A similar system is in force in India. Under the Act of 5 March 1923, notice is given to the employer by registered letter, but it may be sent direct to the insurance commissioner (Section 10, subsection 3). Greece is the only country in which the medical practitioner is competent to receive notice of the accident. The injured person, his representatives or dependants must present themselves before the medical officer for the purpose. The latter issues a certificate to them free of charge, acknowledging receipt of the notice and mentioning the nature of the accident (Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Act of 31 December 1914). Notification to Two Separate Authorities Finally certain laws, with a view to bringing the enquiry into the accident to a conclusion and settling the compensation as soon as possible, require notice to be given to two separate authorities. In Ontario (Dominion of Canada), the injured person must notify both the head of the undertaking and the Workmen's Compensation Board. In Esthonia and Latvia, the employer must immediately notify the accident to the nearest police authorities and the insurance institution (Section 36 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). In Germany, notice must be given both to the local police authorities and to the insurance institution specified in the regulations (Section 1553 of the Act of 19 July 1911). This system is also in force in Poland for former German territory, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Peace of Versailles of 28 June 1919. In Italy, a twofold system is in force. Industrial accidents must be notified both to the local police authorities and to the insurance 1 See p. 462. — 473 — institution (Section 36 of the Regulations of 13 March 1904). If the accident takes place abroad, notice must be sent to the police authorities in the first stopping place on Italian territory. Accidents to seamen must be notified to the authorities of the port within whose area of competence the accident occurred. A report of all the circumstances of the accident must be drawn up and signed by two witnesses, and the accident must be mentioned in the ship's log. If the accident takes place in foreign waters, notice must be given in the first foreign port in which there is an Italian consular agent. As already explained, accidents in agricultural undertakings must be notified by the medical practitioner who gives first aid to the injured person. The notice must be given on the prescribed form and sent by post to the insurance institution. If the accident is fatal, notice must be given by telegram. Acknowledgment of the notice must be sent by post to the person concerned. In addition a certificate of the notice must be sent to the insurance institution (Section 71 of the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917). If the accident results in an injury likely to lead to incapacity for work lasting for more than 40 days, a copy of the certificate of the notice must immediately be sent to the local police authorities, who within 24 hours inform the factory inspector and magistrate in the district in which the accident occurred (Section 71 of the Regulations of 21 November 1918 for the administration of Section 27 (6) of the Legislative Decree of 23 August 1917). In Lithuania, the manager or owner of the undertaking must immediately inform, not only the police authorities, but also the competent factory or mines inspector, of accidents in his undertaking (Section 20 of the Act of 2 June 1903). FORM AND CONTENTS OF THE NOTICE The notice given may be either oral or written, and in the latter case it may be drawn up either by the person notifying or by an official or other person to whom this duty is officially entrusted. In nearly every country the notice must give certain facts, some of which may be considered essential and are nearly always required, particularly those concerning the circumstances and nature of the accident, the nature of the injury, and the identity and occupation of the injured person. It will be found, however, that the laws of some countries are more strict in this respect than others. In the Commonwealth of Australia, in the States of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania (Workmen's Com- — 474 — pensation Act of 1918), Victoria, Western Australia (Workmen's Compensation Act of 1912), the British system is in force. In the Argentine Republic, under Section 21 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916, notice must be given on the special form drawn up and issued by the National Labour Department. The following information must be given: (a) the name, age, nationality, wages, and occupation of the injured person; (¿>) the date, time and apparent causes of the accident. In Austria, the form and contents of the notice are fixed by the Order of 6 December 1917. Notice must be given in writing on the form drawn up for the purpose by the competent authorities of the insurance institution and approved by the supervisory authorities (Section 2). The notice must state: (a) the nature of the industry in which the accident occurred; (b) the name, age, address, occupation and wages of the injured person; (c) the date and place of the accident; (d) the hospital or institution in which the injured person is treated, and the medical treatment he receives; (e) the insurance fund to which he belongs; (/) the nature and immediate or probable consequence of the injury; (g) for fatal accidents, the survivors of the injured person; (h) the circumstances of the accident, with as exact a description as possible; (i) the names of eye-witnesses of the accident, if any (Section 1). In Belgium, notice must be given in writing (Section 24 of the Act of 24 December 1903) on a form drawn up on the model fixed by the Royal Decree of 20 December 1904 (Section 2). An acknowledgment of the receipt of the notice is given to the person notifying, who must state the nature and circumstances of the accident and, if need be, the person or institution with whom the head of the undertaking is insured. In Bolivia, Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924 does not specify whether the notice must be given in writing or not, but it lays down that the competent authorities are to be informed of the accident after it has been certified by a medical practitioner (or two non-professional persons) or, in their absence, by the injured person. In Brazil, under the Act of 15 January 1919, the police authorities on being notified of an accident by the employer must, without delay,*-visit the place in which the accident occurred and obtain statements from witnesses. The report they draw up must state: (a) the registered title and address of the undertaking in which the accident occurred; (b) the name, style and address of the employer; (c) the full name, age, sex, nationality, occupation, address, wages, — 475 — and education of the injured person; (d) the place, time and nature of the accident; (e) the circumstances in which the accident took place, and the nature of the injury; (/) the names and addresses of witnesses; (g) the names and addresses of the dependants of the injured person. In Bulgaria, under Section 9 of the Act of 6 March 1924, the notice given by the employer or his representatives must be signed by two witnesses. Further, if the injured worker is liable to insurance, the employer must within 15 days supply the management of the insurance fund, or the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour, with any information or statistics these authorities may require (Section 6). In the Dominion of Canada, in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick (Workmen's Compensation Act 1918), Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan, the British system is in force. In Chile, the Act of 8 September 1924 does not define the form of the notice, but requires the employer to give certain particulars, namely: (a) the name and address of the employer; (b) the name, address, age, civil condition and wages of the injured person ; the names and addresses of witnesses of the accident ; (d) the place, time and circumstances of the accident; (e) the nature of the injury (Section 32). In Cuba, under Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916, the notice must give the names of the injured person and any witnesses of the accident. There is no indication whether notice should be given in writing or not. In Czechoslovakia, under Section 29 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921, notice must be given in writing to the workers' insurance institution, which must immediately ascertain the nature and causes of the accident. In Denmark, under Section 44 of the Act of 6 July 1916, the notice must state : (a) the cause and circumstances of the accident ; (b) the state of the injured person and the time that elapsed until he received first aid ; (c) the place where he is being treated and the name of the medical practitioner; (d) the recognised sickness fund to which he belongs, if any, and its registered title; (e) the insurance company, if any, in which he is insured against industrial accidents. In Ecuador, Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921 specifies that the notice must be given in writing. Section 6 of the Begulations of 22 April 1922 further lays down that the notice must be — 476 — signed by the employer or one of his representatives, drawn up on unstamped paper and sent by post. The same section lays down that the notice must state the time and place of the accident, the circumstances in which it occurred, the names of witnesses, the name of the injured person, the place to which he has been transported, the names and addresses of any medical practitioners who gave him first aid, his wages and the registered title of the insurance company, if any, with which an insurance policy has been taken out. The employer is also bound to make the following additional notifications : (a) in the event of the immediate death of the victim of the accident, the inspector or commissioner must immediately be informed (Section 7); (b) a written notice must also be given showing that he is carrying out his obligations with respect to responsibility for the accident. The amount of compensation paid must also be stated. The injured person or persons concerned or their representatives must state their agreement (Section 8); (c) if the employer is insured against accidents, he must inform the police authorities (Section 9); (d) finally, if the accident is presumed to be due to force majeure or some unexpected cause independent of the work, the employer must similarly inform the police authorities in writing (Section 10). In Esthonia and Latvia, the conditions of the notice are specified in Sections 36, 38, 39 and 40 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912. These provisions do not define whether the notice must be given in writing. As soon as it has been given, the insurance company concerned may appoint delegates to ascertain the circumstances of the accident. If notice is not given within 48 hours, the local police authorities must open a sort of enquiry and immediately draw up a report of the circumstances of the accident. The conditions under which the facts are to be ascertained are determined by Sections 41 and 42 of the Act *. In Finland, Section 25 of the Order of 18 August 1917 lays down that the notice must be given on the form specially drawn up for the purpose. Further, the employer or his representative must immediately on learning of an accident in the factory make an entry in.a special register, whatever the nature of the accident. In France, Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898, amended by the Acts of 22 March 1902 and 31 March 1905, requires an oral notice only to be given to the mayor of the commune, who must immediately draw up a report and acknowledge receipt of the notice. The 1 See below under the head of "The Form and Scope of the Enquiry". '] - — 477 — S i report must state : (a) the name, style and address of the head of the undertaking; (b) the exact place, time, circumstances and nature of the accident; (c) the nature of the injury; (d) the names and addresses of witnesses. In Germany, the employer may give notice either in writing or verbally (Section 1553 of the Insurance Code). In Great Britain, an accident may be notified in writing or verbally (Section 10, subsection 3, of the Act of 16 November 1923). Industrial accidents in mines, quarries, factories and workshops must, however, be notified in writing (Sections 2 and 4 of the Notice of Accidents' Act of 21 December 1906), but in this case an entry in the special registers prescribed by the law are deemed to serve as notices (Section 10 of the Act of 1923). The notice may be sent direct or by registered letter to the home or business address of the person to whom it is to be transmitted. The notice must give the name and address of the injured person and state in ordinary language the cause of the injury and the date on which the accident happened (Section 2 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906). In Greece, the form of the notice varies according as it is given by the injured person or the head of the undertaking. By the Act of 31 December 1914, no special form of notice is prescribed for the injured person; it may be either written or oral, but the medical officer who receives it must issue a certificate free of charge, recording his receipt of the notice and the nature of the accident (Section 10). The notice given by the employer to the magistrate is verbal. He must present himself before the magistrate, accompanied by two eye-witnesses, if there were any, and he must supply particulars of the accident, the day on which it occurred, and the name and position of the injured person. A similar statement, on oath, may be made by the injured person or his dependants before the magistrate. For accidents in mines, Section 27 of the Act of 20 February 1901, amended by the Acts of 11 March 1920 and 15 December 1923, requires the employer to make a statement in writing, and upon oath, before the magistrate. In India (Act of 5 March 1923 and Order of 26 June 1924), the British system is in force. In Italy, the notice must be given in writing and must state: (a) the full name of the head of the undertaking or the registered title of the firm; (b) the place and date (day and time) of the accident; (c) the nature and ascertained or presumed cause ©f the accident and the circumstances in which it occurred; (d) the full — 478 — name, age, address, and ordinary occupation of the injured person; (e) the names of his relatives; (/) the state of the injured person, the probable effects of the accident, and the date on which the final result may be known-1 ; (g) the full names and addresses of witnesses of the accident (Section 81 of the Regulations of 13 March 1904). A special form is used for the notification of accidents in agricultural undertakings, to be handed in to the post office within twenty-four hours. The post office issues an acknowledgment of the receipt of the notice, signed by the official and bearing the stamp of the office. The notice itself is sent by registered letter to the insurance institution. If the accident is fatal, the insurance institution must be notified by telegram (Section 71 of the Regulations of 21 November 1918). In Japan, the monthly return required under Section 24 of the Decree of 3 August 1916 must be sent in the form of a report to the local governor by all heads of industrial undertakings employing more than 50 workers. Section 33 of the Decree does not specify in what form accidents in mines are to be notified. In Lithuania, Section 20 of the Act of 2 June 1923 states that notification must take the form of a simple notice to the competent authority, who must immediately proceed to the place of the accident to ascertain the facts. In Luxemburg, Section 16 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 26 January 1903 requires the head of the undertaking, or his representative, who was at the place of the accident, to give written notice on the form drawn up by the manager of the accident insurance association. In the Netherlands, Section 66 of the Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923 requires the employer to notify the accident on a special form, which must be handed in to the post office in the district in which the person giving the notice resides or the accident took place, and a receipt must be given for the notice. Such notice must state the name and address of the medical practitioner who gave first aid to the injured person. ' In Newfoundland, the British system is in forced In New Zealand,.the British system is in force2. In Norway, under the Act of 13 August 1913, notice must be given in writing on the form drawn up for the purpose by the National Insurance Institution. 1 This information must be corroborated by the medical certificate attached to athe notice. See above p. 4 77. — 479 — In Panama, the Act of 16 November 1916 lays down (Section 18) that notice of the accident must take the form of a report stating : (a) the time, place and circumstances of the accident; (b) the names of witnesses; (c) the name of the injured person and the place to which he was transported; (d) particulars of his wages; (e) the names and addresses of any medical practitioners who gave first aid. In Peru, under the Act of 20 January 1911, notice must be given in writing to the competent authorities, who issue a receipt (Section 36). The following information must be given: (a) the name and address of the head of the undertaking and the injured person; (b) the place, day, time, nature and circumstances of the accident; (c) the nature of the injury; (d) the names and addresses of witnesses; (e) the registered title of the insurance company and the amount of the policy if the injured person was insured. If the head of the undertaking is required to report to the insurance company in accordance with Section 30 of the Decree of 4 July 1913, his report must state the circumstances, and give any useful information on the state of the victim and the progress of the illness. In Roumania, notice must be given on the form drawn up by the Central Office for Crafts, Credits and Social Insurance (Section 158 of the Act of 25 January 1912, amended by the Acts of 26 April and 31 May 1913). In Salvador, Section 5 of the Decree of 7 September 1911 lays down that notice of industrial accidents must be given in writing on unstamped paper, and signed by the head of the undertaking or his representative. It may be sent by post to the competent authorities, and must state : (a) the time, place and circumstances of the accident; (b) the names of witnesses; (c) the name of the injured person and the place to which he was transported; (d) the names and addresses of any medical practitioners who gave first aid; (e) the wages of the injured person; (/) the registered title of the insurance company if he was insured against industrial accidents. If the accident is fatal, notice must immediately be given to the competent authorities (Section 6). Further, under Section 7, the employer must inform the authorities that he has begun to carry out his obligations arising out of any responsibility for the accident, and the injured person or his representatives must signify their agreement with this statement. The employer must also show that he has paid the necessary compensation. If the employer considers that the accident is due to force majeure or — 480 — some chance cause not connected with the work, he must inform the authorities (Section 9). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Section 99 of the Act of 14 May 1922 lays down that the employer must give notice in writing on the form drawn up by the local workers' insurance institution, or for transport undertakings, by the workers' insurance fund. In South Africa, the British system is in force. In Spain, Section 14, subsection 1, of the Regulations of 29 December 1922, requires the employer to give written notice, duly signed, to the competent authorities. He is entitled, however, to have this formality performed by his representative. The notice must be given on unstamped paper, and sent by registered post. It should contain the following information : (a) the date, place and circumstances of the accident; (b) the names of witnesses; (c) the name and wages of the injured person; (d) the place to which he was transported; (e) the names and addresses of any medical practitioners who gave first aid; (/) the registered title of the insurance company if an insurance policy was taken out (Section 14, subsection 3). If death was immediate, the employer must at once inform the prefectural authorities. Failure to supply the above information is punishable by a fine of 25 to 100 pesetas (Section 78). In addition to giving the notice itself, the employer must supply the factory inspectors with any information they may require concerning the accident. He must further inform the prefectural authorities in writing that he has carried out his obligations arising out of responsibility for the accident, and the worker or his dependants must signify their agreement on this document (Section 18). Finally, if he considers that the accident is due to force majeure, or to some chance cause not connected with the work, he must also inform the authorities in writing (Section 20). Under Swedish law, the employer must give notice on the form prescribed by the State Insurance Institution (Sections 6 and 7 of the Act of 17 June 1916). The notice must give information of the employer, the injured worker, the undertaking in which the accident occurred, the date, causes and circumstances of the accident, the safety measures adopted during work, the place of the accident, the nature of the injuries, the conditions of employment and wages of the injured person, and finally it must state whether the worker was insured or not. In Switzerland, Section 69 of the Act of 13 June 1911 requires the employer to give written notice to the National Insurance Fund. — 481 — The notice need not give particulars, for the National Fund must immediately proceed to ascertain the circumstances, causes and results of the accident. In Uruguay, Sections 32 and 35 of the Act of 15 November 1920 lay down the principle of a written notice, which must indicate: (a) the name and address of the employer; (b) the location of the undertaking; (c) the date, time, nature and circumstances of the accident; (d) the nature of the injuries; (e) the name, address, age, and civil condition of the injured person; (/) the names and addresses of witnesses of the accident or of persons who were acquainted with it. § 2. — Enquiries The accident having been notified, the competent authorities may proceed to open an enquiry. Most laws provide for such enquiry, but while some do not consider it compulsory and leave it to the discretion either of the competent authorities or the persons concerned, others make it compulsory for certain classes of accidents, defined, for instance, by the seriousness of the injuries, and still others make it compulsory in every case. In this connection, the various laws may also be classified by the authorities responsible for undertaking enquiries. Some entrust them to the judicial authorities, others to the administrative and police authorities, yet others to the authorities responsible for the final settlement of disputes, and others finally to the insurance institutions. In addition, the scope of the enquiry varies under different laws. The powers of the investigating authorities are more or less wide, as also the subjects they are to cover. CASES FOR ENQUIRY Compulsory Enquiries In Bolivia, under Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924, the enquiry is general and compulsory, and any magistrates of the police or judicial authorities who delay the proceedings are liable to a fine, irrespective of any personal responsibility under this head. In Brazil, under the Act of 15 January 1919, an enquiry is compulsory for all accidents. In Cuba, the municipal magistrate must automatically open an enquiry into all accidents of which he is notified (Section 26 of the Act of 12 June 1916). In Czechoslovakia, 31 — 482 — under Section 30 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921, an immediate enquiry by the National Fund is compulsory. In Ecuador, Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921 lays down that the competent magistrate must immediately open an enquiry on receiving a copy of the notice of the accident. In Finland, an immediate enquiry is compulsory after notice has been given (Section 25, subsections 1 and 2, of the Order of 18 August 1917). A similar provision is in force in Lithuania, under Section 21 of the Act of 2 June 1903. In Roumania, Section 223 of the Act of 25 January 1912 requires the Central Office for Crafts, Credit, and Social Insurance to investigate into the circumstances of the accident. In Salvador, all notifiable accidents must immediately be enquired into (Section 11 of the Act of 11 May 1911). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, as soon as notice of an accident has been received, the local workers' insurance institution or the workers' insurance fund for transport undertakings must immediately order an enquiry into the accident (Section 100 of the Act of 14 May 1902). In the Swiss Cantons by the Federal Act of 13 June 1911, an immediate enquiry by the National Fund is compulsory. In Uruguay, Section 36 of the Act of 15 November 1920 requires the competent magistrate to make a summary investigation immediately on receipt of notice of the accident. Conditional Enquiries The regulations promulgated on 14 January 1916 in the Argentine Republic provide, in the case of serious accidents, for an enquiry to be undertaken by the inspector of the National Labour Department, who must be informed: (a) by the employer, of the time he begins to fulfil his obligations arising out of responsibility for the accident; (b) by the worker or his dependants, of their claim for compensation, accompanied by a statement of the amount and with reference to the provisions of the Act which refer to such compensation (Section 24). If the employer considers that the accident is due to force majeure or to the neglect of the injured person or his dependants or to his wilful action, he must notify the National Labour Department in writing (Section 26). In Austria, under Section 31 of the Act of 28 December 1887, an enquiry is compulsory only for fatal accidents or accidents resulting — 483 — in a bodily injury which may prove fatal or lead to a loss of working capacity for more than four weeks. In Belgium, the enquiry is compulsory only if the compensation prescribed by the law cannot be automatically granted to the injured person, whether because of the circumstances of the case, or of the position of the injured person (Section 24 of the Act of 24, December 1903). In Chile, while Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924 establishes the principle of compulsory enquiry, Section 33 states that an enquiry is not indispensable if the disablement is temporary or the injured person has submitted a medical certificate or has taken no steps allowing the magistrate to open an enquiry. In Esthonia and Latvia, where the Russian Act of 23 June6 July still applies, the enquiry may be conditional or optional according to circumstances. If the accident is duly notified by the employer, the insurance company is empowered to appoint delegates to ascertain the circumstances of the accident on the spot. If, however, notice has not been given under the prescribed conditions, that is, within 48 hours, the police authorities must proceed to the place of the accident, and draw up a report on the circumstances. In France, no enquiry may take place unless the accident was fatal or led to the permanent total or partial disablement of the injured person. If the disablement is temporary, it is the practice not to consider an enquiry necessary (Section 12 of the Act of 9 April 1898). In Germany, an enquiry is compulsory only if the accident is fatal or the injury is likely to lead to the payment of compensation (Section 1559 of the Act of 19 July 1911). In Italy, an enquiry into accidents in industrial undertakings is compulsory only if the accident is fatal or leads to a loss of working capacity for more than thirty days (Section 83 of the Regulations of 13 March 1904). In Luxemburg, an enquiry is in principle compulsory for all notified accidents, but if a legal enquiry has immediately been opened, the special enquiry prescribed by the provisions in force is not held (Section 17 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903). In Peru, the Act of 20 January 1911 (Sections 41 and 42) provides for an enquiry only for accidents resulting in temporary disablement, or in cases in which the injured person has applied for an enquiry. — 484 — Optional Enquiñes The system of optional enquiries is in force in Denmark. Under Section 47 of the Act of 6 July 1916 the Workers' Insurance Council is empowered to open an enquiry. Reference has already been made under the previous head to Esthonia and Latvia, where the insurance company is entitled to open an enquiry (Section 40 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). In Greece, the law provides for an optional enquiry by the magistrate into accidents in mines (Section 29 of the Act of 21 February 1901 amended by the Acts of 7 January 1912, 11 March 1920, and 15 December 1923). In Italy, for accidents in agricultural undertakings, the injured person or his dependants are entitled to request the magistrate to open an enquiry if the accident is fatal or results in a loss of working capacity for more than 40 days (Section 73 of the Regulations of 21 November 1918). In Japan, the local governor, or for accidents in mines the Director of the Office of Mines, may either automatically or on application by those concerned open an enquiry, during which they may call for the consultation or visit of a medical practitioner (Sections 18 and 30 of the Decree of 3 August 1916). In the Netherlands also, enquiries are optional. The management of the Insurance Bank may institute an enquiry if the accident is fatal or if the injured person will probably be prevented for more than two days from performing his ordinary work, or is partially er totally disabled for more than six weeks. It is noteworthy that the Bank may order an enquiry even if the accident is not notified. In Norway, the holding of an enquiry is left to the discretion of the Insurance Institution (Section 17 of the Act of 13 August 1915). Countries with no Provision for Enquiries In Bulgaria, under the Act of 6 March 1924, no enquiry is necessary. It is considered that the notification of the employer and the information he may be asked to supply by the management of the Insurance Fund or the Ministry are sufficient to establish the question of responsibility. British law, as also that of the British Dominions x makes no provision for enquiry outside legal proceedings. When such pro1 Commonwealth of Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia; Dominion of Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan; Newfoundland; New Zealand; South Africa. — 485 — ceedings have been opened, the magistrate himself is empowered to make all the necessary enquiries on the ordinary lines of procedure. It should be observed that under the various laws of the British Empire the worker who has been injured in an accident must submit to examination by the medical practitioner designated for this purpose by the employer, on pain of losing his right to compensation or to take or prosecute any proceedings under the Act (cf. Section 8 and Schedule I, paragraph 4, of the British Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906 amended by the Act of 16 November 1923). This system is also in force in India under the Act of 5 March 1923 and the Order of 26 June 1924. In Greece, the Act of 31 December 1914 amended by the Legislative Decrees of 24 July 1920 and 20 January 1923 makes no provision for enquiries. It is considered that the statement made by the employer before the magistrate supported by two eye-witnesses is sufficient guarantee to eliminate the need for an enquiry. It may be recalled that the medical practitioner treating the case must make a statement to the magistrate in writing and under oath concerning the state of the injured person and the probable results of the accident. Further, the injured person himself or his survivors or any individual are allowed on request to make a statement upon oath before the magistrate of what they know of the accident and the circumstances under which it took place (Section 11). In Panama, the Act of 16 November 1916 contains no provision for an enquiry. Presumably the provisions of Section 18 concerning notification are considered sufficient. The system in force in Soviet Russia makes no provision for the notification of industrial accidents. A species of enquiry, especially of medical supervision, however, is possible (Instructions of 12 December 1922). In Spain, neither the Act of 10 January 1922 nor the Provisional Regulations of 29 December 1922 provide for an enquiry properly so called. On the other hand, a system of medical examination and re-examination obtains, which to some extent may be considered as taking the place of an enquiry. In Sweden, there are no enquiries other than legal proceedings, but the Insurance Institution or the Insurance Council are entitled to call witnesses and experts to be heard in any ordinary law court in order to ascertain the facts (Section 23 of the Act of 17 June 1916). The system of notification and medical examination in force may be considered as taking the place of an enquiry. — 486 — AUTHORITIES COMPETENT TO OPEN AN ENQUIRY Judicial Authorities In most countries where the Latin legal tradition prevails, the judicial authorities are responsible under the law to open any enquiries necessitated by notices of industrial accidents. Thus in Bolivia, under Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924, this duty is entrusted to the judicial authorities x. Similar provisions are in force in Chile, where Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924 makes the magistrate competent. In Ecuador, Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921 entrusts the duty of opening an enquiry to the judicial authorities. Enquiry by the judicial authorities is also the rule in France, in accordance with the provisions of Section 12 of the Act of 9 April 1898. The magistrate is competent in this respect. In Greece, the judicial authorities (the magistrate) must open an enquiry, if it can be said that the special procedure instituted by Section 11 of the Act of 31 December 1924 2 constitutes an enquiry. For accidents in mines, the magistrate is competent under Section 29 of the Mines Act of 21 February 1901, amended by the Acts of 7 January 1912, 11 March 1920 and 15 December 1923. In Italy, for accidents both in industrial (Act of 31 January 1904 and Regulations of 13 March 1904) and agricultural undertakings , (Decree of 21 November 1918), the magistrate has the necessary power to open an enquiry. The system of enquiry by the judicial authorities is also in force in Peru. Section 41 of the Act of 20 January 1911 grants the necessary powers to the judge of first instance or in his absence, the magistrate. In Uruguay, the enquiry is entrusted to the magistrate by Section 36 of the Act of 15 November 1920. It should be noted that in Salvador, Section 11 of the Act of 11 May 1911 normally empowers the prefect to open an enquiry, but if there is no prefect at the place of the accident, this duty is entrusted to the magistrate. 1 It should be remarked that an enquiry may also be instituted by the polic' authorities. 2 See above, p. 485. — 487 — Administrative or Police Authorities Administrative Authorities. In the Argentine Republic, the administrative authorities, namely, the National Labour Department, undertake enquiries, under.the provisions of Section 22 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916 for the administration of the Act of 11 October 1915. In Austria, Section 31 of the Act of 28 December 1887 gives the administrative authorities (prefect or sub-prefect) the necessary power to open enquiries. In Belgium, the factory inspectors are responsible for enquiries into industrial accidents, under Section 24 of the Act of 24 December 1903. In Japan, the local governor, or for accidents in mines the Director of the Office of Mines, is competent to open enquiries into industrial accidents (Sections 18 and 30 of the Decree of 3 August 1916). In Luxemburg, Section 17 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903 instructs the special officials appointed by the Government to make enquiries into industrial accidents. If the accidents are slight, such officials may substitute either one of their subordinates or an official of the nearest gendarmerie station. The enquiry into accidents in agricultural undertakings is effected by the gendarmerie. In Salvador, Section 11 of the Act of 11 May 1911 empowers the prefect to open an enquiry. If, however, there is no prefect in the district, the magistrate is competent, but failing him, the nearest administrative authorities have full power to make the necessary investigations. Police Authorities. In Brazil, the police authorities make enquiries, under the Act of 15 January 1919 and the Decree of 12 March 1919. In Finland, too, the police authorities are given the necessary powers to open enqtviries, under Section 25 of the Order of 18 August 1917. In Germany, Section 1559 of the Insurance Act of 19 July 1911 entrusts the duty of enquiring into industrial accidents to the local police authorities. In federal or state undertakings, the higher officials in the service in question designate the authorities who are to open the enquiry. For accidents at sea, the maritime office of the German Consul is competent to order an enquiry. — 488 — It should be noted that in Bolivia, Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924 also empowers the police authorities to make enquiries into industrial accidents. Insurance Institutions In most countries where insurance is compulsory and in the hands of institutions, enjoying a legal monopoly and acting in some measure as official bodies, such institutions are responsible for making enquiries into industrial accidents. Thus in Czechoslovakia, the Workers' Accident Insurance Fund is competent to open an enquiry. It may call for the assistance of the prefectural or communal authorities, as of the representatives of the Miners' Insurance Fund (Sections 30 and 31 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921). In Denmark, the Insurance Council is competent under Section 47 of the Act of 6 July 1916. In the Netherlands, under Section 68 of the Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923, the National Insurance Bank is competent to open enquiries. Similarly in Norway, the Insurance Institution may institute an enquiry, under Section 17 of the Act of 13 August 1915. In Roumania, enquiries are carried out by the Central Office for Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance (Section 223 of the Act of 25 January 1912). In Soviet Russia, although no system of notification is in force, the instructions issued by the Peoples' Commissary provide for a species of enquiry into industrial accidents, to be instituted by the Insurance Office (Instructions of 12 December 1922). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, the enquiry is undertaken either by the local workers' insurance institution or the workers' insurance fund for transport undertakings. These bodies may, however, substitute the police, mining or maritime authorities (Section 100 of the Act of 14 May 1922). If the accident occurs during a journey or outside the workplace, the police authorities must open an enquiry (Section 101). In Sweden, the Insurance Council may have an enquiry instituted during the course of legal proceedings (Act of 17 June 1916). In Switzerland, Section 71 of the Factory Act of 13 June 1911 gives the National Insurance Fund the necessary powers to open enquiries. — 489 — Authorities for the Settlement of Disputes In certain countries the authorities which finally settle disputes are the competent authorities; that is to say, the authorities competent for questions of industrial accident compensation may themselves open enquiries. Thus in Esthonia and Latvia, the insurance institution which finally settles disputes is entitled to open enquiries (Act of 23 June6 July 1912). In Greece, the magistrate who opens enquiries is also competent to settle disputes 1 . Reference may finally be made to the case of Great Britain and the British Dominions, where the system of enquiries outside legal proceedings does not obtain. Here the arbitration courts, ordinary courts, competent departments (workmen's compensation boards) are responsible under the law to settle disputes on accident compensation, and they are empowered to make enquiries in the same way as other judicial authorities and in the ordinary manner. In India, a similar system is in force under the Act of 5 March 1923 and the Order of 26 June 1924. The accident insurance commissioners are the competent judicial authorities, and as such may make any investigations they consider necessary. FORM AND SCOPE OF THE ENQUIRY In most countries the law not only fixes the conditions under which the enquiry is to take place and the authorities who may open it, but also defines what persons may or must take part and what facts are to be ascertained. In the Argentine Republic, the inspector of the National Labour Department must proceed to the place of the accident and make a detailed report to the Department, which must hold all documents and papers relating to the accident at the entire disposal of the magistrate (Sections 37 and 38 of the Decree of 14 January 1916 for the administration of Section 30 of the Act of 11 October 1915). In Austria, under Section 31 of the Act of 28 December 1887, the communal authorities must, and a delegate of the insurance institution may, take part in the enquiry, which must determine among other things: (a) the nature and causes of the accident; (b) the 1 See above, p. 484. — 490 — persons killed or injured; (c) the wages of the victims; (d) the nature of the injury; (e) the place to which the injured person was transported; (/) the persons who, under the provisions of Section 7 of the Act, may be considered dependants of persons killed by the accident. The expenses of investigation and of summoning witnesses are borne by the Insurance Institution, to which the result of the enquiry must immediately be communicated. Under the Ministerial Orders of 8 October 1889 and 28 August 1895, a report of the enquiry must be drawn up giving the divergent opinions of the persons concerned on the circumstances of the accident. In Belgium, the enquiry instituted by the factory inspector under Section 24 of the Act of 24 November 1903 must cover the causes of the accident. A report of the enquiry is transmitted by the inspector to the office of the clerk of the competent jurisdiction, where the parties concerned are entitled to consult it or make a copy at their own expense. The heads of undertakings or their representatives must comply with every request of the inspectors. In Bolivia, the enquiry must take place immediately after notice of the accident has been received. Magistrates who delay the course of proceedings are liable to a fine of 100 bolivianos, irrespective of any personal responsibility (Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924). In Brazil (Section 19 of the Act of 15 January 1919), the police authorities must immediately proceed to the place of the accident, and to the place to which the injured person has been taken, in order to obtain statements from him, the employer and the witnesses. A report of the enquiry must be drawn up stating : (a) the registered title and address of the undertaking; (b) the name, style and address of the employer; (c) the name, style, address, wages and civil condition of the injured person; (d) the exact place, time and nature of the accident; (e) the circumstances in which the accident took place and the nature of the injuries ; (/) the names and addresses of witnesses; (g) the names and addresses of dependants of the injured person. In Chile, the magistrate may open an enquiry on the spot immediately on being informed of the accident. The enquiry must cover: (a) the causes, nature and circumstances of the accident; (b) the names of the employer and the injured person; (c) the nature of the injuries; (d) the names of the persons entitled to compensation and their date and place of birth; (e) the daily, weekly, or annual earnings of the injured person; (/) the registered title and address — 491 — of the company with which the employer is insured (Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924). On the conclusion of the enquiry, the magistrate must inform the persons concerned, requiring them for this purpose to appear before him within five days of notification. The parties are summoned in accordance with the provisions of Book I, Chapter 6 of the Civil Procedure Code. If the dependants of the injured person include persons who are incompetent and have no representatives, the magistrate is empowered to appoint a guardian to defend their interests who should preferably be chosen from among the nearest relatives of the persons concerned (Section 35). In Cuba, the municipal magistrate must immediately and automatically open an enquiry to determine: (a) the cause, nature and circumstances of the accident; (b) the state of the victim and the place to which he was transported; (c) the nature of the injuries; (ci) the dependants entitled to compensation; (e) the daily and annual earnings of the injured person (Section 26 of the Act of 12 June 1916). If the injured person is unable to present himself at the place of the enquiry, the magistrate must visit him in order to obtain his statement. In Czechoslovakia, the accident insurance fund must proceed to ascertain the facts immediately on being informed of an accident. The prefectural or communal authorities, as also the Miners' Insurance Fund must assist in the enquiry in order to ascertain all the circumstances establishing a claim to benefit, and the amount of the pension (Sections 30 and 31 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921). In Denmark, the Workers' Insurance Council has the right to require employers' workers, and other parties concerned to furnish any information relating to the accident. In addition, an enquiry may be held in which case the report must be forwarded to the Council (Section 47 of the Act of 6 July 1916). For accidents at sea, the record in the ship's log is the starting point for all procedure. The chief points to be recorded are the date on which compensation was first paid and the date on which payment ceased. If the accident takes place in a foreign port where there is a Danish consul, the maritime report must be handed to the consul, who may open an enquiry or himself draw up a report without, however, putting the witnesses on oath. If there is no Danish consul in the port or on board the vessel, the captain must nevertheless inform the competent local authorities or the person appointed by the nearest consul to open an enquiry or draw up a report on the causes of the accident. A copy — 492 — of the results of all maritime enquiries or of declarations must be sent to the Insurance Council (Section 63). In Ecuador, under Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921, the competent magistrate must open an enquiry to ascertain: (a) the causes, nature, place and circumstances of the accident -T (b) the injured persons; (c) the nature of the injuries; {d) the dependants who may claim compensation; (e) the daily and annual earnings of the injured person. If the injured person is unable to be present at the enquiry, the magistrate must visit him.to obtain his statement. In Esthonia and Latvia, a representative of the insurance company must ascertain on the spot the circumstances of the accident, and the head of the undertaking must assist him in this (Section 38 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). If the enquiry is undertaken by the local police authorities 1 , the latter must proceed to the place of the accident and draw up a report of the circumstances. The head of the undertaking, the injured person or his representative, the delegate of the insurance company, a medical practitioner and eye-witnesses, are requested to assist the enquiry (Section 41). The report must be signed by all the persons present, and illiterates must appoint persons to sign in their stead (Section 42). In Finland, the enquiry must be opened immediately at the place of the accident by the police authorities. An authentic copy of the report of the enquiry must be sent within eight days to the employer and the injured person or his dependants (Section 25, subsections 1 and 2 of the Order of 18 August 1917). In France, Section 12 of the Act of 9 April 1898 requires the magistrate to open an enquiry within 24 hours of receiving the report of the notice and the medical certificate. The object of the enquiry is to determine: (a) the cause, nature and circumstances of the accident; (b) the injured persons and the place to which they have been transported; (c) the nature of the injuries; (d) the dependants of the injured persons who might claim a pension, together with exact information on their date and place of birth; (e) the daily and annual earnings of the injured persons; (/) the insurance company in which the head of the undertaking is insured, or the guarantee fund to which he belongs. The costs of the enquiry are advanced by the Treasury. It is the usual legal practice for the magistrate who undertakes the enquiry not to consider whether the accident was caused 1 i.e. when the accident is not notified within 48 hours. — 493 — during and by the work, as this matter is exclusively within the competence of the civil court. On the other hand, if the magistrate decides to open an enquiry, his decision can in no way prejudice the question itself, nor even the question whether the application is admissible, nor can it prevent the worker from taking proceedings to recover compensation. No appeal is allowed against the decision of the magistrate in this respect. The magistrate hears the adverse parties in the manner prescribed in Sections 25 to 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure — that is to say in the presence of the persons concerned, who must be summoned by registered letter. If the injured person is not in a fit state to attend the enquiry, the magistrate must visit him. Except where it is physically impossible, as duly attested in the report, the enquiry must be held as soon as possible, and not later than ten days after the accident. The magistrate must notify the parties by registered letter of the closing of the enquiry and of the filing of the minutes at the Registrar's office, where, for a period of five days, they may examine them and have a copy made on unstamped paper, free of stamp duty and registration fees. At the end of this period of five days the file of the enquiry is to be sent to the President of the District Civil Court. The magistrate may designate a medical or technical expert to assist in the enquiry, except in the case of accidents in undertakings under State supervision (private undertakings subject to special State supervision, such as inspection by the mines inspectors, inspectors of steam boilers, etc.) or in State undertakings. In these cases the officials responsible for supervising the undertakings send a copy of their report to the magistrate, to be attached to the report of the enquiry (Section 13). In Germany, the conditions of the enquiry are defined by Sections 1560 to 1567 of the Act of 19 July 1911. The enquiry is carried out by the local police authorities, who must undertake all the investigations, although they are not entitled to hear witnesses under oath. The following may take part in the enquiry: (a) the injured person or his survivors; (b) the accident insurance or sickness insurance institution; (c) the employer; (d) the insurance office; (e) a State official, for accidents in undertakings subject to factory inspection; (/) any interested persons, who may be required to assist in the enquiry. The object of the enquiry is to ascertain: (a) the causes, exact date, place and circumstances and nature of the accident; (b) the — 494 — names of the persons killed or injured, and their date and place of birth; (c) the nature of injuries; (d) the place to which the injured persons were transported; (e) the survivors of the injured person or his relatives who might claim compensation under the law; (/) the amount of the relief or pension which the injured person may receive under insurance legislation. A report of the enquiry must be drawn up by the authorities, who, when it is concluded, transmit the file to the insurance institution. The persons concerned may examine the documents of the enquiry and have copies made. For accidents to seamen (except those engaged in coasting trade or sea fishery), the enquiry takes place before a German consul. The captain makes a statement, under oath, if possible in the presence of two officers of the vessel, or two other trustworthy persons. Further, with a view to determining the facts, the maritime office of the German Consulate may receive the statements under oath of any other persons, and undertake the necessary investigations to obtain further proof. A certified copy of the report of the enquiry or of the maritime report must be sent by the authorities to the management of the insurance company. In Great Britain and the British Dominions, including India, the enquiry is optional, and is conducted in the manner usually adopted for legal enquiries. In Greece, for accidents in industrial undertakings, the statement of the employers, accompanied by two witnesses, takes the place of an enquiry. The conditions under which this enquiry is effected have already been described 1 (Section 11 of the Act of 31 May 1914). For accidents in mines, the magistrate opens an enquiry by virtue of his powers as the competent authority to settle the dispute (Section 29 of the Act of 21 February 1901). In Italy, the police authorities must immediately forward to the magistrate a copy of the notice and the medical certificate. Within four days of receiving these papers, the magistrate must open an enquiry to ascertain: (a) the nature, cause and circumstances of the accident; (b) the identity of the injured person and the place to which he has been transported; (c) the nature of the injuries; (d) the condition of the injured person; (e) the daily and annual earnings of the injured person; (/) the family responsibilities of the injured person, his claim to compensation, and his address; (g) whether the injured person is duly insured. During the enquiry the various parties are heard. It takes place in the presence of all concerned, the injured worker, the head of the 1 See above p. 485. — 495 — undertaking, and the insurer (who are summoned by registered letter). If the injured person or his dependants are not present at the enquiry, the magistrate must summon two workers employed in the undertaking in which the accident occurred (Act of 31 January 1904 and Regulations of 13 March 1904). For accidents in agricultural undertakings, the enquiry is also conducted by the magistrate under similar conditions to those described above. He is, however, empowered to designate a medical practitioner or other experts to assist in the enquiry. A report of the enquiry is drawn up at the place of the aòcident, and the persons present are entitled to have their personal statements recorded (Sections 74 and 75 of the Decree of 21 November 1918). In Lithuania, the police authorities draw up a report at the place of the accident, stating the facts of the case. The following must be present: (a) the head of the undertaking; (b) the injured person, if he is able to be present; (c) a medical practitioner; (d) workers who witnessed the accident, and, if possible, an independent person who is an expert in the kind of work in which the accident occurred. The report of the enquiry must state: (a) the place and time of the accident; (b) the name of the injured person and the nature of his work; (c) the names and addresses of witnesses; (d) the name of the head of the undertaking; (e) the circumstances of the accident and the evidence of witnesses; (/) the nature of the injury; (g) the description of the injury and the state of the injured person given by the medical practitioner present, and his estimate of the probable loss of working capacity. The report must be signed by all the persons present, and illiterates may designate representatives to sign in their stead (Section 23 of the Russian Act of 2 June 1903). In Luxemburg, the enquiry undertaken by the officials appointed by the Government takes place in the presence of a representative of the gendarmerie, if the management of the insurance association has required his assistance. The following may take part in the enquiry: (a) the representative of the management of the Accident Insurance Association; (b) delegates of the sickness fund to which the insured person belongs ; (c) the head of the undertaking or his representative ; (d) the injured person or his dependants ; (e) experts who have been requested to take part by the management of the insurance association. The object of the enquiry is to ascertain: (a) the cause, circumstances and nature of the accident; (b) the persons killed or injured; (c) the nature of the injuries; (d) the place to which the — 496 — injured person was transported; (e) the dependants of the injured person who may claim compensation; (/) the amount of the allowance already paid to the injured person (Section 17 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903). A copy of the report of the enquiry is issued immediately and free of charge to the management of the insurance association. All the documents may be examined by the persons concerned, and on request they may have copies made at their own expense. The costs of the enquiry, including the expenses of witnesses and the fees of experts, are paid half by the State and half by the insurance association (Sections 18 and 19). Witnesses who fail to appear or refuse to give evidence are liable to the penalties prescribed in Section 80 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The gendarmerie, which is responsible for enquiries into accidents in agricultural undertakings, must state in its report whether the accident really occurred in agricultural work, and must give full particulars of the circumstances of the accident (Ministerial Circular of 20 December 1909 for the administration of the Act of 20 December 1909). In the Netherlands, the National Insurance Bank is empowered to undertake enquiries to ascertain: (a) the causes and nature of the accident; (b) the identity of the injured person and his residence or lodging; (c) the wages received by the injured person in the undertaking; (d) the description of the bodily injury caused by the accident; (e) in case of death, the names and addresses of the dependants who may claim compensation. The official directing the enquiry is entitled to hear as witnesses persons who are capable of giving information on the points to be investigated, including the injured person and the person in whose service he was employed. He may also summon experts, and the persons summoned are bound to appear and to communicate anything known to them or to give their services as experts. The time and place for the enquiry and for hearing witnesses must be communicated in advance by the person in charge of the enquiry to the injured person and the employer. Both are entitled to appear at the enquiry, either in person or represented by others. The employer may summon experts to take part in the enquiry at his own expense. For accidents in agriculture, a report of the enquiry is drawn up, which must be signed by all the persons present, and despatched without delay to the management of the National Insurance Bank (Section 68 of the Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923). — 497 — In Norway, a judicial enquiry is held on the request of the Insurance Institution. The factory inspector, the employer, the management of the insurance fund to which the injured person belongs, and the injured person or his dependants, must be present at the enquiry. Experts may be designated if necessary. The costs of the enquiry are met by the National Insurance Institution (Section 17 of the Act of 13 August 1915). In Peru, Section 41 of the Act of 20 January 1911 lays down that the magistrate must automatically open an enquiry to ascertain: (a) the causes, nature and circumstances of the accident; (b) the full name, address, date and place of birth of the injured person; (c) the name and address of the head of the undertaking and the registered title of the undertaking; (d) the nature of the injuries; (e) the name, birthplace, age and address of dependants; (/) the annual and daily earnings of the injured person at the time of the accident. On the request of the employer the enquiry may also cover: (a) the degree of responsibility of the employer; (b) the nature and degree of the loss of working capacity of the injured person; (c) the compensation to which the injured person may be entitled (Section 43). On the request of either party the magistrate must appoint medical practitioners or experts to take part in the enquiry. (Section 44). The enquiry must be closed within ten days (Section 45). If the employer has transferred his risks to an insurance company, Section 31 of the Decree of 4 July 1913 provides that the company may ascertain on the spot the circumstances of the accident by inspecting the premises and the state of the machinery. In Roumania, the Central Office of Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance may make any investigations into the accident. It may consult documents and hear witnesses to determine the amount of the compensation due to the injured person (Section 223 of the Act of 25 January 1912). In Soviet Russia, the enquiry takes the form of medical supervision. The injured person must present himself at the dispensary of the factory, where the competent medical practitioner issues a certificate exempting him from work for a maximum period of fourteen days. He must present himself a second time, according to instructions, either at the dispensary or before the medical supervisory committee. If he is unable to present himself, he must send for the practitioner to visit him. If the incapacity for work is expected to exceed fifteen days, the insurance institution must 32 — 498 — send a medical practitioner to visit the injured person. He must ascertain the loss of working capacity in doubtful cases either by personal visits or by examining the certificates supplied, and must see to it that the injured person carries out the instructions of the practitioner treating the case. He must also take part in the discussions of the medical supervisory committee and the medical board as a representative of the insurance fund. (Instructions of 12 December 1922). In Salvador, under Section 11 of the Act of 11 May 1911, the competent authorities must immediately proceed to the place of the accident on receipt of the notice, and undertake a careful enquiry to ascertain the causes, circumstances and effects of the accident. The results of the enquiry must be stated in a report, signed by the magistrate, his clerk, and two witnesses, who must assist in the enquiry. The injured person is heard in the presence of two witnesses, who must make a statement on the nature of the injury and the probable consequences. The magistrate must keep the file of the case in his archives. The conclusions of the enquiry are accepted as conclusive evidence until the contrary is proved (Section 14). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom under section 100 of the Act of 14 May 1922, the enquiry is ordered by the insurance institution immediately the accident has been notified. It must be concluded within eight days. The employer, the injured person or his representatives, and the competent factory inspector, must be notified of the date of the enquiry in due time, so that they may attend in person or send representatives. The medical practitioner attending the injured person, and other experts, may also be summoned to the enquiry. The enquiry covers : (a) the personal situation of the injured person; (b) the time and cause of the accident; (c) the nature and consequences of the accident; (d) the question of culpability or gross or venial negligence of the employer or his representative, the injured person, or a third party. In addition to the above information, the insurance institution (the local institution or the insurance fund for transport undertakings) must supply the following particulars: (a) the physical infirmities of the injured person due to previous injuries; (b) the basic wage of the injured person ; (c) the compensation to which the dependants of the injured person are entitled; (d) the amount of any allowance or pension paid to the injured person in respect of an earlier injury. In Switzerland, the Federal Act of 13 June 1911 requires the National Fund to ascertain the circumstances, cause, and conse- — 499 — quences of an accident immediately on receiving a notification. For this purpose the National Fund may request the assistance of the cantonal authorities. The insured person or his survivors are also entitled to have the necessary enquiries made. All the persons concerned have the right to examine the file (Section 71). In Uruguay, the magistrate, on receiving a notice of an accident, must immediately open a summary enquiry, and hear the statement of the injured person, provided he is in a fit condition to make one, and of the employer and witnesses. He must make the necessary inspections and cause to be made the technical investigations and medical examinations which may be necessary. If the accident is fatal, he must, on the request of an interested party, order a post mortem examination to be made within 48 hours. The purpose of the enquiry is to ascertain : (a) the cause, nature and circumstances of the accident; (b) the injured persons, the places where they are to be found, and their date and place of birth ; (c) the nature of the injuries; (d) the persons covered by Sections 17 and 20 of the Act, who, in the event of the death of the worker, are deemed to be entitled to compensation; the date and place of birth of such persons (for this purpose the appropriate certificates must be procured from the registration office, which issues them free of charge); (e) the daily and annual earnings of the injured persons; (/) in the case of apprentices or workers underage, the normal earnings of an able-bodied worker employed in the same undertaking or similar undertakings in the district. The enquiry must be opened with the knowledge of the interested parties, who may demand any proceedings they consider necessary. The report of the enquiry must be sent by the magistrate to the departmental judge (Section 37 of the Act of 15 November 1920). § 3. — Medical Certificates and Supervision Certain countries require the notice of the accident to be accompanied by a medical certificate. Others consider it sufficient to have a medical certificate made out after the notice, whether before or after the enquiry, or else to exercise medical supervision either at the same time as the enquiry or more often, independent of this formality. Some laws make no provision for medical certificates. CERTIFICATE ACCOMPANYING NOTICE OF THE ACCIDENT In Belgium, a medical certificate must accompany the notice of the accident. The head of the undertaking is bound to attach — 500 — it to the notice of any accident resulting or likely to result in death or a loss of working capacity of more than one week. The certificate must state the certain or expected consequences of the accident, the nature of the injury, the seat of the injury and the place where the injured person is treated (Section 3 of the Decree of 20 December 1904 on the Notification of Accidents). In Bolivia, a person injured in an industrial accident must notify the competent authorities, as certified by a medical practitioner or two non-professional persons (Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924). In Cuba, the employer must send with his notice a medical certificate showing the condition of the injured person and the nature of the injuries (Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916). The magistrate is bound during the course of the enquiry to visit the injured person to obtain his statement. If he considers the medical certificate inadequate, he may appoint a medical practitioner to examine the injured person (Section 27). Sections 31 and 32 of the Act provide for the medical supervision of the injured person, who is entitled to choose his own doctor. The head of the undertaking may, however, request the magistrate to designate another practitioner to. visit the injured person in the presence of his own doctor. If the injured person refuses to agree to this step, the magistrate may decide to suspend the payment of the daily allowance, such decision being communicated to the injured person. If the practitioner designated by the magistrate certifies that the injured person is fit to resume work, whereas he himself and his own doctor are of the opposite opinion, the employer may request the magistrate to appoint a second practitioner as referee who must decide within five days. In Denmark, under Section 44 of the Act of 6 July 1916 amended by the Act of 28 June 1920, a medical certificate must be attached to the notice. In Ecuador a medical certificate must accompany the notice 1 (Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921). In Greece, it may be said that the medical certificate accompanies the notice, since if notice is given by the injured person he must present himself before the local medical officer, or if it is given by. the employer the practitioner treating the case must make a written statement under oath before the magistrate, within the prescribed period, concerning the injured person and the probable 1 The legislation in force in this country provides for thorough medical supervision. — 501 — results of the accident (Sections 10 and 11 of the Act of 31 December 1914). For accidents in mines, the medical practitioner must make a similar statement within 10 days (Act of 21 February 1901 amended by the Acts of 7 January 1912, 11 March 1920 and 15 December 1923). Contravention of these provisions by medical practitioners is liable to penalty under Section 567 of the Penal Code. In Italy, the Act of 31 January 1904 and the Regulations of 13 March 1904 make it compulsory for the employer when notifying an accident to supply a medical certificate showing the condition of the injured person, the probable results of the accident and the date at which such results may be definitely established. This certificate must be incorporated in the notice. For accidents in agricultural undertakings, the medical certificate is included in the notice given by the medical practitioner (Section 71 of the Regulations of 21 November 1918). In the Netherlands, the notice must state the name and address of the medical practitioner who gave first aid, and it must include a medical certificate. The practitioner must state in the certificate the date and time at which he gave first aid and his opinion of the probable period of total or partial loss of working capacity of the injured person. He must also give his opinion on the nature of the injury and communicate it in writing to the National Insurance Bank within 24 hours of giving first aid. In urgent cases the same information must be supplied to the chief medical officer of the district in which the accident took place. The medical certificate forms part of the notice and must be signed by the medical practitioner and the person notifying (Section 69 of the Accident Insurance Act 1901-1921-1923). In Peru, the notice must, if possible, be accompanied by a medical certificate stating the date at which the final result of the injuries may be known (Section 38 of the Act of 20 January 1911). In Sweden, a medical certificate drawn up in the manner prescribed by the medical board must be sent by the employer at the same time as the notice or as soon as possible thereafter. It must state the nature of the enquiry to be undertaken, the condition of the injured person, and if the accident was fatal, the cause of death. The costs of the medical certificate are met by the Insurance Institution. If it is impossible to supply a medical certificate, a certificate of the local clergyman or other local official may be sent instead (Section 21 of the Act of 17 June 1916). In addition to the certificate accompanying the notice, the Act provides for further — 502 — medical supervision. The injured worker must submit to the treatment of any medical practitioner called in by the employer of the Insurance Institution (Section 20). Any refusal on his part may lead to a reduction in compensation (Section 25). CERTIFICATE SUBMITTED AFTER NOTICE OF THE ACCIDENT A certain number of the laws under which a medical certificate need not be furnished until after notice of the accident has been given still consider it necessary to have it submitted before an enquiry is opened. Others simply fix a certain period, which often expires before the formalities of an enquiry have been completed. In Brazil, the employer, who must provide for the medical attendance and requisites of the injured person, must have a medical certificate drawn up within 15 days of the accident stating the seat and nature of the injuries. On the fifteenth working day after the accident the police authorities must be informed by the employer that he has despatched the document in question (Sections 35 and 43 of the Decree of 12 March 1919 for the administration of the Act of 15 January 1919). Further, the employer may always demand an examination of the state of health of the injured person, in which case the magistrate appoints a practitioner to visit the patient in the presence of the practitioner treating the case. If the two disagree, the magistrate appoints a medical referee. The worker himself enjoys similar rights. The magistrate also has the power to adopt this procedure, or it may be started on the request of the insurance company or the trade union (Section 20 of the Act of 15 January 1919). In Chile, under Section 33 of the Act of 8 September 1924, a medical certificate must be submitted to the magistrate before he opens an enquiry. In the absence of such a certificate, or if the certificate supplied does not contain the necessary information, the magistrate may require the local medical officer to report on the condition of the injured person and the nature of the injuries. In France, if the injured person has not returned to work within four days of the accident, the head of the undertaking must file at the mayor's office a medical certificate describing the condition of the injured person, the probable results of the accident, and the date at which it will be possible to know the result definitely. Receipt of the certificate must immediately be acknowledged (Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898). The period of four days is that fixed for slight accidents which do not entail daily benefit — 503 — and includes Sundays and holidays which must not be deducted. It is reckoned from the day after the accident and terminates at the end of the fourth following day. In practice, it is considered that if a certificate has been submitted stating that the disablement is merely temporary and the employer learns later that the disablement is permanent, he must submit another certificate describing the exact condition of the injured person. If the medical practitioners in the district where the accident occurred refuse to issue a medical certificate, the head of the undertaking may request the magistrate to appoint a medical practitioner (cf. Section 13). An employer who fails to supply a medical certificate if the injured person has not returned to work after the fourth day is liable to the penalties specified in Section 14 of the Act. Just as the injured person is entitled himself to notify the accident, so he may also submit a medical certificate to the magistrate (Section 12, subsection 2). At the end of the period of one year from the date of the accident the injured person loses his right to give notice (Section 11), but he retains the right, if notice was given by the employer himself, to supply the magistrate with a new medical certificate showing that his condition is more serious than it was previously certified to be. The chief purpose of the medical certificate from the point of view of procedure is to lead to the institution of an enquiry by the magistrate, if it is to the effect that the injury is likely to prove fatal or to lead to total or partial permanent loss of working capacity (Section 12). If the employer and the worker each supply the magistrate with a medical certificate, the conclusions of which are contradictory, it is the usual legal practice for the magistrate to-open an enquiry or to consult another practitioner. Similarly, if the magistrate considers the medical certificate inadequate he may designate a medical practitioner to examine the injured person (Section 13). When a medical practitioner has been designated in this manner he has the powers of an expert. He must first be sworn, and he must submit his report before the end of the enquiry within the period fixed for the magistrate by Section 13. In this case the statement no longer constitutes a simple medical certificate but forms a very much more complete expert's report properly so-called, covering all the questions of the identity of the injured person, the circumstances of the accident, the treatment given, the state of the injury, the necessary future treatment, the views of the medical practitioner on the likelihood of cure and the probable degree of incapacity. Similar provisions apply to the post-mortem — 504 — examinations which are necessary when the cause of death has not been ascertained. Section 17 lays down that the practitioner designated for this purpose may not be the doctor attending the case nor the doctor attached to the undertaking or to the insurance company to which the head of the undertaking belongs. During the whole period of medical treatment, that is to say, as long as the costs of medical attendance and drugs, as well as the temporary compensation are due, the head of the undertaking may designate to the magistrate a medical practitioner to keep him informed of the condition of the injured person. This designation, duly endorsed by the magistrate, empowers the practitioner to visit the injured person once a week in the presence of the doctor in charge of the case, who must be notified two days in advance by registered letter. The injured person is bound to submit to this visit, and if he refuses, the payment of the daily compensation may be suspended by a decision of the magistrate who must summon the injured person by registered letter. When the court has awarded a pension, a period of three years is allowed within which proceedings may be taken for the revision of the pension on the grounds of aggravation or improvement in the condition of the injured person. During these three years the head of the undertaking may designate to the president of the court a medical practitioner to keep him informed of the condition of the injured person. This designation, duly endorsed by the president, empowers the practitioner to visit the injured person every three months (Section 19). If the injured person refuses to submit to this visit, all payment of pension instalments is suspended by order of the president, who must summon him by registered letter. In Panama, under Section 18 of the Act of 16 November 1916 the employer is bound, if the injured person cannot return to work within four days of the accident, immediately to supply the local authorities with a medical certificate describing the condition of the injured person, the probable results of the injury and the date at which the final results may be known. Failure to supply a medical certificate is punishable by a fine of 50 to 100 balboas. In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, as soon as an accident takes place the employer or his representative must immediately inform the medical practitioner who must supply a report on the accident. The provisions in force do not require the medical report to be attached to the notice of the accident, but they specify that during the enquiry the practitioner in charge of the case may be consulted (Sections 99 and 100 of the Act of 14 May 1922). — 505 — Under the system in force in Uruguay, if the worker has not returned to work within fifteen days of the accident, the employer must supply the magistrate who was notified of the accident with a medical certificate describing the condition of the injured person, the probable results of the accident and the approximate date at which the final result may be known (Section 34 of the Act of 15 November 1920). MEDICAL SUPERVISION The legislation in force in the Argentine Republic does not provide for a medical certificate to accompany the notice of an accident, but under Section 28 of the Regulations of 14 June 1916 the employer is entitled to designate medical practitioners to give the injured person the treatment prescribed by the law. In such cases he must inform the National Labour Department within 48 hours of the names and addresses of the medical practitioners in question. If the employer omits this designation, the practitioners who treated the injured person are considered to represent the employer for the purpose of determining the nature and duration of the injury. If the condition of the victim involves his removal to a hospital, the practitioner designated by the employer and the practitioner of the National Labour Department are entitled to visit him in the hospital (Section 29). At any time, the practitioners are bound to supply the following documents: (a) a certificate stating since when the worker was disabled; {b) a certificate stating the date from which the worker is fit to return to work; (c) when the worker is cured, a certificate stating the degree of his disablement; (d) for fatal accidents, a death certificate (Section 30). These certificates must give full and precise details of the injury or recognised loss of working capacity. In the event of death, they must give all necessary information on any post-mortem examination which may have been held (Section 31). An authentic copy of these certificates must be signed by the employer and sent by him to the National Labour Department on pain of a fine (Section 32). The injured person must be informed of certificates relating either to the date at which he is expected to be fit to return to work or to the degree of disablement due to the accident. If he agrees, he must sign the documents (Section 33). If, however, he disputes the statement, he may nominate medical practitioners, who, in consultation with the medical inspector of the National Labour Department and the employer's practitioners, carry out — 506 — another examination and draw up a report of their views. Should these various practitioners disagree, the matter is referred to the National Health Department which must be supplied with all the documents and take the final decision (Sections 34 and 35). In one of the States of the Commonwealth of Australia, Queensland, the various Workers' Compensation Acts in force, adopted betwen 1916 and 1921, have instituted a system of medical examination. Such examination may be ordered either by the insurance commissioner or by the clerk of petty sessions. It must take place within 14 days of the notice given to the worker of the selection of the medical referee. If several examinations are necessary they may not be held more often than once a month. The medical referee must make a report stating : (a) the nature and extent of the injuries and their probable cause; (b) if there is anything in the habits of the worker or his mental or physicalcondition or general state of health not arising from the accident likely to prolong disablement or to aggravate it; (c) the fitness of the worker for employment and the probable date when he will be able to return to work ; (d) if not fit for his previous occupation, the kind of employment for which he is or probably will be fitted. As already explained, Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921 in force in Ecuador makes it compulsory for the employer to attach a medical certificate to his notice to the police authorities. Moreover, under the Regulations of 22 April 1922, provision is made for a complete system of medical supervision, at the same time as for an enquiry. Such supervision takes place under the same conditions as those in force in the Argentine Republic. A similar system of medical examination for both sides obtains, and in the event of disagreement between the practitioners designated by the parties, the decision is taken by a higher authority. Whereas in the Argentine Republic the National Health Department is competent, in Ecuador the decision is in the hands of the nearest medical Faculty. Copies of the decision are sent to the employer and the worker by the authorities who called for the consultation (Sections 4, 5 and 14 to 21). In Esthonia and Latvia, there is no notice properly so-called, but if an enquiry is held by the police authorities they must consult a medical practitioner (Section 41 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). In Great Britain, no provision is made for attaching a medical certificate to the notice. Neither the Act of 1906, nor that of 1923 — 507 — contain provisions on the rights and obligations of the medical practitioner, the action to be taken by him, or the contents of the medical certificate. British law does not make examination by a specialist and his statement a condition of compensation by the employer. The Act of 1906, which in this respect has not been amended by the Act of 1923, lays down that where a worker has given notice of an accident he must, if so required by the employer, submit himself for examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer. If he refuses to submit himself to such examination or in any way obstructs it, his right to compensation and to take or prosecute any proceedings under the Act in relation to compensation is suspended until such examination has taken place. Any worker receiving weekly payments under the Act is also bound to submit himself from time to time for examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner designated by the employer. The intervals at which such examinations are made are prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of State. When a worker has submitted himself for medical examination, he must be given a copy of the report of the practitioner within six days. In the event of disagreement between the employer and the worker as to the degree of his disablement or state of health, the matter may be referred on the request of both parties by the registrar of the county court to a medical referee. The certificate drawn up by this referee is conclusive evidence as to the matters certified (Schedule I of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906). The system in force in Great Britain has been adapted by the different parts of the British Empire 1 , the principle remaining unaltered, and the only difference lying in the authorities entitled to have the injured person examined. They may be either those who receive notice of accidents or those who settle disputes. In Lithuania, the Act of 2 June 1903 makes no provision for a medical certificate, but during the enquiry to be conducted on the spot by the police authorities a medical practitioner must be present. It should, however, be observed that the absence of the practitioner cannot prevent the police authorities from drawing up an official report (Section 21). 1 Commonwealth of Australia: New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia. Dominion of Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick (Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918). Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan. India; Newfoundland; New Zealand. South Africa (Act of 1 July 1914). — 508 — In Spain, the following certificates may be required from the practitioners who treat the injured person: (a) as soon as the accident has taken place, a certificate stating that the worker is unable to work; (b) as soon as the worker is cured, a certificate stating that he is fit to return to work ; (c) if he is still disabled after the cure, a certificate to this effect, estimating the degree of disablement; (d) after 11 months of treatment, and on the request of the worker, a certificate describing his condition; (e) if the accident proves fatal, a death certificate stating the immediate cause of death (Section 27 of the Regulations of 29 December 1922.) According to Section 24 of the Regulations, the employer must within 48 hours inform the competent authorities of the names and addresses of the medical practitioners designated by him to treat the injured person. In the absence of such designation the practitioners treating the case are considered to be approved by the employer. The worker himself may make use of bis rights under Section 5, subsection 2, of the Act of 10 January 1922 and consult a medical practitioner, whose name and address he must notify to the competent authorities and the employer within 48 hours. The medical practitioners chosen by the employer and the worker must agree as to the treatment to be given and the proper measures to be taken for as complete and certain recovery of the injured person as possible. In the event of disagreement between them, an appeal may be made to the medical practitioner of the municipal relief institutions. The latter must immediately give his opinion in writing which, if need be, may be used as evidence before the industrial court or the judge of the court of first instance. Certificates concerning the disablement of the worker or his inability to return to work must be communicated to him. In the event of disagreement, he may immediately designate medical practitioners who, together with those of the employer, undertake a re-examination and draw up a report stating their respective opinions. If there is further disagreement between the practitioners, the question is referred to the nearest College of Medicine, whose decision is final, or if the worker agrees, to a representative of such College (Sections 29-32 of the Regulations). In Soviet Russia, a person injured in an accident must, if possible, present himself at the dispensary of the factory, where a competent medical practitioner gives him a certificate and a note exempting him from work for a period of not more than 14 days. According to the instructions he receives, he must present himself again either at the dispensary or before a medical supervisory — 509 — committee. If he is unable to present himself he must send for the practitioner to visit him. If the loss of working capacity is expected to exceed 15 days, the insurance institution must send a medical inspector to visit the insured person. The functions of the medical inspector are : (a) to ascertain the degree of loss of working capacity, either by personal visits or by examining the documents supplied ; (¿>) to see to it that the injured person carries out the instructions of the practitioner treating the case; (c) to take part in the discussions of the medical board as a representative of the insurance office (Instructions of 12 December 1922). In Salvador, neither the Act of 11 May 1911 nor the Regulations of 7 September 1911 provide for a medical certificate to accompany the notice of the accident. According to Section 3 of the Regulations, however, medical practitioners must immediately be designated by the employer to treat the worker. Within 48 hours the names of such practitioners must be notified to the competent authorities. If the employer fails to designate any practitioners he is considered to have approved those treating the injured person (Section 13 of the Regulations). The practitioners must supply certificates concerning: (a) the degree of disablement of the worker at the time of the accident; (b) the conditions under which he will be able to return to work when cured; (c) if he is still disabled when cured, the degree of disablement. 'If the accident proves fatal, a death certificate must be issued. These documents, signed by the employer and sent by him to the competent authorities, must also be communicated to the injured person, who must signify his agreement with the statements by his signature. If he disagrees, he may appoint other medical practitioners, who, together with those of the employer, undertake a re-examination and state their respective opinions in their report. In the event of continued disagreement, the final decision lies with the Faculty of Medicine. Copies of this decision are sent to the employer and the worker (Sections 14 to 20 of the Regulations). LAWS MAKING NO PROVISION FOR MEDICAL CERTIFICATES OR SUPERVISION In certain countries the law does not require a medical certificate to be supplied, nor does it provide for medical supervision. Thus in Austria, the law contains no provision for medical certificates or medical supervision, but as already explained, the purpose of the — 510 — enquiry into the accident is to determine the condition of the injured person and the nature of his injuries 1 . In Bulgaria, there is no provision for a medical certificate, but the Act of 6 March 1924 expressly lays down that the employer or his representative must see that the injured person is given first aid and must have him transported home or, if need be, to a hospital. In Czechoslovakia, the enquiry would seem to be considered sufficient, as the law contains no provision for medical supervision. In Finland, the Order of 18 August 1917 does not refer to medical reports. It would seem that in this respect the results of the enquiry are considered sufficient. In Germany, the Insurance Act of 19 July 1911 contains no provisions on medical certificates or supervision. It should, however, be observed that in Germany the enquiry following on notice of an accident must cover the condition of the injured person, the place to which he has been taken, and the nature of the injury. Moreover, the accident insurance institution and the Federal Insurance Office may each appoint a representative to take part in the enquiry. In Japan, the Decree of 3 August 1916 does not require the head of the undertaking to furnish a medical certificate, but Section 14 expressly provides for medical attendance for the injured worker. In Luxemburg, the person notifying the accident is not required to supply a medical certificate, but the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903 provides that during the course of the enquiry a representative of the management of the insurance institution, a delegate of the sickness insurance fund, to which the injured person belongs, and any expert who may be called on by the management of the institution, are entitled to take part in the enquiry. Moreover, the object of the enquiry is to ascertain the condition of the injured person and the nature of his injuries. In Norway, the Act simply provides that during the course of the enquiry, an agreement may be reached with experts, who no doubt include medical practitioners. In Switzerland, the Federal Act of 13 June 1911, does not expressly provide for medical certificates or supervision, but it entrusts the National Insurance Fund with the duty of making any necessary investigations into the causes and results of the accident. In Roumania, the enquiry would seem to be considered sufficient, as the law contains no kind of provision for medical supervision. 1 Cf. p. 481 et seq. CHAPTER II LITIGATION Take the case of an accident in which a worker has been so seriously injured that he has had to be removed to a hospital. Notice of the accident has been given and an enquiry carried out by the competent authorities in the ordinary way. The degree of incapacity is established by the medical certificate and medical supervision instituted by law, and under the scales in force the injured worker is entitled to a fixed compensation. If a dispute, however, arises between the injured person and his employer concerning their personal responsibility for the accident, a dispute in respect of which the enquiry has failed to produce sufficiently decisive evidence, and the employer refuses to pay the compensation or pension normally due to the injured person, the injured worker, failing settlement by amicable agreement, is driven to seek protection from the law and obtain a decision from the competent authorities to compel the employer to compensate the injury. In this case the difference thus becomes definitely a matter for litigation, and there is a lawsuit properly so-called pending between the two parties. The question therefore arises as to what action the injured person may take to bring before the courts the employer who refuses him compensation; what authorities are competent in the first instance, and in appeals, to examine the case; what force of execution is given to the decisions of such authorities; what right of appeal is open to the parties against a decision they consider contrary to their interests and rights, and, finally, what authorities are competent to review previous decisions, and by what procedure, in the event of a change in the degree of incapacity of the injured person, whether due to aggravation or improvement of his condition. Except in the matter of review procedure, the different laws may be considered and classified according to the authorities who are given competence to settle disputes. Under some laws the ordinary courts, in view of the long experience of the magistrates, are considered competent to decide between the — 512 — parties even in such difficult matters as industrial accidents. Under other laws, on the contrary, the extreme difficulty of these questions and the special knowledge required, both of industrial employment and of the technique of insurance, have been taken into consideration, and the settlement of disputes arising out of industrial accidents is entrusted to special authorities. The laws under which the ordinary judicial authorities are given the necessary competence to settle disputes concerning industrial accidents will therefore be dealt with first, and then those which have set up special authorities for the purpose. § 1. — Competence of Ordinary Judicial Authorities In countries where the Latin legal tradition prevails the ordinary law courts are responsible under the law for settling actions brought to recover compensation for industrial accidents. In general, the ordinary procedure in a slightly simplified form continues to be used as in civil actions, both by the court and by the parties. There is therefore very little to be said on this set of laws. All that need be mentioned are the provisions which appear to differ from the common law. ACTIONS It is of the highest importance to an injured person that he should know how he should bring an action before the courts as he is entitled to do, within what period he must do so, what kind of claims he may make and what person or organisation he should summon. It is unusual for the persons concerned to be deprived of all initiative under the special procedure which frequently governs proceedings taken in respect of compensation or pensions for industrial accidents. Such initiative, however, may prove a source of confusion and injustice, or mistakes in procedure by which the injured person sometimes risks losing his rights. In the majority of cases, therefore, the law contains certain special provisions for preventing ambiguity and error in this respect. The decision to depart from the principles of the ordinary law in favour of the victims of industrial accidents was itself intended to correct an injustice. The whole of the special legislation at present under consideration was created to transfer the onus of proof and give more guarantees to the injured person. Nevertheless;. even though an injured worker may benefit by the special provisions which depart from the general principles of the common — 513 — law, it is not intended that he should therefore be deprived of the right to have recourse to the common law, and consequently most countries have maintained this right in so far as this was considered to the interests of the injured person. It is a generally accepted principle that the head of the undertaking is exempt from responsibility for accidents due to chance causes if he is insured. On this principle the injured person cannot take action against the employer on the ground of his responsibility under the common law. The protection given by legislation is considered much more effective than that obtained by any other means. In a general way it may be said that such exoneration of the employer from responsibility is in the very spirit of the law, and it has usually been sanctioned by legal practice. Some laws, however, contain express provisions on this point. In Ecuador, under Section 9 of the Act of 30 September 1921, the employer discharges in full his obligations arising out of industrial accidents if he insures his employees and workers in a company legally established within the country. In France, under Section 16 of the Act of 9 April 1898, amended by the Act of 31 March 1905, if the employer is insured, the order of the President or the judgment specifies that the insurer is the substitute of the employer, under the provisions of Part IV, so that the injured person is prevented from having any recourse against the head of the undertaking. This comes to the same thing as the exoneration of the latter, who is covered by insuring his workers and employees. In practice, it is even admitted that the agreement between the employer and the insurer may be deemed to constitute a case of management of the business of ethers, and that in this case the worker or employee may bring an action directly against the insurer (Court of Morlaix, 2 June 1915; Dalloz, 1916, II, 29). In Greece, Section 16 of the Act of 31 December 1914 discharges the employer of civil responsibility, transferring it in the event of an accident to the insurer himself. A similar provision applies in Italy under Section 32 of the Act of 31 January 1904, but here an action may be brought against the head of the undertaking if a penal sentence has been imposed on him for the act which caused the accident. . In Panama, Section 22 of the Act of 16 November 1916 similarly allows the injured person to take direct proceedings against the insurance company, but the employer is not discharged of all his S3 — 514 — obligations until the compensation has been paid in full by the insurer. The right to bring an action lapses after one year, but in that case the injured person or his heirs are always entitled to claim damages under the common law from the persons responsible for the accidents. Such claims cannot be combined with claims under industrial accident legislation (Section 15). A similar system is in force in Salvador (Section 10 of the Act of 11 May 1911). In Uruguay, where the same principle holds, the worker is even entitled to bring an action against the insurer, under the provisions of Section 1256 of the Civil Code (Section 45 of the Act of 15 November 1920). It should be added that whenever the insurer is made responsible instead of the employer, the substitution is valid only for industrial accidents occurring under normal conditions. In other cases, the injured person retains the right to claim damages under the common law. The general system of procedure in countries in which the ordinary law courts are competent is that of bringing an action against the employer. In Bolivia, the injured person is entitled to bring an action against the head of the undertaking, but his right lapses after one year from the date of the accident (Section 15 of the Act of 17 January 1924). : In Brazil, in addition to an action brought under the Act onindustrial accidents the injured person may also institute criminal proceedings if the employer is guilty of an offence covered by the ordinary criminal law. Such actions are subject to the ordinary rules of procedure and therefore lapse in the same way as actions under the common law (Sections 46 and 49 of the Regulations. of 12 March 1919). , In Chile, actions against the head of the undertaking under industrial accidents law are similarly governed by the ordinary law. Such actions and the periods within which they lapse areiixed by Book III, Part XII, of the Civil Procedure Code (Section 36 of the Act of 8 September 1924). In Cuba, the injured person, besides being entitled to bring, an. action against the employer under the Act on industrial accidents, which right lapses after one year (Section 13 of the Act of 12 June 1916), may also bring an action under the common law in, the event of fraud, negligence or imprudence constituting an offence: — 515 — under the provisions in force (Section 37 of the Regulations of 26 October 1917). In Ecuador, the right of an injured person to bring an action under the Act on industrial accidents lapses six months after the date of the accident (Section 15 of the Act of 30 September 1921).. In France, the injured person may not bring an action under the common law if the accident is due to inexcusable negligence on the part of the employer or his representatives. In this case the compensation may be increased, provided that the pension of the total of the pensions granted does not exceed the amount of the annual earnings (Section 20 of the Act of 9 April 1898). It should be added that any agreement between the employer and worker to restore the worker's right to bring an action under the common law in the event of inexcusable negligence is considered null and void, as legislation on this point is of a public nature. The period within which the right to bring an action lapses is one year from the date of the accident, or from the close of the enquiry by the magistrate, or from the cessation of payment of the tern-. porary compensation (Section 18 of the Act of 9 April 1898). In Greece, the law provides that even though the insurance company may have taken over the civil responsibilities of the employer, the injured person or his dependants may choose either the compensation to which they are entitled under the Industrial Accidents Compensation Act or that due to them under the com.'-' mon law, provided that (a) the employer or his representative has been guilty of bad faith; (b) that the provisions of laws on industrial safety have not been observed. Actions brought under the Act on industrial accidents lapse three years after the date of the accident (Section 17 of the Act of 31 December 1914). In Italy, actions under the Act on industrial accidents lapse one year after the date of the accident (Section 17 of the Act of 31 January 1904). On the other hand, an action under the common law may be brought against a head of an undertaking or third parties on whom a penal sentence has been imposed on account of the acts causing the accident (Section 32). In Panama, action cannot be brought under Section 15 of the Aot of 16 November 1916 on industrial accidents after a period of one year from the date of the accident. At the end of this period the injured person or his heirs are still entitled to sue the persons — 516 — responsible for the accident before the competent authorities in order to claim damages. Such claims cannot be combined with those made under the Act on industrial accidents. In Peru, under Section 11 of the Act of 20 January 1911, actions brought to recover damages for industrial accidents lapse one year after the date of the accident. The injured person or his dependants are also entitled to bring an action under the common law against the head of the undertaking if the accident was caused by the malicious or criminal intent of the latter (Section 30). In Salvador, the injured person normally brings an action under the common law if the employer is found guilty of an offence under penal law. If such action fails the injured person may institute the special proceedings provided under the Act (Sections 17 and 18 of the Act of 11 May 1911). Such proceedings lapse two years after the date of the accident (Section 18). If criminal proceedings have been instituted under the common law, the period after which the action lapses dates only from the date on which the defendant is acquitted or the case dismissed (Section 16). In the Union of South Africa, an action may be brought against the employer if no agreement between the parties is reached after two weeks of the notification of the accident. Such action must be brought within six months of the date of the accident or, in the event of death, within six months of the death or twelve months of the date of the accident, and may cover the following points: (a) the responsibility of the employer for the payment of compensation ; (b) the amount and nature of compensation; (c) the probable period of the pension in the event of weekly payments ; (d) the identity of the beneficiary if the accident was fatal; (e) any other questions which may arise out of proceedings instituted in execution of the law (Sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1 July 1914). In Uruguay, actions brought under the Act of 15 November 1920. (Section 23), the only proceedings open to the injured person, lapse one year after the date of the accident. Most laws, in addition to recognising actions brought by the injured person against the employer or the person to whom he has delegated his responsibility, whether under special industrial accident legislation, or under the common law, allow him to bring an action against any third parties responsible for the accident. — 517 — If the accident was caused by the act of a third party, the law continues to classify it as an industrial accident, so that the injured person may have the greatest guarantee of obtaining compensation for his injury, and so that he or his dependants may be saved lengthy and costly proceedings during which the onus of proof would fall on them, making the result for this very reason depend on chance. Although it is considered that accidents occurring under these conditions should be classified as industrial accidents, the third party responsible is not necessarily discharged of his obligations. The injured person and his dependants, therefore, retain the right to institute proceedings against him under the common law. Many laws contain no explicit provisions to this effect, but it is the general legal practice to consider that as long as an action under the common law is not prohibited, explicitly or implicitly, it may be brought. In some countries, the conditions under which such proceedings may be taken are defined. In France, Section 7 of the Act of 9 April 1898 expressly provides for proceedings against third parties, but provision is also made for the case of the injured person preferring the less hazardous procedure of action for recovering accident compensation to summoning a third party, although entitled to do so. In such cases, the head of the undertaking is empowered to bring an action directly against responsible third parties in the stead and place of the injured person or his dependants, and any compensation granted relieves the employer to that extent of the obligations charged against him. In Greece, persons who may have claimed compensation under the Act on industrial accidents still retain any rights they may have under the common law against responsible third parties (Act of 31 December 1914). In Italy, an action cannot be brought against third parties unless a penal sentence has been imposed on them (Section 32 of the Act of 31 January 1904). In Panama, the Act of 16 November 1916, although laying down no special procedure, nevertheless specifies that if an action under the Act on industrial accidents has lapsed, recourse may be had against third parties under the provisions of the common law (Section 15). The system in force in Peru, under Section 33 of the Act of 20 January 1911, also allows the head of the undertaking to take the place of the injured person, if the latter fails to bring any action — 518 — against responsible third parties to which he is entitled. Such action brought by the employer lapses after one year. In Salvador, the victim of an accident, besides being entitled to bring an action under Section 12 of the Act of 11 May 1911, may èdso summon before the criminal courts persons who were responsible for the accident by an offence punishable under the penal law (Section 17). In Uruguay, the injured person or his dependants may not only take proceedings under the Act of 15 November 1920, but also sue the persons responsible for the accident for damages, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. Any compensation paid by third parties exempts the employer from his obligations up to an amount equal to the total amount of the damages granted (Section 11). Proceedings against third parties may be instituted by the employer at his own expense and in the name and stead of the injured person or his dependants. If proceedings are instituted jointly by the injured person or his survivors and the employer, they plead jointly and are represented by a single advocate. The Act defines third parties as any persons other than the employer and his employees and workers (Section 11). The procedure in all actions brought under accident compensation laws is generally simplified, chiefly with respect to the institution of proceedings and by fixing the period within which the competent authorities must decide and applying the rules of summary procedure to cases opened under the accident compensation law. As a rule the report of any preliminary enquiry held is transferred direct by the authorities responsible for making the inquiry to the competent magistrate. This is the case in Brazil, where proceedings must immediately be opened, and closed within 12 days of the date on which the competent magistrate receives the report of the enquiry and the documents required under the law (Section 19 of the Act of 15 January and Section 43 of the Regulations of 12 March 1919). In Chile, the judge, not later than five days after completing the enquiry, summons the parties to appear before him to hear the result of his investigation. In France, the magistrate must notify the parties by registered letter of the close of the enquiry and of the filing of the minutes át the registrar's office where, for a period of five days, they may examine them and have a copy made free of stamp duty and registration fees. At the end of this period the file of the enquiry is — 519' — sent to the president of the civil court of the district. The magistrate decides in accordance with the rules of summary procedure (Section 13 of the Act of 9 April 1898). In Uruguay, the procedure to bé followed is that specified for actions for possession (Section 40 of the Act of 15 November 1920). The magistrate who undertakes the enquiry must immediately forward the report to the departmental judge. In Peru, the court must decide within 10 days of the submission of the plea (Sections 50, 52 and 53 of the Act of 20 January 1911). In all cases where the ordinary law courts are competent to decide on disputes arising out of industrial accidents, the parties are always entitled to appeal against such decisions. There is one exception, however, that of Bolivia, where the judgments of the local magistrate are not open to appeal (Section 10 of the Act of 17-19 January 1924). It may be added that under several laws, appeals in cases relating to industrial accidents do not have a suspensory effect; they simply transfer jurisdiction. Certain laws contain special provisions to enable the victims of industrial accidents to recover compensation without cost. Any worker' who suffers an accident is entitled to legal assistance and may take proceedings under the accident compensation law. This is the case in Bolivia (Section 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924), Brazil (Section 21 of the Act of 15 January 1919), Ecuador (Section 18 of the Act of 30 September 1921), France (Section 14 of the Act of 9 April 1898), Panama (Section 16 of the Act of 16 November 1916), Peru (Section 57 of the Act of 20 January 1911), and Uruguay (Section 50 of the Act of 15 November 1920). It has already been stated that in Italy it is not necessary to secure the services of counsel or attorney. COMPETENT AUTHORITIES As previously explained, in the laws at present under consideration the ordinary judicial authorities are held to offer sufficient guarantees for dealing with disputes arising out of industrial accidents. They may be either the magistrate or the court of first instance, as the case may be. It has not been thought necessary to examine in detail the organisation and competence of these authorities. All that need be discussed is the respect in which their competence differs from that under common law. In Bolivia, the local magistrate deals with claims for compensation for industrial accidents, and he is required to settle the matter — 520 — as speedily as possible (Sections 10 and 12 of the Act of 17 January 1924). In Brazil, the competent authority differs according as the accident is suffered by a private individual or a federal employee. In the first case, the civil magistrate of the place where the accident occurred is competent. In the second, on the other hand, the federal judicial authorities deal with the matter (Section 45, subsection 1, of the Regulations of 12 March 1919). In Chile, under Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924, the magistrate is competent to decide claims for compensation for industrial accidents. In Cuba, the judge of the court of first instance within whose area the undertaking where the accident occurred is situated is empowered to settle the dispute (Section 26 of the Act of 12 June 1916). In Ecuador, the Act of 30 September 1921 makes the judge of the court of first instance competent to settle claims for compensation for industrial accidents. In France, the regulations as to the competence of the magistrate are slightly modified with respect to the settlement of disputes concerning industrial accidents. Normally, the competent magistrate is the magistrate of the district in which the accident occurred (Section 15 of the Act of 9 April 1898). If the accident occurred in French territory, outside the district where the undertaking or depot is situated with which the injured person is connected, the magistrate of the latter district has jurisdiction by exception on the application of the injured person or his dependants (Section 15). If the accident occurred in foreign territory, the competent magistrate is the magistrate of the district where the undertaking òr depot is situated with which the injured person is connected. With respect to the nature of the claim, the magistrate decides in the last resort, whatever the amount of the claim, and within 15 days from the presentation of the claim, any disputes concerning funeral expenses and temporary compensation (Section 15). Under French law and legal practice, temporary compensation is deemed to be the compensation payable until the death of the injured person or until the healing of the injury, that is to say, up to the day when the injured person is either fully recovered or has definitely reached the stage of permanent incapacity. In this last case the temporary compensation continues to be paid until the final decision is taken by the competent court. The decisions of the magistrate as to the daily compensation are to be executed notwithstanding appeal. They are not subject — 521 — to appeal except in cases of violation of the law (Section 15, subsection 5). The magistrate also has final jurisdiction in claims for the payment of medical and pharmaceutical expenses to the amount of 300 francs. Above this figure, his jurisdiction is subject to appeal within 15 days of tfhe decision. On the other hand, the magistrate is not entitled to decide in questions of permanent incapacity. If one of the parties, supported by a medical certificate, maintains that the disablement is permanent, the magistrate must declare himself to have no jurisdiction by a decision of which he must, within three days, forward a copy to the president of the civil court, at the same time fixing the amount of the daily compensation if he has not already done so. In Greece, the accident compensation Act designates only one authority, namely, the magistrate of the place oí residence of the defendant or of the place where the accident occurred, irrespective of the sum involved (Sections 12 and 13 of the Act of 31 December 1914). Any amicable agreement reached between the parties must be submitted to the magistrate (Section 14). In Italy, the magistrate of the district in which the accident took place is competent in the absence of a "probiviral " council (collegio dei probiviri) whose decision is final up to a sum of 200 lire, subject to the rules established by the Act of 15 June 1893. Where the claim involves a sum of over 200 lire, the ordinary magistrate of the district where the accident occurred deals with the matter in accordance with the general rules of jurisdiction and procedure (Section 13 of the Act of 31 January 1904). In Peru, the judgments given by the magistrate must be executed, even if there is an appeal, if they relate to medical expenses, hospital treatment, or temporary compensation (Section 51 of the Act of 20 January 1911). In South Africa, it is the district magistrate who decides disputes concerning workmen's compensation. He deals with pleas addressed to him by the employer, the workman, or the court registrar; he hears the parties or their representatives and gives his judgment in public (Sections 12 and following of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1 July 1914). REVIEW OF COMPENSATION After a final decision has been given in an accident compensation case, it may happen that the factors on which it was founded and the information used by the authorities no longer correspond to — 522 — the reality. The condition of the injured person may have changed; it may even have been improperly described. The prognosis on which the compensation was estimated may prove to be contradicted by the facts. Complications may arise leading to an aggravation in the state of the injured person, or even to his death. Finally, an injury which seemed likely to lead to a definite degree of incapacity may subsequently improve so that the incapacity is reduced. Consequently, most laws make provision for these various possibilities, and allow the parties to apply to the competent magistrate for the review of the compensation or pensions already granted, if there is a marked change in the condition of the injured person, even though the earlier decision was rendered as a final judgment. For, if the disability is aggravated, the pension granted is insufficient, if it has disappeared or is reduced the pension is superfluous or excessive. In Brazil, Sections 51 and 53 of the Regulations of 12 March 1919 provide for the review of the judgment fixing the compensation, if the injured person dies from the results of the accident or if the degree of incapacity is increased or reduced, or if the disability recurs or disappears, or finally if it is found that there was an error of judgment or an important mistake in the calculation of the compensation. An application for review may be made within two years of the date of the judgment by the employer, the injured person or his representatives. For the purpose of the regulations, the aggravation of a disability or death, due to the fault of the injured person alone, cannot be considered a result of the accident. In Chile, Section 15 of the Act of 8 September 1924 empowers the employer, the injured person or other persons in receipt of compensation granted by a judgment or by conciliation to claim the review of the compensation on the grounds of aggravation or improvement in the condition of the injured person, or of his death as the result of the accident. Such action must be brought within two years of the date of the accident. In France, during a period of three years from the date either when the daily compensation ceases to be payable or of agreement between the parties or of a judicial decision rendered as a final judgment, it is possible to claim the review of the compensation on the grounds of an aggravation or improvement in the condition of the injured person. If an agreement is reached between the parties and approved by order of the president of the court, the revision may be fixed by an order specifying the increase or decrease — 523 — of the disability. If the parties fail to agree, the matter is referred to the court which may summarily dispose of it (Section 19 of the Act of 9 April 1898). In Italy, the injured person or the insurance institution may, within two years of the date of the accident, open proceedings for the review of the compensation, if it is shown that the first judgment was mistaken or that there has been a marked change in the physical condition of the injured worker due to the accident (Act of 31 January 1904). In Peru, under Sections 61 and 64 of the Act of 20 January 1911, either party may, within three years, claim review of the judgment or the agreement fixing the compensation. The claim for review must be founded on the death of the injured person as a result of the accident, or on a change in the degree of his permanent incapacity in consequence of which the original judgment can no longer be held to apply (Section 61). The application must be addressed to the first Chamber of the Supreme Court which, after applying for the authorisation of the Ministry and the written or verbal statements of the parties, authorises or refuses the application. Before deciding, the Chamber may, if it considers necessary, require the file of the case to be submitted to it (Section 62). If a review is considered necessary, the matter is referred to the magistrate who originally dealt with the case, and he issues a new judgment in accordance with the provisions in force (Section 63). The decision of the Supreme Court in questions of review is final (Section 64). In the Union of South Africa, the law deals with the question of the review of temporary allowances (Section 21 of the Act of 1 July 1914) and the cancellation of agreements between the parties (Section 32). On the application of anyone concerned, within six months of the signature of an agreement, the local magistrate may order the cancellation if it is shown: (a) that the sum paid or payable is notoriously inadequate or excessive ; (ò) that the agreement was reached by fraud or fraudulent means; or (c) that the agreement was vitiated by a mistake concerning the real nature of the injury. In Uruguay, if after the compensation has been fixed the injured person dies from the results of the accident, or his loss of working capacity is increased or reduced, he, his dependants, or, as the case may be, his employer may bring an action for review of the judg- — 524 - ment concerning the nature of the accident and the amount of the compensation. Such action may be brought within one year of the date of the final judicial decision or of the agreement between the parties before the magistrate and may be renewed annually until the degree of incapacity has been declared final and permanent. The departmental judge is competent to deal with the case, and the ordinary procedure for actions for possession is to be followed. The worker may institute proceedings to obtain an increased pension, and the employer to obtain a decrease or removal of the charges imposed upon him by the original judgment or by the agreement concluded before the justice of the peace (Section 43 of the Act of 15 November 1920). § 2. — Competence of Special Judicial Authorities In several countries the settlement of disputes arising out of industrial accidents is considered so difficult a matter that it cannot be left in the hands of the ordinary judicial authorities, at least in the first instance. The problems raised by industrial accidents are of such a special character and require such detailed technical knowledge that it is considered preferable to give bodies accustomed to handle labour questions the necessary competence to settle such disputes. Of the laws to be considered here, not all entrust the handling of actions for the recovery of accident compensation to the same type of authority. Some have set up special courts comprising professional magistrates, experts, and representatives of workers and employers. Others refer the settlement of these questions ,to permanent arbitration. Yet others entrust all these matters to a magistrate expressly designated by the law. Finally, in some countries jurisdiction is given to insurance institutions or workmen's compensation boards. Moreover, all these laws do not consider that the ordinary judicial authorities should be deprived of all jurisdiction. Some consider it sufficient to set up special authorities to deal with disputes in the first instance, appeals being in the hands of the ordinary authorities. In this case the judicial authorities competent to deal with industrial accident cases are of a mixed nature. In this connection, reference may be made to the laws of the Argentine Republic, the Commonwealth of Australia (New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia), Belgium, Canada — 525 — (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia), Esthonia, Great Britain, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, and Spain. In other countries, on the contrary, the ordinary judicial authorities have no jurisdiction, and special bodies have been set up, both of the first instance and as appellate tribunals. This is the ease in the Commonwealth of Australia (Queensland), Austria, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario), Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy (for accidents in agricultural undertakings), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Roumania, Soviet Russia, the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Sweden, and Switzerland. SPECIAL AND ORDINARY AUTHORITIES COMBINED The laws coming under this head will be considered from the point of view, firstly, of what proceedings are open to the parties to establish their claims; next, within what period such proceedings must be taken; further, what authorities are competent to deal with the case and what system is adopted for appealing against the decisions taken; and, finally, what procedure is open for reviewing decisions which have been rendered as a final judgment. Actions In a general way the various laws accept the principle that the head of the undertaking is exonerated from responsibility if he is insured. Further, they define what proceedings are open to the persons concerned. In the Argentine Republic, the law provides for general proceedings to recover compensation for industrial accidents. Such proceedings must be taken within one year of the date of the accident or of the death of the injured person (Section 19 of the Act of 11 October 1915). The injured person may choose between bringing such an action or bringing an action under the general law, if the employer has been guilty of fraud or an offence. Both kinds of action cannot be brought at the same time. In addition, the injured person retains his right to act against third parties responsible for the accident. Third parties are deemed to be any persona outside the industrial undertaking. The workers and employees engaged in the undertaking in which the accident occurred, and a fortiori the employer, can in no case be considered third parties. In New South Wales (Commonwealth of Australia), the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1920 establishes the same system as — 526 — that in force in Great Britain. The right to bring an action,under the Act for the recovery of compensation for an industrial accident lapses six months after the date of the accident or of death. If the injured person can furnish a reasonable excuse, the action may still be brought. In South Australia (Commonwealth of Australia), according to Section 7 of the Workers' Compensation Act of 1911, the right to bring an action for compensation for an industrial accident lapses six months after the date of the accident or of death, but an excuse (absence or other duly proved cause) is always accepted. In Victoria (Commonwealth of Australia) a similar system to that of Great Britain is in force. The victim of an industrial accident may bring an action either under the Workers' Compensation Act or under the general law. Moreover, he is always entitled to proceed against third parties. An action under the Workers' Compensation Act must be brought within four months from the date of the accident or of death, but even after this period it may be brought if it can be proved that the delay was due to a mistake, absence or other reasonable cause (Section 11, subsection 1, of the Acts of 6 September 1915 and 14 December 1922). If the employer is guilty of an offence, the injured person is entitled to take direct proceedings against him under the common law, but such an action cannot be combined with one brought under the Act. Finally, the injured worker is entitled to prosecute both the employer and any third parties responsible for the accident, but he may not obtain both damages and compensation. If the employer has been compelled to pay compensation for the accident, he is entitled under the law to sue responsible third parties for damages. Actions against third parties are brought before the ordinary courts, but in the event of agreement they may also be submitted to the arbitration for which provision is made in the Workers' Compensation Act. In Western Australia (Commonwealth of Australia), the general principles are the same as in Great Britain and the State of Victoria (Workers' Compensation Act, 1912-1920). Proceedings for accident compensation must be taken within six months from the date of the accident or twelve months from the date of death (Employers' Liability Act 1894). In Belgium, Section 21 of the Act of 24 December 1903, amended by the Acts of 27 August 1919 and 7 August 1921, limits the responsibility of the employer to the payment of compensation under the Act. The right to bring an action against the employer lapses three years after the date of the accident. — 527 — The injured person and his dependants, besides having the rigit to bring such an action, are entitled to claim damages from persons responsible for the accident, other than the head of the undertaking or his workers and employees. In this case the procedure is in accordance with the common law, and the head of the undertaking is released from his obligations up to the amount of the damages thus granted. An ordinary action against responsible third parties may be brought, at his own risk, by the employer instead of the injured person or his dependants, if the latter fail to avail themselves of their right. In Esthonia and Latvia, the law expressly exempts employers who have insured their workers from all responsibility towards the insured persons or their dependants (Section 9 of the Act of 23 J.une-6 July 1912). Any action against the head of the undertaking or the insurance institution must be brought within two years of the date of the accident or of death (Section 48). In Great Britain, the person injured in an industrial accident may choose between bringing a special action under the Workmen's Compensation Act or taking proceedings under the common law. He is further entitled to sue third parties. Proceedings for the recovery under the Workmen's Compensation Act of compensation for an accident are not maintainable unless the claim has been made within six months from the date of the accident or of death (Section 2, subsection 1, of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 21 December 1906). The failure to make a claim within the above period is not a bar to the maintenance of proceedings if it is found that the failure was occasioned by mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, or other reasonable cause. Where the accident was caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of the employer or of some other person for whose act or default the employer is responsible, the worker may at his option either claim compensation as indicated above or take proceedings independently of the Act. In either event, the employer cannot be liable to pay compensation for injury to a worker by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment both independently of and also under the Workmen's Compensation Act. It should be added that he cannot be sued under the common law except for personal negligence or wilful act. Where the accident for which compensation is payable was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than the employer, the injured worker may take proceedings both — 528 — against that person to recover damages and against any person liable to pay compensation under the Act, but he is not entitled to recover both damages and compensation. If he recovers compensation under the Act, the person by whom the compensation was paid and any person who has been called on to pay an indemnity under the section of the Act relating to sub-contracting is entitled to be indemnified by the person liable to pay damages. If proceedings are improperly taken under the common law, action under the Workmen's Compensation Act alone being permissible, the court may require the injured person to pay the costs of the first action. In Greece, the injured worker or his dependants are entitled to act both against responsible third parties under the common law and against the head of the undertaking under the Accident Compensation Act (Section 16 of the Act of 31 December 1914). Actions against the head of the undertaking must be brought within three years of the date of the accident or of death. If the employer fails to notify the accident the ordinary periods of limitation apply (Section 17). Nevertheless, the victim or his dependants may, if they prefer, take proceedings under the general law against the person responsible, if the employer or his representative has been guilty of fraud or of bad faith or in the case of failure to observe the provisions of the law with respect to industrial safety. In India, the injured person or his dependants are entitled to take action only under the Workmen's Compensation Act of 5 March 1923. Suoh action must be brought within six months of the date of the accident or of death (Section 10). The commissioner is empowered, however, to admit a claim for compensation even after such period, if he considers that the delay in notifying the accident and in instituting proceedings is due to sufficient cause. In Japan, according to the provisions in force, if the injured person has received compensation under the common law for the injury due to an accident, any compensation the head of the undertaking may be required to pay him is reduced by the amount of compensation already paid (Section 17 of the Decree of 3 August 1916). If an insurer has granted compensation in any case where the accident is due to a third party, he is entitled in the place of the injured person to claim compensation from such third party up to the amount of the compensation actually paid (Section 67 — 529 — of the Health Insurance Act of 22 April 1922). The right to bring an action against the head of an undertaking or the insurer lapses after one year. In Lithuania, the head of an undertaking who insures his workers against the results of accidents with an insurance company or similar institution is released from his obligations under the law, such obligations being transferred to the company or institution (insurance, mutual aid, etc., society), to which any claims for compensation must be addressed (Section 52 of the Act of 2 June 1903). The right of the injured person to take proceedings against the head of the undertaking or the insurer lapses two years after the date of the accident or of death (Section 36). In Luxemburg, the injured person may take action only under the Act on Industrial Accidents. If the employer has been declared by a penal judgment guilty of having intentionally caused the accident, the insured persons and their dependants are entitled to claim damages by an action under the common law. The damages they can claim by such an action are limited to the amount of the compensation which would be paid as the result of an action brought under the Act on Industrial Accidents. The heads of undertakings are responsible for the acts of their employees or representatives. Actions brought under these conditions by the injured person or his dependants lapse 18 months after the date on which the penal judgment has become final. In certain cases, if it is impossible to take penal proceedings, a civil judge may decide on the admission or rejection of a claim for damages under the common law (Sections 21 to 23 of the Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903). Actions against responsible third parties are brought in accordance with the ordinary rules of legal procedure, but they may not be brought by the insured person, his rights being delegated to the Insurance Association up to the amount of its payments to the insured person or his dependants. In Spain, the victim of an industrial accident may claim compensation in one of three different ways: (a) Firstly, he may bring an action under the Industrial Accidents Act, but his right to do so lapses after one year. The calculation of the time limit for the lapse of this right is suspended so long as ordinary criminal or civil proceedings are pending, and is resumed on the date of the dismissal of the case or of the acquittal of the accused (Section 12 of the Act of 10 January 1922). (b) In the event of an offence or negligence on the part of the employer, the injured worker may apply to the ordinary court 34 — 530 — (Section 14). If such action fails he is still entitled to take action under the Industrial Accidents Act. (c) Finally, the injured person or his dependants may always sue any third parties responsible for the accident; and it should be added that the head of the undertaking or the insurance institution may prosecute such third parties on behalf of the injured person. Competent Authorities As already explained, the competent authorities in the first instance are either special bodies or arbitration authorities. The term "special bodies" covers workmen's compensation boards,the committees of insurance institutions, and industrial courts on which employers and workers are represented. Special Authorities In the Argentine Republic, there are no proceedings before a special authority in the strict sense of the term, as all applications must begin by claims addressed by the persons concerned to theNational Labour Department. According to Section 24 of the Act of 11 October 1915, the worker or his dependants must notify the National Labour Department in writing of their claim for compensation, stating the amount and the exact section and subsection of the Act involved. Similarly, the head of the undertaking must notify the Department in the same way, stating also his objections, if any, and the nature of his defence (Section 26). As soon as the National Labour Department is informed of disagreement between the employer and the worker or his dependants on the subject of compensation, it must make an offer in writing to mediate (Section 27 of the Regulations). The National Labour Department, besides being responsible for attempting conciliation in this manner, also undertakes any enquiries into the circumstances of the accident and its consequences for the injured person (Sections 29 to 35). Until such administrative procedure has failed, the injured person cannot bring an action under the common law. In Canada, in the provinces of New Brunswick (Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918) and Nova Scotia, Workmen's Compensation Boards are competent to prescribe enquiries and decide in the first instance on all cases arising out of the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Acts. The Board has the powers of a court for compelling the attendance of witnesses and even of examining them under oath. — 531 — ' In Esthonia and Latvia, the competent authority of first instance is the insurance institution, to which the injured person is compelled to turn before taking other action (Sections 46 and 47 of the Act of 26 June-6 July 1912). It may be added that as a rule the disputes committee of the insurance institution decides in the first place on claims for compensation, and sometimes it even decides and fixes the amount of compensation or pension without a special application, as soon as it considers that it has obtained sufficient information from the negotiations and other enquiries it may have undertaken. In Greece, under the special mine accidents legislation (Act of 21 February 1901, amended by the Acts of 7 January 1912, 11 March 1920, and 15 December 1923) the court of first instance is the Miners' Fund. The claim for compensation must be presented to the board of management of the Fund at its next meeting. The board must decide as to the award of the compensation or the pension claimed and must state its reasons (Section 32). The board is composed of nine members. The chairman is the legal adviser of the Ministry of National Economy. The other members are the director of the Mines Department or his substitute, as vice-chairman; two representatives of mining and metal-workers; three doctors (a pathologist, a surgeon, and an oculist) who must be professors of the University of Athens. The last seven members are appointed each year by a decree. The Greek Act provides that in cases where the injured workman or his dependants do not receive a decision from the Miners' Fund within the period of two months, prescribed by Section 31, the Fund is to be held responsible. The persons concerned can bring an action against the Fund in the ordinary courts. In India, the authority of first instance is the commissioner appointed by the Local Government to administer the Workmen's Compensation Act. The competent commissioner is the commissioner for the local area in which the accident took place, unless the injured person is a seaman, in which case the matter is brought before the commissioner for the local area in which the owner or agent of the ship resides or carries on business. The commissioner has all the powers of a civil court. He may enforce the attendance of witnesses and take evidence on oath. In Japan, the Sickness Insurance Act of 22 April 1922 (which also applies to industrial accidents) provides that any person who is dissatisfied with the decision concerning compensation for accidents taken by an insurance fund may apply to the sickness insur- — 532 — ance enquiry commission of first instance for an enquiry (Sections 80 to 88). He may not bring an action before an ordinary court until a decision has been taken by this enquiry commission with which he is still dissatisfied (Section 80). In Lithuania, parties who fail to reach an amicable agreement must apply to the factory or mines inspector, who collects all the necessary information (Sections 32 and 33 of the Act of 2 June 1903) and endeavours to conciliate the parties. If he fails, he refers them to the competent administrative authorities, who decide. The right to apply to the ordinary courts is allowed only as an appeal against such administrative decision (Section 40). In Luxemburg, the amount of the compensation must be decided at the earliest possible date by the officers of the insurance associations with the assistance of workers' delegates (Section 47 of the Act of 5 April 1902). The number of such workers' delegates, who have a deliberative vote, must be equal to that of the employer members present. The workers' delegates are elected every three years, and the names of those required to take part in each session are selected by lot from the cantonal lists (Section 35 of the Act and the Grand Ducal Decree of 17 February 1903). In Spain, disputes arising out of the application of the Industrial Accidents Act of 10 January 1922 must be brought before an industrial court set up under the Act of 22 July 1912 (Section 2) which empowered the Government to appoint a body of this kind for each judicial area. As these institutions are not compulsory, the regulations for the administration of the Industrial Accidents Act lay down that in an area where there is no industrial court the disputes must be brought before the civil court of first instance. Under Section 3 of the Act of 22 July 1912, the industrial court is composed of: (a) a professional judge of first instance who acts as president; (¿>) a jury of four — two representing employers, and two, workers. The members of the jury are selected in each case from two lists of employers and workers elected for the area (Section 9). Cases are brought before the court for the district in which the work was performed which gave rise to the accident. If the work was performed in the territory of different judicial areas, the competent court is that for the area in which the worker is resident. The court for the area of the contract may be competent at the option of the applicant, if the defendant is there and may be sued before it (Section 18) — 533 — The first step in proceedings is an attempt at conciliation to be made before the judge of first instance acting as president of the industrial court. If the attempt at conciliation fails, two members and one deputy member of the jury are selected by lot from each of the two lists in the presence of the parties concerned (Section 27). The parties can challenge the selection in accordance with the ordinary rules of civil procedure. If after a second summons from the judge, who fixes the date and time of the hearing (Section 29), the industrial court cannot be constituted owing to the absence of the selected jurymen, the case is simply submitted to the judge of first instance in his capacity as president (Sections 31 and 32). The method of procedure of the industrial court is defined in detail. The members of the jury may pronounce only on questions of fact. If their voting is equal, the president has a casting vote after he has been informed of the opinion of each of the jurymen (Section 42). The president may require the jury to reconsider the matter, either on the application of the parties or automatically, in the following cases: (a) if the verdict does not answer certain important questions; (b) if the replies to such questions are mutually incompatible. Further, the president may require the revision of the case by a new jury, if the verdict is reached by a majority and he considers that the jury has made a serious and obvious mistake. Arbitration in the First Instance In the States of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria (Commonwealth of Australia), the law provides that if the parties fail to reach an amicable agreement they must have recourse to arbitration, but they are entitled to select an ordinary judge as arbitrator. In New South Wales, however, arbitration is not absolutely compulsory, being left to the option of the parties. If they do not have recourse to arbitration, they may institute proceedings before the county court, in which case the judge does not act as arbitrator. The difference is, however, of slight importance (Workmen's Compensation Act of 1920). In Victoria, if the parties fail to agree, the Act expressly designates the county court judge or police magistrate, at the option of the injured person, as arbitrator (Workmen's Compensation Act of 1922). — 534 — In Belgium, the magistrate is normally competent in the first instance (Section 26 of the Act of 24 December 1903). The magistrate of the district in which the accident occurred alone has jurisdiction in actions concerning compensation due to a worker or his dependants and in suits for the review of such compensation. He decides summarily in cases up to the amount of 300 francs, and in the first instance in cases involving sums in excess of this figure. If the accident takes place abroad, the territorial jurisdiction of the magistrate is determined as in cases relating to personal property. The Act further lays down that for undertakings belonging to mutual insurance funds the rules may provide that the settlement of disputes shall be referred to an arbitration commission, which decides either in the last instance or with provision for appeal to the court of first instance of the district where the fund is situated, according to the rules concerning the jurisdiction of magistrates (Section 26). Such provision must be notified to the insured workers in the manner defined by the rules. These arbitration commissions consist of a chairman and vicechairman, both designated for a term of five years from among local magistrates by the first' president of the court of appeal within whose area the commission is competent. They include, further, an equal number of employer and worker assessors, such number being fixed by the rules of the fund. The assessors are designated for a term of not more than five years, from among persons who are eligible to the council of first instance, by the employer and worker members of the ' ' probiviral " council (conseil des prud'hommes) of first instance or of appeal. No arbitration commission has jurisdiction outside the area of the court of appeal to which the presiding magistrate belongs. Before deciding, the commission must endeavour to conciliate the parties. It is at its discretion to consult experts. In Great Britain, the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 provides that if the compensation cannot be fixed by agreement between the parties, it must be settled by arbitration. Such arbitration is in the hands of a committee or commission appointed by the parties. As a rule, it is a committee which arbitrates in industrial disputes in general. The persons concerned may also select a single arbitrator, or if they fail to agree, they may refer to the judge of the county court or an arbitrator appointed by that judge (Schedule II). — 535 — If the judge of the county court is selected, he decides not in his capacity as judge, but as arbitrator The chief importance of this distinction is that the hearing of evidence is governed by the special provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and not by the common law. In this case, the competent judge is the judge of the county court of the district in which the parties concerned reside or in which their business is situated. If the parties reside in different districts, that in which the accident occurred or in which the defendant is resident is selected. If the accident took place at sea, the competent judge is the judge of the county court of the district in which the vessel is, or of its port of origin, or in which the injured person resides. Any agreement between the parties, or the arbitration award, must be registered by the registrar of the county court. Such registration serves under the British law as a check on agreements and arbitration awards. The registrars must ascertain that the awards or agreements submitted to them comply with the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act. Appeals In the countries at present under consideration it is considered that the ordinary judicial authorities are competent to deal with appeals against the decisions either of industrial courts, or of insurance committees, or of arbitration committees. The conditions under which such appeals may be made therefore need not be considered in detail. In the three States of the Commonwealth of Australia coming under this head, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, if a dispute arising out of an industrial accident has already been judged by the county court, an appeal is allowed before the Supreme Court or other court of the state in which the court of first instance is situated, but such an appeal may relate only to a point of law. If on the other hand the case has been settled by an arbitrator who is not a professional judge, an appeal is not allowed, though while the case is pending before him the arbitrator himself may submit a point of law to a judge or magistrate. In this case the parties may appeal against the decision on the point of law. In New South Wales and Victoria in particular, an appeal to the Supreme Court is allowed, not only on the point of law, but also on the facts. In the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the Dominion of Canada, an appeal may be brought before the Supreme Court, provided that it relates to a point of law. — 536 — In Esthonia and Latvia, after the insurance institution has taken a final decision, of which the claimant must be informed in writing, the latter may appeal within six months of such communication, after which period his right to appeal lapses (Sections 54 and 55 of the Act of 23 June-6 July 1912). In Great Britain, an appeal is not allowed if the parties have accepted arbitration, but this provision is subject to the reservation that the arbitrator may refer questions of law to an ordinary judge. In this event, the parties may appeal, not against the appreciation of the facts accepted by the arbitrator, but on a question of law, of the interpretation and administration of the Act. The appeal is brought before the divisional court. In Greece, the parties may appeal against the decisions of the insurance fund or the court of first instance before the Athens appeal court within a period of three months. Such an appeal has no suspensory effect. It must be settled by the rules of summary procedure within fifteen days and the settlement cannot be quashed (Section 34 of the Act of 31 December 1914). In India, the position is the same as in Great Britain. The Workmen's Compensation Act of 5 March 1923 prohibits an appeal if the parties have agreed to refer the case to the local commissioner as arbitrator. In the absence of such arbitration accepted by the parties, or if a substantial question of law is involved, an appeal may be brought before the High Court within 60 days. The Act enumerates the cases in which such appeal is admitted. In general, they are those of decisions granting or refusing compensation to the injured person or his dependants, or refusing to approve and register an agreement reached in respect of an industrial accident etc. In Japan, any person who is dissatisfied with the decision of the sickness insurance inquiry commission of first instance may bring an action in the ordinary law court (Section 80 of the Act of 22 April 1922). In Luxemburg, appeals are dealt with by the arbitration courts (up to 1500 francs as a court of last instance) and the high court of justice. They must be brought within 40 days of the decision of the authority of first instance. In Spain, an appeal may be brought before the territorial court against verdicts of the industrial courts (Section 32 of the Aot of 22 July 1912). They can also be brought before the Supreme Court (Section 48). — 537 — Review Whatever the authorities of first instance which deal with disputes arising out of industrial accidents, in nearly every country the law allows the parties to apply for a review of decisions rendered as a final judgment, if certain circumstances have arisen which no longer correspond to the situation created by the decision. In the State of Victoria (Commonwealth of Australia), the Workers' Compensation Act of 14 December 1921 makes the judge of the county court competent to settle requests for review. In the absence of agreement the weekly payments may, however, be amended by arbitration. In Belgium, a claim for review must be founded on the aggravation or improvement of the disability of the injured person or on his death as a result of the accident. It may be made for a period of three years from the date of the agreement between the parties or of the final judgment (Section 30 of the Act of 24 December 1903). In Esthonia and Latvia, either party is entitled, within a period of three years of the date of the decision granting a pension, to demand not more than once a year another medical examination with a view to altering the amount of the pension or withdrawing it. The competent authority for such review is the authority which decided in the first instance (Section 62 of the Act of 23 June6 July 1912). In Great Britain, when on application being made in accordance with rules of court it appears to the court that, on account of neglect of children on the part of the widow or of the variation of the circumstances of the various dependants or for any other sufficient cause, an order of the court, or an award as to the apportionment amongst the several dependants of the compensation or as to the manner in which the sum payable to a dependant is to be invested or otherwise dealt with, ought to be varied, the court may make such order for the variation of the former order or the award as in the circumstances of the case it may think just (Schedule I, paragraph 9, of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906). Further, at the request of either the worker or the employer any weekly payment may be reviewed; the review may result in the withdrawal of the pension, its reduction, or its increase up to the statutory maximum. Under Section 15 of the Act of 16 November 1923, a weekly payment, payable in respect of an injury by an accident happening after the commencement of the Act, may at any time after six months from the date of the accident be reviewed — 538 — at the request either of the worker or of the employer, if it is claimed that, had the worker remained uninjured and continued in the same class of employment as that in which he was employed at the date of the accident, his average weekly earnings during the twelve months immediately preceding the review would, as a result of fluctuations in rates of remuneration, have been greater or less by more than 20 per cent, than the average weekly earnings during the twelve months previous to the accident. Similarly, under Section 24, subsection 6, of the 1923 Act, it is laid down that if the worker at the date of the accident was under 21 years of age and the review takes place more than six months after the accident and before he reaches 21 years, the amount of the weekly payment may be increased to such an amount as would have been awarded if at the time of the accident he had been earning the weekly sum which he would probably have been earning at the date of the review if he had remained uninjured. Finally, according to Section 16 of the 1923 Act, if a worker who has so far recovered from the injury as to be fit for employment of a certain kind proves to the satisfaction of the judge of the county court that he has taken all reasonable steps and failed to obtain such employment, the failure being wholly or mainly a consequence of the injury, the judge may order that his incapacity shall continue to be treated as total incapacity for such period and subject to such conditions as may be provided by the order. Any such order is made subject to the condition that it ceases to be in force if the worker receives unemployment benefit. In Greece, the Act of 21 February 1901 on industrial accidents in mines provides for the review of the decision granting a pension or compensation, if there have been changes in the circumstances or in the condition of the injured person (Section 35). In India, the Act of 5 March 1923 provides for the review of any half-monthly payments payable under an agreement between the parties or under the order of a commissioner. Such revision is effected by the commissioner at the request of the employer or the worker. The application must be accompanied by the certificate of a medical practitioner that there has been a change in the condition of the worker. In the absence of a medical certificate, a review may be made subject to the following conditions: (a) at the request of the employer, if, since the worker's right to compensation was fixed, his wages have increased; (b) at the request of the injured person, if, since his right to compensation was fixed, his wages have decreased; — 539 — (c) at the. request of the injured person, if the employer having begun his payments in respect of compensation ends them without any change in the condition of the worker justifying such cessation; (d) at the request of the worker, if, after bis right to compensation has been fixed, he becomes of age; (e) at the request of the employer or worker, if the fixing of the rate of compensation for the period it has been in force was obtained by fraud, undue pressure, etc. (Section 6 of the Act of 1 March 1923 and Section 3 of the Regulations of 26 June 1924). In Lithuania, review is allowed on the same conditions as obtain in Esthonia and Latvia (Section 45 of the Act of 2 June 1903). In Luxemburg, the law provides for the review of judgments, decisions or agreements on compensation for industrial accidents, if the conditions on which the compensation was fixed have undergone important modification. The review may be either automatic or effected on the application of the persons concerned; the application must be made within three years of the date of the first decision (Section 47 of the Act of 5 April 1902, amended by the Acts of 23 December 1904 and 21 April 1908). Before any modification takes place, the persons concerned must be informed of the facts on which the re-determination is to be based, and they are allowed eight days in which to make their observations (Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903). The competent authority for revision is the managing committee of the Accident Insurance Institution (Section 51 of the Act). In Spain, the Act does not set up a system of review, but it always allows an appeal to the Supreme Court (Section 48 of the Act of 22 July 1912). SPECIAL AUTHORITIES The next group of laws to be considered is that in which jurisdiction over disputes arising out of industrial accidents is altogether in the hands of special authorities. Actions The dominating principle in these laws, and one which has a marked effect on procedure properly so called, is that the head of the undertaking by insuring becomes exempt from responsibility towards the injured person. The only cases in which he remains responsible are those of serious offences or fraud. Further, if the accident was caused by the wilful act or serious negligence of the — 540 — head of the undertaking or a third party, the insurance institution is entitled to bring an action in th^e place of the injured person. In certain countries, if the insurance institution obtains a higher compensation than that payable to the injured person, the latter benefits by the difference, the institution retaining only a sum equal to its payments. This is the case in particular in Austria (Sections 45 and 47 of the Act of 28 December 1887), Bulgaria (Section 15 of the Act of 6 March 1924), and Czechoslovakia (Section 47 of the Act of 28 December 1887). Such actions brought by the insurance fund against third parties or heads of undertakings guilty of negligence or fraud are dealt with by the ordinary law courts. These courts are not expressly mentioned in most laws, but the fact may be inferred both from principle and practice. Some laws, however, give definite directions in this respect. Thus the law in the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom specifies that in the event of fraud or a serious offence on the part of the employer the insurance institution may directly institute proceedings against him by ordinary judicial procedure. The right to bring such an action lapses after three years (Sections 96 to 98 of the Act of 14 May 1922). In Switzerland, the Act exonerates the employer (if he has effected the payment of the premiums to which he is liable under compulsory insurance, or of at least half such premiums in cases of voluntary insurance) of all civil responsibility except in the event of fraud or a serious offence (Section 129 of the Act of 13 June 1911). The claims of the insured person or his survivors against third parties responsible for the accident are transferred to the National Fund up to the amount of its payments (Section 100). Attention should be drawn to the fact that in the laws at present under consideration the question of the limitation or forfeiture of the right to take proceedings is of secondary importance. In most cases the procedure which culminates in the granting of compensation cannot properly be described as judicial procedure. In a manner it may be said to be opened by the simple fact of notice of the accident being given. The insurance institutions, as already explained, themselves undertake an enquiry if they consider it necessary, and take an independent decision. Such a decision, which constitutes a sort of verdict of the first instance, is notified to the injured person, who from the legal point of view cannot in the normal course of events establish his position until the decision has been taken in the first instance and he desires to appeal against it. It will be seen that all these laws fix the period within — 541 — which an appeal may be brought with much greater detail than the rules concerning the decision of first instance. In a few countries, however, the period within which claims for compensation must be brought in the first instance are fixed. The main object of these provisions is to meet the case of the competent authorities failing to proceed to fix the compensation payable to the injured person, as also of the employer failing to notify the accident; for then the injured person or his dependants may make a claim for compensation and know within what period they must do so. Thus in the Province of Alberta in Canada, the right to take proceedings lapses after three months, except in specified cases where sufficient cause is shown (absence etc.). It has already been seen that the British Workmen's Compensation Acts are very generous in this respect. They contain nearly every provision necessary to prevent the persons concerned from forfeiting their rights by a delay due to force majeure or even to a mistake. In Austria, the period is one year (Section 34 of the Act of 28 December 1887). The same period applies in the Provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba in Canada, and in Denmark. The period is two years in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Norway, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom. Authorities of First Instance In the laws at present under consideration the general rule is that compensation is granted in the first instance by a commission, which is often at the same time one of the governing or administrative authorities of the insurance institution. As a rule the decision is taken following on an enquiry into the circumstances of the accident and the condition of the injured person, carried out by the police or representatives of the insurance institution. The composition of these authorities of first instance will be considered in detail, but it may be stated at the outset that in general they are administrative bodies which frequently include representatives of employers and workers as well as professional judges. In Queensland (Commonwealth of Australia), the injured person must begin proceedings by filing a claim for compensation with the clerk of petty sessions, who forwards it to the Insurance Commissioner of the State Accident Insurance Fund. The latter, having called for any information he considers necessary, more especially by means of medical examination, grants compensation. If the applicant objects to the Commissioner's decision, he may — 542 — forward a notice in writing requiring the matter to be referred to a medical referee appointed under the Industrial Compensation and Arbitration Act of 1916. In Austria, the authority of first instance is the insurance institution. In some respects the Austrian law differs from that of Germany. Thus, instead of the occupational bodies on which the German system is based, a single insurance institution for all the undertakings in a region combines the regional organisations, whatever the branch of industry to which the undertakings belong. There are three institutions with headquarters at Vienna, Gratz, and Salzburg respectively. The managing committee, which decides in the first instance, consists of equal numbers of representatives elected by employers and by insured workers and employees, and a similar number of persons acquainted with local economic conditions, appointed by the Minister for Social Affairs in agreement with the Provincial General Council. The committee elects its own president (Sections 9-13 of the Act of 28 December 1887). It must fix compensation in cases of fatal accidents immediately on the conclusion of the enquiry or after notification of the death. In cases of physical injury, its decision must be taken within four weeks of the date of the accident. In Bulgaria, the decision as to which is the competent authority depends on whether the claim is for medical benefit and temporary compensation or for an invalidity pension. In the first case the factory inspectors are competent under the supervision of the central administrative authorities of the insurance fund (Section 47 of the Act of 6 March 1924). In the second case pensions are granted or refused'by a pensions board, consisting of: (a) six State officials, three of whom are medical practitioners attached to the Ministry of Labour; {b) a judge of appeal; (c) two representatives each of employers and workers. In the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, compensation is fixed by the Workmen's Compensation Boards. These have all the powers of a court for compelling the attendance of witnesses and examining them under oath and compelling the production of documents, etc. They even enjoy more latitude than the ordinary courts as far as obligation to comply with the law and previous legal decisions is concerned. They consist as a rule of three members appointed by the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of the province. Their sessions are normally held in the capital, but in case of need may be held elsewhere. — 543 — In Czechoslovakia, compensation must be fixed within four weeks of the date of the accident, or if the accident is fatal, as soon as the insurance institution is informed or immediately on conclusion of the enquiry. If the compensation is not fixed within this period temporary compensation must be granted (Section 33 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921). The authority of first instance, which grants such compensation, is the workers' accident insurance institution. The management and representation of this institution is in the hands of a committee, one-third of which represents employers, one-third insured workers and employees, and one-third consists of persons acquainted with local economic conditions who are appointed by the Minister for Social Affairs. In Denmark (Act of 6 July 1916, amended by the Act of 28 June 1920), there is only one authority for industrial accident compensation. This is the Workers' Insurance Council which sits in the capital. It consists of four sections (Section 9): (a) for industry, handicrafts, commerce and domestic service; (b) for shipping; (c) for fishing and coast shipping; (d) for agriculture. Each section consists of a president and two members, all appointed by the Crown, one of them being a medical practitioner and the other qualified to act as a judge or attorney, together with two representatives each of employers and workers appointed by the Minister of the Interior. The first section also includes two representatives of voluntarily insured persons who have a vote only for questions affecting voluntary insurance. The Finnish law establishes similar distinctions to those obtaining in Austria. Medical benefit and temporary compensation, as also funeral benefit for fatal accidents are granted by the insurance funds. Permanent incapacity pensions are in the competence of the Insurance Council, which consists of a chairman, who must be a professional judge, and seven members. One member must belong to the medical profession, three are selected from among employers, and three from among the workers in undertakings liable to accident insurance. The Act specifies that at least one employer and one worker must be industrial, and at least one employer and one worker agricultural. The chairman and members are appointed by the Government for a term of three years, with two deputies for each member (Section 38 of the Order of 18 August 1917). — 544 — The Insurance Fund, which is responsible for conducting enquiries, must immediately forward to the Council all documents relating to applications for compensation, together with its report. If the Council considers that it is impossible to decide with certainty the final effects of the injury, it may fix a temporary compensation until either party has produced a new report and applies for the revision of the council's decision. In Germany (Act of 19 July 1911), the authorities of first instance are: (1) the insurance institution, as a rule the managing committee of the insurance association, fixes the benefit and decides on compensation. In certain cases (Section 1568) it is the management of the section. Moreover, the rules may entrust the determination of compensation to other bodies (Sections 1568 and 1569). The insurance institutions for accident insurance are bodies with legal personality. Each institution has a managing committee consisting of a chairman and members with the necessary member substitutes. The representatives of the heads of undertakings or other employers and of the insured are elected on the basis of proportional representation for a term of four years (Sections 3 to 34); (2) the authority appointed by the regulations in cases when accident insurance, instead of being in the hands of the associations, is managed by some other institution, more particularly when it is administered directly by one of the federal states or a commune. The German law lays down the procedure in detail. There are four stages: (a) preliminary proceedings, which consist in any further investigations the insurance institution may order, if it considers that the matter is not made sufficiently clear by the first investigation (Sections 1571 to 1582); (b) a provisional decision, which must be communicated in writing to the injured person and state the reasons why the compensation has been granted or refused, the amount of such compensation, the manner in which it has been calculated, and if necessary the recognised degree of disablement. The decision must also state that in the absence of an appeal within one month it becomes final ; (c) an appeal, which must be lodged in writing with the insurance institution within one month. Injured persons may claim to be heard by the competent officials, who are empowered to make fresh investigations and to accept fresh evidence (Sections 1591 to 1599); — 545 — (S) the final decision, which following on such fresh enquiry or the statements of the person concerned, must be notified to the injured person by the authority responsible for fixing pensions in the first instance, and must state that the decision may be executed by law if no appeal is lodged within one month. In Italy, a decree on accident insurance in agriculture, dated 21 November 1918, lays down a similar distinction to that enforced in Finland. For temporary compensation, it provides that the insurance institution must arrange for payment to the injured person immediately on receipt of a notice of the accident accompanied by a medical certificate. In the event of disagreement on such temporary compensation, or on the compensation granted for permanent disablement of not more than 15 per cent., a further decision is taken in the last instance by the assessment committee, which may require a further investigation (Section 109). These assessment committees consist of a chairman nominated by the insurance fund, one representative each of employers and workers appointed by the Ministry for Agriculture and selected from the lists submitted by the organisations of agricultural employers and workers respectively (Section 110). All disputes on the right to compensation or on its assessment are settled by the district arbitration commissions, which consist of five members, namely, a professional judge as chairman, two medical practitioners not paid by the insurance fund, and one representative each of employers and insured workers. According to the Act, the chairman must summon the parties and try to conciliate them. Failing agreement, the commission after examining the documents may order an enquiry into the circumstances of the accident, the evidence, and the condition of the injured person (Section 149 of the Regulations). The decisions of the district commissions must be enforced even in the event of appeal, unless a stay of execution is specially ordered by the central commission (Section 14 of the Act.and Section 153 of the Regulations). In the Netherlands, the authority of first instance is the management of the National Insurance Bank which consists of three members appointed by the Crown. This body may grant temporary compensation as long as the condition of the victim is not considered stable. The condition of the injured person is deemed to be provisionally stable when it is anticipated that no change will take place within a year (Section 72 of the Act of 28 June 1921). 15 — 546 — In New Zealand (Workers' Compensation Act of 1922), if the claim is less than £50 in amount and the accident was not fatal, the case may be brought before a magistrate's court, subject to the agreement of the parties, and is judged by the magistrate alone. Otherwise all claims for the recovery of compensation for industrial accidents are brought before the special arbitration court set up under the Industrial Compensation and Arbitration Act of 1912. Sums due for medical attendance are within the competence of the magistrate's court. In Norway, the authority of first instance is the Insurance Institution, which consists of three members appointed by the Crown for a term of six years, and two deputy members. The Institution may grant provisional compensation for the whole period of treatment until the injury is cured (Section 28 of the Act of 13 August 1915). In Roumania, any claim for pension must be laid before the insurance association, together with all the necessary documents. The association then takes a reasoned decision, which it forwards with the documents to the Central Office (Section 222 of the Act of 25 January 1912). The latter checks the documents, undertakes enquiries into the circumstances of the accident and the condition of the injured person, and, if it holds that the insured person is entitled to a pension, takes a decision to this effect (Section 223). The insurance associations consist of joint meetings of the several trade guilds (associations of at least 25 artisans in the trade). The insurance association must have a membership of at least a thousand. It is the first insurance authority, and has legal personality. Once a year a general assembly of the insurance associations is held, at which heads of undertakings and all workers and labourers are represented. The decisions of the Assembly are not valid unless at least half the members entitled to take part are present. The association is managed by a council composed of members of the committees of all the constituent guilds and of workers and labourers not belonging to a guild. The number of members is fixed by the rules, and the council is appointed for a term of four years. It elects its own chairman and vice-chairman, and meets at least once a week. An appeal may be lodged with the Central Office against any decision of the general assembly or of the managing council within 30 days of its date. The Central Office of Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance sits at Bucarest. It is managed by a general director and an administrative council of 13 members (Sections 194 to 199). — 547 — In Soviet Russia, compensation payable to an injured worker is fixed by the insurance fund on the earnings of the worker during the last period of pay preceding the accident, or on the basic wage of the class to which he belongs, whichever method is most favourable to the insured person (Circular No. 42 of 1923). If the injured person is dissatisfied with the benefit paid him, he lodges a claim with the officials of the committee of the fund. Such claims are examined by the officials, or, if they are of a general nature or raise a question of principle, by a full sitting of the committee itself. If the claim is refused, the note to the person concerned must refer to the minutes of the sitting. In addition, there is a disputes committee in the Provincial Social Insurance Board to examine disputes of this kind. The applicant may be referred to this committee by the insurance fund (Circular of 10 December 1923). In cases of permanent disablement thé pension is paid by the Moscow Social Welfare Department '. Although the organisation of social insurance in Russia would not seem to be fully elaborated, and although it has undergone frequent revision, it is nevertheless possible to give some account of the principal authorities for disputes. (1) A Central Insurance Office, being an organ of the Commissariat of Labour. (2) Subordinate to this Central Office, provincial social insurance offices, the principal organs of which are the social insurance funds for the different districts. Each fund must cover an area with a radius of not less than two versts, and serve not less than 2000 insured persons. It is managed by a committee of three to seven members elected for six months by the meeting of insured persons in the area. The chairman of the committee is elected by the members, his appointment being confirmed by the provincial social welfare department, which he represents in the district. The meeting of insured persons in the district of an insurance fund comprises: (a) representatives of the works committees in the district, in proportion to the number of insured persons in each undertaking; (b) representatives of each trade union corresponding to the undertakings concerned. Employers have no part in administration, and their only function in the system is to pay contributions. 1 BAIEVSKY: Insurance Guide, pp. 31 and 32. — 548 — For transport undertakings, the funds are similarly organised, but the radius of the area covered must average 2500 kilometres for regional funds and 250 kilometres for district funds. (3) In localities where the number of insured persons is too low to allow of the establishment of a fund, insurance offices have been set up or representatives appointed (Decree of the Commissary of Labour of 21 August 1923). Offices are set up in localities for undertakings with from 200 to 2000 insured persons. Where the number of insured persons is from 50 to 200, a representative is appointed. The chairman of the office or the representative is appointed by the committee of thé fund in agreement with the inter-trade union organisation. The representative attached to an undertaking is appointed by the fund in agreement with the works committee. Finally, a revising committee is attached to every insurance fund. Recourse to this committee is not compulsory in examining claims, which must be submitted direct to the committee of enquiry, but it must take an active part in such examination.. Its function is to see to it that the decision taken by the committee on each claim is in order, and itself to receive the claims if the insured person considers it easier to apply direct to the revising committee. Further, the committee may organise a permanent system of consultation for the persons concerned, and arrange for the receipt of claims within undertakings (Circular of 19 December 1922). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom the authorities of first instance are the committees attached to the various insurance institutions. As a rule, the managements of these institutions (Central or district institutions, funds for transport undertakings, miners' funds) appoint or elect special committees known as pension committees (Section 106 of the Act of 14 May 1922). These consist as a rule of four members, two of whom represent workers and two employers. The decisions of the committees are not valid unless they are unanimous, and failing a unanimous decision the management of the institution itself decides. In Sweden, the authority of first instance is the insurance institution, which may be the State Insurance Office or the employers' mutual insurance associations, according to circumstances (Section 13 of the Act of 17 June 1916). The State Insurance Institution takes administrative decisions. The employers' mutual associations, set up under the Act of 24 May 1907, decide similarly. The law fixes a minimum number of employer members and insured workers for such associations, the minimum amount of reserve funds, etc. — 549 — In Switzerland (Federal Act of 13 June 1911), benefit is fixed in the first instance by the National Fund (Sections 70, 81, 83 and 120). This Fund is entitled to settle any kind of benefit. As a matter of fact, the local branches of the National Fund each comprise an accident section, which fixes and pays insurance benefit except pensions. These are fixed by the central management of the fund, so that practice may be uniform throughout the country. The National Fund is administered by an administrative council composed of several committees, by the management and the local branches. The administrative council consists of 40 members, namely, 12 representatives of persons liable to insurance, 16 representatives of heads of undertakings who employ persons liable to insurance, 4 representatives of voluntarily insured persons, 8 representatives of the Federal Government. These members are appointed for a term of six years by the Federal Council, on the recommendation of the industrial associations (Sections 42 and 43). In the event of disagreement between the injured persons and the National Fund on the compensation granted by the latter, the decisions of the fund are adjudged in the first instance by the cantonal courts. In this respect there is no uniform rule, as certain cantons have set up special insurance courts, and others refer these cases to the ordinary law courts, simply drawing up rules to simplify and accelerate procedure. The Act provides that the provisions adopted by the cantons as the result of judgments of the first instance of this kind must be submitted to the Federal Council for approval (Sections 120 and 125). Appeals In the laws at present under consideration there are differences in the method by which the parties concerned are enabled to obtain a revision of decisions with which they are dissatisfied. Some allow an appeal, and may even appoint special courts to deal with such cases, while others consider that the decisions taken in the first instance should be final. No appeal allowed In some countries appeals are not allowed at all and the decisions taken in the first instance by the authorities discussed above are final. Such is the case in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, where no appeal is possible against the decisions of the Workmen's Compensation Boards. — 550 — In Queensland (Commonwealth of Australia), if the parties have already requested that the case should be heard by an industrial magistrate appointed under the industrial Arbitration Act of 1916, no appeal is allowed against the decision of such magistrate before the Court of Industrial Arbitration except on points of law. In this case the parties are not represented, and the decision of the Court is final. This Court of Industrial Arbitration is composed of judges appointed by the Governor in Council, and has all the powers of the Supreme Court, in addition toits powers under special legislation. In Denmark (Act of 6 July 1916), no appeal is allowed against the decisions of the Insurance Council. An exception is allowed if the Council has failed to observe the prescribed procedure; but in this case the appeal is rather for the cancellation of the decision for formal reasons, than for reasons connected with the determination of the compensation. Such appeals are made to the Minister of the Interior, who may revoke the decision and refer the case back to the Council for a fresh decision (Section 14). In New Zealand, no appeal is allowed against the decisions of the Court of Arbitration, nor against those of the magistrate's court, in cases in which the latter is competent. Appeals allowed When the law makes provision for appeals, it also sets up special bodies, which usually include representatives of employers and delegates of workers and employees. In Austria, appeals are dealt with by the arbitration courts attached to the insurance institutions (Section 38 of the Act of 28 December 1887). The arbitration court consists of: (a) a chairman and vice-chairman appointed by the Minister of Justice, in agreement with the Minister for Social Affairs; they must be qualified to act as judges in civil courts; (b) two assessors appointed by the Minister for Social Affairs ; (c) two assessors, one elected by the heads of undertakings and the other by the workers and employees insured in the institution. For the enforcement of a decision of the court the competent law court of the defendant may be called upon. Appeals must be lodged within one year (Section 12). The arbitration court is empowered to summon witnesses, take evidence under oath, and make any investigations. In Bulgaria (Act of 6 March 1924) there are two appeal authorities, the administrative courts and the arbitration courts. The — 551 — latter consist of a local magistrate as chairman and one representative each of employers and workers elected by secret ballot for a term of three years (Section 47). These arbitration courts are only competent to deal with appeals against decisions of the factory inspector. Appeals against decisions of the pension board may be lodged with the superior administrative court within one month (Section 47). A person who is dissatisfied with the amount of the compensation fixed in the first place by the insurance council must apply to that council within 40 days for its review (Section 35). This formality is necessary before he can make an appeal to the Minister of Justice which must be lodged within 60 days. Such appeals may relate only to decisions on the right to compensation properly so-called and not to those on the degree of disablement or the amount of the compensation. In Czechoslovakia (Act of 28 December 1887), a special arbitration court is attached to each insurance institution with the function of settling any disputes between insured persons and the institution. Appeals must be lodged within one year of the date the decision is notified to the person concerned. Further, the Minister of Social Welfare, in agreement with the Minister concerned, may set up delegations of the arbitration court in industrial centres, or special arbitration courts for certain classes of insured persons or for employees who are not liable to compulsory insurance. The composition of such courts and their procedure is determined by the Ministers concerned by way of an Order (Section 38 of the Act of 28 December 1887 and Orders of 15 May 1919 No. 272, 19 May 1919, No. 353, and 14 July 1922, No. 199). The courts consist of a chairman, appointed by the Minister of Justice and qualified to act as judge in an ordinary law court, with two assessors and their deputies who are appointed by the Minister of Social Welfare and must be competent to deal with social insurance matters, together with two assessors and two substitutes elected by the heads of undertakings and the workers and employees belonging to the insurance institution. In Germany (Act of 19 July 1911), an appeal may be lodged with the Higher Insurance Office. This Office, which comprises several chambers, includes a special chamber for disputes ((Sections 1675 to 1693). Normally, the Higher Insurance Office for the district in which the insured person lives or works is competent. When dealing with cases of industrial accidents the disputes chamber appoints two assessors who must preferably be selected — 552 — from among those belonging to the undertakings most like that in which the accident occurred (Sections 1604 and 1605). Decisions on compensation are taken by the Higher Insurance Office. If an important point is raised the disputes chamber may refer the case back to the insurance institution, if necessary at the same time ordering the payment of temporary compensation (Section 1690). There is yet another means of appeal, namely, to the National Office, or in certain cases to the State office, for instance, in Bavaria and Wurtemberg. Such appeals must be lodged in writing (with a statement of the reasons and the proposed proceedings) within one month of receipt of the notice of the decision in question (Section 128). For seamen outside Europe the period is fixed by the authority which took the decision appealed against, and it must be not less than three months from the date of notification. When a decision against which an appeal has been lodged is submitted to the disputes committee of the National Office, that committee may either decide on the case or refer it to one of the authorities of first instance or to the insurance institution. It may order the payment of temporary compensation (Section 1715). The National Insurance Office has other functions in disputes. It decides in disputes between insurance institutions, particularly if one of these bodies agrees that an accident should be compensated but considers that compensation should be paid by another institution. In this case, provisional relief must be paid to the injured person and the file communicated to the other insurance institution, which in the event of disagreement submits the matter to the National Office (Sections 1735 to 1742). In Italy, appeals against the decisions of the arbitration committees are lodged with a central committee attached to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Labour. This committee consists of a councillor of the Appeal Court as chairman, two other officials, two medical practitioners and one representative each of employers and workers (Decree of 21 November 1918). In the Netherlands, an appeal may be lodged against decisions of the National Insurance Bank. There are two stages in appeal proceedings. The appeal council consists of a chairman, one or more vice-chairmen nominated by the Crown, employer and worker members and their deputies (Sections 4 to 51 of the Act of 8 December 1901). The latter members are selected from lists by the deputies of the provincial states subject to the approval of the Minister. Appeals must be lodged within one month. For accidents in agriculture, — 553 — the appeals are lodged with the arbitration committees set up in accordance with the Decree of 11 June 1923. The composition of these committees is similar to that of the appeal committees for industrial and commercial workers with the single difference that the lists of employer and worker members are submitted by the organisations concerned. The second stage is that of bringing the appeal before the central committee which sits at Utrecht. Its composition is the same as that of the appeal committees, except for the age conditions to be fulfilled by its members (Sections 42 to 51 of the Regulations of 8 December 1901). In Norway, there is an appeal committee which sits in the capital. It consists of seven members, of whom one must be a lawyer, one a medical practitioner and one a technical expert, all three appointed by the Crown. Two of the remaining four members may be employers and two workers. Appeals must be lodged within six weeks of the decision of the insurance institution. The committee has full power to amend any decision taken in the first instance (Section 19 of the Act of 13 August 1915). In Roumania, there is an appeal committee consisting solely of professional judges, namely, three councillors of the appeal court appointed by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. This committee may decide in all cases of industrial accidents (Section 226 of the Act of 25 January 1912). Its sessions are held at the seat of the Central Office (Section 225). For Soviet Russia, an account has already been given of the revising committees which, although they have certain powers to deal with appeals, would seem rather to be bodies for administrative supervision. There is, in addition, a special committee consisting of one representative each of the Commissariats of Labour, Social Welfare and Public Health. Its function is to determine the degree of incapacity of injured persons, fix the amount of their pensions and decide whether they are to be treated as having been disabled in war or in industry (Decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of Peoples' Commissaries of 30 June 1923)1. In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom (Act of 14 May 1922), the appeal authority is the workers' insurance court. The parties may lodge an appeal against: 1 Cf. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE: Industrial Life in Soviet 1917-1923. Geneva, 1924. Russia, — 554 — (a) the decision of the pension committee or of the management of the central institution within three months of its issue; (b) the decision of the local institution within 15 days of its issue. Such an appeal has no suspensory effect. It is lodged not by the persons directly concerned, but through the medium of the local institution or fund (Sections 104 to 107). At the seat of each district institution a court competent for the district is set up. Each court consists of a chairman and vicechairmen appointed by the Minister for Justice from among professional judges for a term of three years, not less than 20 assessors and as many substitutes elected for three years by the general meeting of the local institution and the fund. Employers and workers appoint an equal number of assessors. These courts are placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice (Section 161). For each case as it arises the chairman or vice-chairman selects four assessors, namely, two employers and two workers taken as far as possible from the trade to which the parties belong (Section 165). Finally, a Higher Workers' Insurance Court may quash the decisions of the workers' insurance court in certain specified cases (Section 170). This Higher Workers' Insurance Court consists solely of professional judges and lawyers appointed by the Minister (Sections 170 to 176). In Sweden, appeals against decisions taken by the State insurance institution or the mutual insurance associations respecting compensation or the application of any provision of the Accident Insurance Act are dealt with by the Insurance Council. Such appeals must be lodged within 30 days of communication of the decision (Section 33 of the Act of 17 June 1916). The Insurance Council is entitled to take up any matter for investigation. Its composition is governed by the Act of 24 June 1917, amended by the Act of 24 May 1918. At present it consists of 7 members, two of whom represent employers and two workers, being appointed by the Government for a period of two years on the recommendation of organisations of employers and workers. The other members are appointed directly by the Government. No appeal is allowed against decisions of the Council. In the Swiss Cantons, under the Federal Act of 13 June 1911, an appeal against the decision of the cantonal court set up in accordance with Section 121 must be lodged with the Federal Insurance — 555 — Court, which is competent for the whole country and sits • at Lucerne, but may hold its.sessions elsewhere. The judges of this court are appointed for a term of six years by the Federal Assembly. Proceedings before the court were defined by the Federal Assembly in the Decree of 28 March 1917, amended by the Decree of 22 June 1920. Appeals must be lodged within 20 days of the notification of the decision (Section 124). An appeal may be brought against any decision of the cantonal authorities irrespective of the amount at issue (Section 120), but there are no hearings unless the amount exceeds 4,000 francs (Section 132). Full sessions of the court are held only if the amount exceeds 10,000 francs (Section 18). If the amount in question is less than 1,000 francs, the chairman or vice-chairman decides alone. If there has been some formal defect in the proceedings before the authorities of first instance, or if the case is such as to involve the application not only of Federal law but also of cantonal or foreign law, which has not been taken into account in the decision appealed against, the court may refer the matter to the insurance court of first instance (cantonal courts set up under Section 121) for a fresh decision (Section 141). The Federal Insurance Court consists of five members and five deputies appointed for a term of six years by the Federal Assembly. It has full competence to decide in all the cases submitted to it. It is placed under the supervision of the Federal Assembly (Section 28). Review Proceedings for the revision of decisions vary considerably in the different countries. In some, the law although admitting the principle of revision fixes no definite period within which applications must be made. In others, on the contrary, the provisions in force are much more severe, and the right to take proceedings for revision is forfeited unless such proceedings are taken within the prescribed period. Thus in Austria (Section 39 of the Act of 28 December 1887), in cases of important changes in the condition of the injured person the compensation may be renewed either automatically or on the application of those concerned. If the injured person dies as a result of the accident, claims must be brought within one year. The Bulgarian Act sets up a system of periodical review of pensions. It lays down that all pensioners must submit to medical examination every three years. If they fail to comply with this regulation their pensions are suspended. — 556 — Further, both pensioners and the communal authorities concerned, who are required to keep precise records, are bound under penalty of a fine and criminal prosecution to notify the local workers' insurance authority of every change in the personal or family circumstances of pensioners (Section 16 of the Act of 6 March 1924). In Czechoslovakia, Section 39 of the Act of 28 December 1887, amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921, authorises the review of decisions respecting compensation for industrial accidents, if there have been important changes in the circumstances since the final decision. The action for review must be brought before the workers' accident insurance fund. In Denmark, review is not allowed unless the information on which the council based its decision was false or inaccurate. Action must be taken within one month of the date on which the compensation was fixed. This period is increased to six weeks if the injured person is in Europe, outside Denmark, and three months if he is in the Faroe Islands or Iceland, or outside Europe (Section 13 of the Act of 6 July 1916). An action for review may also be brought for failure to observe the prescribed procedure. It is dealt with by the Minister of the Interior who may refer the case back for a fresh decision. The period within which an appeal may be made dates from the notification of the decision of the council, and is fixed at 14 days, six weeks or three months, according to the place of residence of the injured person (Section 14). The Finnish Act fixes no definite period for applications for review (Section 30 of the Order of 18 August 1917). In Germany, applications for review must be lodged with the insurance office, which decides after consulting one representative each of employers and insured persons (Section 1600 of the Act of 19 July 1911). In Italy, the employer and the insurance fund are allowed two years in which to apply for review of the compensation. Such application must be based either on a mistake or on changes in. the physical condition of the worker consequent on the accident. In the Netherlands, review is possible if facts become known which could not have been known at the time of the first decision (Section 75 of the Accident Insurance Act of 2 January 1901, amended by the Acts of 2 May 1921 and 27 March 1923). In New Zealand, the Workers' Compensation Act of 31 October 1922 (Sections 29 et seq.) provides for proceedings for review, which — 557 — may be taken either by the injured person, or by the employer, or by any other person required to pay compensation, within six months of the date of the decision. The decision may be modified or cancelled by the court in the two following cases: (a) if it was obtained by fraud or fraudulent means ; (b) if any person was excluded or included by mistake among the survivors of a deceased worker. The Norwegian system is similar to that in Germany, but the period fixed in the event of the death of the injured person is two years (Section 21 of the Act of 13 August 1915). In Switzerland, the pension may be reviewed at any time during the three years following its determination and not later than the end of the sixth and ninth years (Section 80, subsection 2, of the Act of 13 June 1911). CONCLUSION GENERAL TENDENCY OF LEGISLATION ON INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT DISPUTES The laws of various countries have been analysed above from the point of view of the notification of, enquiry into, and medical supervision of, industrial accidents, the proceedings taken for the settlement of disputes, and the composition of the competent authorities. The general tendencies manifested by the evolution of most of these laws should now be considered. There is an increasingly marked tendency to make employers and workers participate in the preliminary proceedings and in the settlement of disputes arising out of the compensation for industrial accidents. Thus, in certain laws already, for the notification of accidents the participation of the workers is introduced in the form of evidence. The notice must give the names and addresses of eye-witnesses of the accident, and to a certain extent this may be said to guarantee the sincerity of the statements made by the workers who were present at the time the accident occurred. The representation of employers is always secured, for as a ' general rule they are responsible for notification or for receiving the notice, as for instance, in the countries of the British Empire. Moreover, the head of the undertaking or his representative, like the injured person, is concerned in the enquiry and is always required to take part. There is no exception to this rule in any law. — 558 — Reference to the eye-witnesses of the accident is required in Austria (Section 1 of the Order of 6 December 1917), Brazil (Act of 15 January 1919 and Decree of 15 March 1919), Bulgaria (Section 9 of the Act of 6 March 1924), Chile (Section 32 of the Act of 8 September 1924), Cuba (Section 25 of the Act of 12 June 1916), Ecuador (Section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1921), France (Section 11 of the Act of 9 April 1898), Greece (Act of 31 December 1914), Italy (Section 81 of the Regulations of 13 March 1904), Panama (Section 18 of the Act of 16 November 1916), Peru (Section 36 of the Act of 20 January 1911) Salvador (Section 5 of the Decree of 7 September 1911), Spain (Section 14, subsection 1, of the Regulations of 29 December 1922), Uruguay (Section 32 of the Act of 15 November 1920). Obviously, the eye-witness will not necessarily be a worker; he need not be one, for instance, if the accident occurs in the street while the worker is carrying out instructions. But it may be said that in the large majority of cases it will be the colleagues of the injured person who will be required to give evidence. Several laws similarly provide for the participation of the workers in the formalities of investigation. Thus in Austria, under the Ministerial Orders of 8 October 1889 and 28 August 1895, a report of the enquiry must be drawn up stating the divergent opinions of the persons concerned on the circumstances of the accident. In Brazil, the Act of 15 January 1919 expressly provides for the participation of witnesses in the enquiry (Section 20). In Esthonia and Latvia, the Act of 23 June6 July 1912 lays down that if an enquiry is undertaken by the local police authorities, eye-witnesses of the accident must be requested to make a statement and are even required to sign the report. In Germany, the Act of 19 July 1911 authorises any person concerned to take part in the enquiry if called on by the authorities. In Lithuania, the Act expressly provides that the police authorities must, in drawing up their report on the facts, summon eye-witnesses of the accident to the place where it occurred. The report, which must give the names and addresses of witnesses, must be signed by them (Act of 2 June 1903). In Luxemburg, witnesses are summoned during the course of the enquiry (Grand Ducal Decree of 23 January 1903). Provision for the participation of witnesses is also made in the Netherlands: the term " witness " is taken to cover any person capable of supplying information on the points to be elucidated (Accident Insurance Act of 1901-1921-1923). In Salvador, Section 11 of the Act of 11 May 1911 expressly provides — 559 — for thè participation of witnesses in the enquiry. They must also sign the report. In Uruguay, the enquiry conducted by the magistrate must include the hearing of witnesses (Act of 15 November 1920). Finally, it should be pointed out that in countries where the notice must include the names and addresses of witnesses, their participation in the enquiry is left to the discretion of the investigating magistrate. In all the above cases, however, the participation of the worker in the formalities of notification and enquiry is merely subsidiary and occasional. He acts in his capacity as witness, not as worker. In the contentious stage of proceedings, on the contrary, especially in the settlement of disputes, workers and employees, as well as heads of undertakings, are called on as such to sit with the authorities settling the dispute. In Austria, where the committee of the insurance institution has jurisdiction, workers and employees are represented by onethird of the members of the committee and employers by another third (Sections 9 to 13 of the Act of 28 December 1887). In Belgium, the arbitration committees also accept the principle of workers' representation. These committees, appointed to settle disputes on accident compensation, consist of a professional judge as chairman and an equal number of employer and worker assessors designated for not more than five years by the employer and worker members of the "probiviral" councils, whether acting as an authority of first instance or of appeal. In Bulgaria, the social insurance committee includes six State officials, three being medical practitioners and one a professional judge, together with two delegates each of employers and workers (Act of 6 March 1924). In Czechoslovakia, where the insurance institution is competent to settle claims for the recovery of compensation for accidents, employers and workers are each represented by one-third of the members of the committee, the remaining third being composed of persons acquainted with local economic conditions (Act of 28 December 1887 amended by the Acts of 10 April 1919 and 12 August 1921). In Denmark, each of the four sections of the Workers' Insurance Council, which deal with disputes arising out of industrial accidents, consists of three members appointed by the Crown, two representatives of employers and two of workers, who are designated by the Minister of the Interior (Act of 6 July 1916, amended by the Act of 28 June 1920). — 560 — Under the Finnish law, the Insurance Council, which is competent, is made up as follows : one professional judge as chairman, a member of the medical profession, three members designated by employers and three by workers belonging to the undertakings covered by the Accident Insurance Act (Order of 18 August 1917). In Germany, where the managing committee of the insurance institution fixes benefit and compensation for industrial accidents, representation of the workers is secured by their election for a term of four years. Employers, too, are represented under the same conditions (Sections 3 to 34 of the Act of 19 July 1911). In Greece, the law provides for the participation of the workers in the case of disputes submitted to the administrative council of the miners' fund. This council consists of nine members, namely the legal adviser of the Ministry of National Economy as chairman, the manager of the Mines Department as vice-chairman, three medical practitioners, two representatives each of employers and workers in the mining and metal industries. The worker and employer representatives are appointed annually by Decree. In Italy, the Decree of 21 November 1918, concerning accidents in agricultural undertakings, provides for the representation of the workers on the regional arbitration committees. These bodies consist of a professional judge acting as chairman, two medical practitioners, and one representative each of employers and workers. In Luxemburg, where disputes concerning industrial accidents are settled by the insurance fund of the employers' association, the competent organs of the fund decide in collaboration with workers' delegates. The number of such delegates must be equal to that of the employer members present at the proceedings. Cantonal elections of the workers' delegates are held every three years, and the delegates for each session are chosen from the lists by lot (Act of 5 April 1902). In Roumania, the Central Office of Crafts, Credit and Social Insurance decides in questions of accident compensation. Representation of the workers is secured through the guilds, for both employers and workers must take part in the general meeting of the guilds. The council of the guild includes employer and worker members (Act of 25 January 1912). In the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, the pension committees include two representatives of employers and two of workers (Act of 14 May 1922). In Spain, the Act of 10 January 1922 refers disputes on accident compensation to the industrial courts set up under the Act of 22 July — 561 — 1912. As already explained, these courts are composed of a professional judge, two employer assessors and two worker assessors. The latter are selected in each case of dispute from a list of employers and workers elected for the judicial area. The members of the jury may pronounce only on questions of fact. In Sweden, the State Insurance Office, which is the competent authority in cases of industrial accidents, may decide only if it includes a minimum number of employers and workers (Act of 17 June 1916). In Switzerland, the administrative council of the National Insurance Fund consists of 40 members, 12 of whom represent compulsorily insured persons, 16 heads of undertakings who employ such persons, and 4 voluntarily insured persons, and 8 are appointed by the Federal Government (Act of 13 June 1911). Thus the general tendency in most laws is to secure equal representation of the employers and workers concerned on the committees or authorities responsible for settling disputes arising out of industrial accidents. In conclusion, it may be added that in many countries it has been desired to save the worker lengthy and costly proceedings, so that a system of summary procedure is in force for industrial accident cases (as in countries where the ordinary judicial authorities are competent), or else a very simplified system of administrative procedure. Further, in countries where the ordinary judicial authorities are competent, the victims of industrial accidents are usually entitled to free legal assistance. Some other laws specify that claims submitted to special authorities are free from all charges. s« PART VI THE POSITION OF FOREIGNERS INTRODUCTION If any aspect of social legislation could at first sight be said to be independent of the national origin of the persons involved, it is that of workmen's compensation. The principle of compensating workers for their injuries is common to all laws, though the actual compensation has been shown to vary with the qualifications of the recipients, more particularly with their sex or age, or with their degree of relationship with the injured person. In all these cases, however, the factors in question directly influence the extent of the injury. Nationality is in a different case. Except under the one hypothesis that the very nationality of the worker gives him the right to compensation in accordance with the law of his own country, it is difficult to justify in law any differences in the treatment of the injured persons and their representatives based on the fact that they are aliens. The system of civil liability, which in every country preceded the application of the theory of occupational risk, admitted no distinction between nationals and aliens. The relative security it offered had the advantage for the latter of placing them on a footing of complete equality with their comrades. There was an entire change in the situation when the rights conferred by the common law were found insufficient, if not illuepjy, and their place was taken by protective legislation conceived in the interests of the workers, and therefore frequently, and more or less rightly, considered as constituting a special privilège for them. In spite of the principle of fixed compensation, it was generally held that the new system would impose considerable — 564 — burdens on national employers. In some cases, therefore, financial support by the State was contemplated, for instance in the first Bill introduced in the German Reichstag in March 1881, which accorded nationals of other countries the privileges granted under the new legislation. This was held by some to be a sheer gift, which should at least be reserved to nationals of countries granting equality of treatment in similar cases. On the other hand, State intervention in matters which had hitherto been essentially of a private nature imparted to the rules a character of public interest, and made it difficult to limit their territorial application. In addition to this legal difficulty, there were others, both moral and economic. Thus, it was felt to be inequitable to admit differences in the treatment of workers employed under the same conditions and sharing equally in national production. The injustice would moreover tend to react unfavourably on those whom it would be thought to benefit. Labour, by being deprived of legal protection, would be less costly, and industry would not fail to take advantage of this in the field of competition. Moreover, unless the alien worker were completely excluded from the scope of the law, it would be very difficult to refuse him the benefit of accident legislation without continuing to apply to him the common law rules as to damages for injury. The protection thus offered was no doubt slight, for the chances of obtaining satisfaction were markedly reduced by the obligation to prove the fault of the employer, combined with the difficulty of taking proceedings before foreign judicial authorities. Nevertheless, foreign workers were still in a position to obtain damages, not fixed in amount, but in full, if the responsibility of the head of the undertaking could be proved. Thus the courts have on occasion been found to grant aliens higher compensation than would have been granted to national victims of the same accident. Such situations were undoubtedly a menace to harmony in industrial employment. For employers and insurers they also implied a dangerous uncertainty as to the extent of the risks run. Further, if the system of compensation based on contractual responsibility were maintained in respect of foreign workers, this would have been contrary to the main object of the legislative systems grounded on the principle of occupational risk, namely to replace the relations based on common law by an entirely new formula abolishing in a large measure the possibilities of dispute. Thus, quite apart from the question of justice, there seemed to be serious disadvantages in leaving foreign workers entirely but- — 565 — side the special system governing industrial accidents. With rare exceptions this has been understood, and consequently, whether explicitly or implicitly, the scope of the laws extends to cover nationals and foreigners alike. At the same time, many laws impose more or less wide limitations on the rights of beneficiaries. These restrictions will be shown below to derive as a rule from a twofold distinction. They vary on the one hand with the place of residence of the injured person, and on the other according as the injured person or his representatives are affected. In the first case, the idea is that foreign nationality in itself is not sufficient to deprive the beneficiary of all or part of the privileges of the law. This first condition, necessary if such deprivation is to hold good, is supplemented by a further condition, what might be called an aggravating circumstance, that of non-residence in the country. The differences in treatment to be discussed below nearly all relate to the case of a person resident abroad, variations in detail depending on whether residence abroad was subsequent to the accident or not. Setting aside the objections on the grounds of principle to equality of treatment for aliens and nationals, it has been thought that residence outside the territory of the State might be interpreted as a sign of indifference towards the country in which the right to compensation was created. Similarly, it has been argued that the payment of compensation to an alien would not only have economic disadvantages, but would also meet with serious administrative difficulties. A final argument is based on inequalities in the cost of living, the differences between one country and another due to the instability of the currency being sometimes considerable. This point of view has been given special prominence in countries with a high rate of exchange, such as Switzerland. If their nationals are granted a pension abroad, the purchasing power they obtain falls below that secured by the legislation of the country to foreigners in other territories. In the present confusion of international relations, these various arguments would appear to have lost singularly in force. Firstly, the fact of living in a country, which is considered by the law as a free action, tends more and more to be subjected to various influences, among which the will of the person concerned is sometimes of very slight account, and may even be altogether absent. Thus, residence abroad cannot permit of a conclusion or even a simple presumption as to the sentiments of the recipient towards a country which is not his own. One can, however, understand — 566 — a country depriving its own nationals of their rights, examples of which may be found in certain laws of the British Empire and in that of the Netherlands. With respect to the technical difficulties involved in paying pensions abroad, these may be considered completely solved by the development of international credit institutions. The British Insurance Act of 16 December 1911 organised a whole system for transferring funds abroad on behalf of non-resident persons. The fact that the system relates to payment of lump sum compensation would not appear to prevent its extension to simple annuities. Moreover, recurring payments are now made outside the territory of the country by insurance institutions of States in which the law nevertheless permits of commuting the pension. This is the case in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. There remains the problem of differences in the cost of living. It is an indisputable fact that these inequalities must be feared as long as the stability of the international market has not been restored. Nevertheless, the criticisms which have been made have lost sight of the fact that under the system now in force, compensation is a function not of conditions of life but of wages. Undoubtedly it would be desirable in theory that the compensation paid to aliens could be fixed in inverse proportion to its purchasing power in the country where it is spent. This is the conception underlying the law of British Columbia, which provides that for representatives of the injured person the compensation is to be reduced if the cost of living is lower in the foreign country. Equity demands that this rule should be balanced by an increase in the compensation in the event of residence in a country where the cost of living is higher, but then it might become impossible in practice for workers from countries where the cost of living is particularly high to find employment elsewhere. Residence is similarly considered a decisive factor in an important group of countries where no account is taken of nationality. :Several have even substituted this idea for that of nationality. Although not covered by the present enquiry, it has been thought that the consequences of this system for foreign workers could not be entirely excluded. The regulations in question have therefore been enumerated among the various limitations applying to national beneficiaries. It will further be found that in several countries the law differentiates between representatives of the victims of fatal accidents — 567 — and the victims themselves. Obviously, in virtually every case the result is to add to the penalty already imposed for non-residence. If the accident is not considered to give the injured person himself an absolute right, which is independent of all considerations not connected with the injury, it is comprehensible that mere representatives are regarded with even less favour. It is peculiar to this double limitation that, while it leaves intact the principle of protection, it deprives the persons concerned of the guarantees derived from civil legislation. Like the French Act of 9 April 1898 (Section 2), and subject to certain reservations if the accident «an be proved to have been caused wilfully, most laws accept the principle of abrogating the common law where accident compensation is concerned. Thus, the inclusion of the alien within the scope of the law merely results in depriving him of protection. The only case of an opposite regulation is to be found in the province of Quebec, where recourse to the common law is expressly reserved for persons who have no power to benefit under special accident legislation. Before discussing the degree of protection afforded by the different laws to foreign workers, it is clearly necessary to discover whether some of them may not contain provisions resulting in a general and total exclusion of such workers from the benefit of national laws. This preliminary question must certainly not be allowed to involve us in an examination of the difficult problems arising out of the conflict of laws as between many of the countries in the matter of compensation for industrial accidents; nor can it be kept entirely distinct from them. Serious injury is caused to the persons concerned owing to the divergent effects of the various legislations; it happens only too often that, owing to the personal character attaching to their provisions, the rights of foreign workers living within the territory must be ignored, while, on the other hand, such persons may not be able to obtain fair compensation under the laws of their own country. Sometimes, moreover, the rights in question are subject to conditions of domicile which it is difficult for the foreign worker to fulfil and which in actual fact place him in an inferior position by comparison with national workers. The inconsistency between the various laws may therefore be regarded as involving inequality, but this state of affairs, which is — 568 — sometimes so hard on labour, cannot be laid to the charge of the national legislations when it results from the rational application of the juridical systems peculiar to each one of them. The advantages of which aliens are thereby deprived may be counterbalanced by those to which they are entitled under their national laws, and even supposing that they should no longer be protected by the latter, the legislator of the territory can obviously not be held responsible for this. Moreover, nothing in the inequality of treatment which may arise from differences in the laws denotes the slightest trace of hostility towards foreign workers. In order to realise this, it is only necessary to consider the nature of the criticisms aroused by the various legislations as regards the system applied to nationals of other countries. They almost invariably refer to the differential treatment applied to such workers under the common law. If the legislator provides reasonable grounds for complaint on the part of the foreign worker, it is not when he ignores him but when he affords him insufficient protection. Moreover, difficulties arising out of labour disputes are becoming less frequent owing to the modern evolution of laws, which are tending to make protection more and more marked from the territorial point of view. The many diplomatic conventions relating to this point have prepared for the necessary unification by giving the preference to the law of the place in which the accident occurs. Exceptions are only provided for in the case of transport undertakings and in that of persons sent abroad by firms with headquarters in other countries. These exceptions, however, simply confirm the development of territorial competence and it is already possible, without undue optimism, to foresee the time when the generalisation of this principle will have put an end to the present possibilities of dispute. Let us disregard those legislative omissions which, in the present state of international law, are the inevitable result of differences in the systems in force. Among all the legislations with which we are acquainted there is not one under which the foreign victim is denied all right to compensation. The differences — sometimes essential differences — which we shall have to point out refer exclusively to the extent of this right and the conditions under which it may be exercised. It is generally agreed that the various legislations may be divided into three groups, according to the extent of the benefits which they allow foreigners: the first group consists of legislations which are regarded as systematically unfavourable; the second, of legislations which grant conditional protection, and the third, of legislations — 569 — which provide for complete equality as between foreigners and nationals. This distinction is a most important one when any attempt is being made to ascertain the characteristic features of each legislation or to follow its historical evolution. It appears, on the other hand, out of place in any objective study of the regulations concerning the protection of foreign workers in each of the countries under examination. Moreover, the result of most of the legislative reforms effected in the course of the last few years has been almost completely to merge the first two categories by substituting for the adverse system a system of reciprocity. As examples may be quoted the case of the former Russian Empire, where the Act of 1912 had put an end to the fundamental inequality instituted under the Act of 1903, and that of Finland, where the differential régime of 1895 gave place in 1917 to the complete assimilation of foreigners. Among the more liberal legislations, however, a tendency may be noted to admit certain possible exceptions which are considered necessary in the defence of the interests of nationals. Thus Poland and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom have provided under their laws for the possibility of measures of reprisal. Even in the case of Finland, the Government's reply to the Office's questionnaire proves that restrictive measures may be considered in the case of nationals of countries which do not grant equality of treatment to Finnish nationals. Moreover, the application of the principle of reciprocity itself admits of distinctions. In the first place, reciprocity may have two meanings. In certain countries it is regarded as existing from the fact that nationals are entitled, in virtue of the legislation of the foreign country, to claim equivalent advantages. In actual fact, there can be no question of assessing the value of such advantages ; the general practice is, therefore, to regard equivalence of treatment as existing when those countries which have legislation governing industrial accidents which make no distinction between their own nationals and foreigners. The condition laid down may, however, lead to a deadlock, if it occurs in both legislations. Diplomatic reciprocity, on the other hand, requires a reciprocal understanding between the two Governments and for this reason is more difficult to realise when their relative positions are such that they cannot derive equal benefits from them. This may explain the comparatively small number of labour treaties concluded up to the present. An examination of the regulations peculiar to foreign beneficiaries will show how rarely diplomatic reciprocity is found in practice. — 570 — It may be noted that wherever it does exist the result is the complete suppression of restrictions concerning foreigners. The system of reciprocity may next be considered in its application. Two legislations (Hungary and Lithuania) make the protection of the foreign worker conditional on the existence in his own country of provisions insuring equivalent advantages for foreign workers; reciprocity constitutes a general condition. As no method of compensation is provided for the persons concerned, who are not in a position to claim it, the only solution is the application of the common law, together with all the difficulties and uncertainties attaching to it both for employers and insurers and for the beneficiaries themselves. In other countries — and these constitute the majority — reciprocity only serves to relieve foreigners of certain restrictions attaching especially to them; as a general rule, its effect is completely to assimilate foreigners to national beneficiaries. Sometimes, also, the effect is simply to bring them under an intermediate system, between the régime of nationals and that of other foreigners : this is the case in Germany and Bulgaria, although, in these two countries, the differences to which foreigners as compared with nationals may be subject under a system of reciprocity are of very minor importance \ Finally, it will be seen that among the countries in which more or less extensive limitations have been laid down as regards the compensation of certain foreign beneficiaries, there are some (Canada — in so far as concerns British Columbia and Quebec — and Cuba) who have not taken possible reciprocity into account at all. In order to determine the position of foreign beneficiaries under the various legislations, the most logical procedure appears to be to deal first with non-fatal accidents and then with accidents involving the death of the victim, considering in the case of each the three conditions under which differences are admitted in the majority of countries. In accordance with this method, we shall only deal incidentally with legislations under which nationals and foreigners come under the* same régime, namely, those of Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, 1 These differences consist, in the case of Germany, in the right to insist upon the conversion of the pension for foreigners domiciled outside the country,, and in that of Bulgaria, in the possible non-application of insurance to foreigners working as officials or independently. — 571 — . Canada (except the Provinces of British Columbia and Quebec), Chile, Ecuador, Esthonia, Finland, Irish Free State, Great Britain, Guatemala, India, Italy, Netherlands, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, South Africa, and Uruguay. Similarly, as regards other legislations we shall not mention cases in which foreigners enjoy the same treatment as nationals, but shall simply deal with those in which they are subject to differential treatment. CHAPTER I CONDITIONS FOR COMPENSATION IN CASE OF INCAPACITY No legislation exists in which special restrictions are laid down concerning the exceptional expenditure resulting from accidents to foreign workers. The unanimity on this point is explained by elementary considerations of humanity. The costs of medical treatment and medicines and compensation during temporary incapacity for work respond to needs of so pressing a nature as to eliminate all other considerations. Moreover, in cases in which ineligibility is based upon the nationality of the victim, it is generally assumed that the latter will become domiciled or take up his residence abroad or even that this has already happened at the time of the accident. This is the case with many workers employed in frontier regions. But this is a circumstance which generally has no effect on the payment of the first part of the compensation. There is no reason why it should have. It is not in his own home that the worker suffers; it is at the place where he works, in the territory which he visits every day. To send him back to be cared for in his own country would be a most brutal solution. No legislation exists in which such treatment is formally laid down. On the contrary, in many countries, legal practice admits without hesitation that exceptional costs are payable to the victim, even if the latter is conveyed abroad at his own request after the accident. Thus, the medical tariffs instituted in France for attendance in case of accidents are declared to be applicable to doctors practising abroad. Cases exist, however, in which the costs in question may devolve upon the victim if a foreigner ; this is when the legislation of the country has extended the special measures taken concerning foreign nationals to temporary incapacity or has issued fresh measures in the matter. An example of this may be found in Greece, where, under the Decree of 24 July 1920, foreigners are only entitled to compensation in case of temporary incapacity, whether partial or total, if they are resident in Greece. This text, it is true, appears to be designed not so much for workers not resident in Greece at — 573 — the time of the accident as for those who have resided there until then and desire to complete their cure abroad. It must be regarded, notwithstanding, as providing for marked inequality of treatment in the case of foreign workers. In this same connection should be noted the Canadian Province of Quebec, under whose legislation concerning industrial accidents the compensation provided for is confined to foreigners residing in Canada and continuing to reside there during the payment of the pension (Act of 29 May 1909, Section 4). No doubt the legislation also makes it possible for other foreigners to resort to the common law, but, as experience has so often proved, this legal remedy, quite apart from the difficulties and expense involved for the worker, offers him only very restricted opportunities; while awaiting the uncertain outcome of his suit, he will be in the difficult position of having to bear the costs of medical attendance and medicines and the consequences of the unemployment resulting from his incapacity. These are, we believe, the only cases in which the foreign worker suffers from inequality of treatment as regards compensation for the immediate effects of his accident. Generally speaking, moreover, the various legislations are unanimous in making no distinction between nationals and foreigners in the case.of merely temporary incapacity. It may happen, it is true, that distance makes it impossible in actual fact for the beneficiary, like any national who is the victim of an accident, to comply with the formalities to which compensation is subject under the law. This point is raised by the Brazilian Government in its reply to the questionnaire drawn up on the occasion of the Sixth Conference, but it cannot be regarded as constituting inequality of a legislative character. It may be said, therefore, that from the legal point ofview the difference of treatment, where such difference exists, starts from the date when the incapacity, whether total or partial, is deemed to be permanent; thus that the definitive character of the incapacity should be established is a necessary condition for the application of regulations peculiar to foreigners. Apart from special cases to the contrary which we may have to refer to, in the following account we shall only consider compensation for economic loss of a permanent character. It seemed best to group the restrictive provisions based upon the fact that the victim is an alien in three categories, each covering a specific hypothesis, as follows: — 574 — (1) The victim of the accident is resident in the country and was. resident there at the time of the accident ; (2) The victim of the accident ceases to reside there; (3) The victim of the accident was not resident there at the time of the accident. The term 'residence' will be taken here in the sense of de facto dwelling, in accordance with the interpretation commonly admitted nowadays under international law. THE VICTIM OF THE ACCIDENT IS RESIDENT IN THE COUNTRY AND WAS RESIDENT THERE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT This class of foreigners must appear to the various legislators as most deserving of consideration. No actual or apparent reason, either administrative or economic, exists for the establishment of a different rate of compensation for foreign beneficiaries participating in public life in the same way as a national of the country. Moreover, does not the victim of an accident who manifests a desire to continue living on foreign soil, even when no longer connected with it by his work, thereby give the best proof of his loyalty ? No country has thought fit to lay down categorically that such persons shall be ineligible. Nevertheless, the result is much the same in countries where the rights of foreigners are subject to a general condition of reciprocity (Hungary, Lithuania). Apart from these countries, cases of actual or possible inequality are found only under two legislations, namely those of Switzerland and Austria. The first, which only penalises non-reciprocity tó a certain extent, reduces the pension to three-quarters of the ordinary rate. It provides that the difference shall be paid into the fund of the Confederation towards subsidies to be paid for insurance against accidents (Federal Act of 13 June 1911, Section 90). In no case is the place of residence of the person concerned taken into account. On the other hand, the Austrian Act of 16 April 1920, Sections 2 and 3, refuses the benefits of the cost of living indemnity to foreigners who are the victims of accidents which have occurred in an undertaking the headquarters of which are now abroad. This regulation is obviously inspired by the desire to favour establishments situated within the new boundaries of the country. It does not really denote a hostile attitude towards foreign workers. The «ame Act also provides (Section 4) that the cost of living indemnity may ¿be wholly or partly suppressed, by way of reprisals, in the — 575 — case of foreigners whose country of origin does not accord equality of treatment to Austrian nationals. T H E VICTIM OF THE ACCIDENT CEASES TO R E S I D E IN THE COUNTRY We shall consider under this head victims of accidents who go abroad after having become entitled to compensation. It should be noted that there can be no question of penalisation in cases in which compensation is paid in the form of capital. The effect of such payment being to settle the consequences of the accident, once and for all, there can be no question of cancelling it, or of demanding — still less of obtaining — any refund from the beneficiary. Moreover, most of the countries whose legislation provides for, or permits of, compensation in the form of payment of capital,, belong to the class in which no difference is made between nationals and foreigners: this is the case notably in Great Britain and the majority of the States included in the British Empire. Their laws nearly, all contain a special condition relating to residence, as regards the payment of weekly compensation in cases of temporary incapacity. Victims of accidents who leave the State or, according to the legislation, the Commonwealth, lose all right to such compensation if they cannot prove t h a t their incapacity will be permanent, in which case the weekly payments are converted into quarterly payments. The only exceptions to this rule apply to States belonging to the Empire and granting equality of treatment to victims of accidents who are subject to their laws and reside in the territory of the other State. Although these provisions are also applicable to nationals, it is impossible to omit them in a description of the measures calculated to limit the rights of foreign victims, for it is the latter more than any others who will suffer from being obliged to remain in foreign territory. A list of the countries which have included these conditions in their laws will be found in the table annexed to the present part. The same effects are found again in the Netherlands Act concerning industrial accidents, which was promulgated by a Decree of 28 June 1921. The Netherlands legislation, which is based entirely on the place of domicile, makes no distinction for reasons of nationality; it provides, however, for special measures in regard to national or foreign victims who have resided for more than one year continuously out of the country and are entitled to a pension amounting to a maximum of 21 per cent, of the daily wage. — 576 — Section 80 of the Act authorises the Insurance Bank in such cases to commute the pension for a lump sum, which is fixed at three times the amount of the annual pension. The worker need only have been under 50 years of age at the time of the accident for the Bank to be able to avail itself of this right. This type of commutation is the same as the one which will be found again later under certain laws in force in countries where foreigners are officially subject to differential treatment. Like the provisions of the British legislations just referred to, it is equivalent in practice, from the point of view of the foreign beneficiary, to a marked reduction of his rights. There exists, however, a whole series of legislations in which penalties only attach to change of country if the victim of the accident is of foreign nationality. In other words, it is his nationality which is at the basis of his ineligibility and the country of residence is only the determining factor. The penalties laid down in the countries in question may be more or less severe. They may be definitive or simply temporary. If the legislator proposes to exert the full force of such penalties, he will decide upon the total and irrevocable discontinuance of the pension. If he wishes to show greater clemency by reserving the rights of the victim for the future, he will simply suspend payment of all or part of the compensation, without depriving the claimant of the chance of recovering his pension as soon as he decides to return t<* the country. Finally, the legislator may — and this is by far the most frequent solution — insist upon the definitive settlement of the rights of the beneficiary by the conversion of the pension into a lump sum, which is generally fixed by the law itself. The extent of his goodwill will be revealed by the conditions of the transaction. These three solutions, as is seen, involve very unequal consequences for the victim of the accident. We shall endeavour to distinguish the various forms in which they are applied in different countries. Discontinuance of the Pension It cannot be denied that such a measure is one of excessive severity from the point of view of the victim. It is especially hard in cases — and these are the most frequent — of a worker who has become incapacitated for work and is anxious to end his days in his own country among relatives whose care may relieve his lot and make his loss of physical strength less difficult to bear. It is, moreover, a useless measure, for in the majority of cases the worker will not agree to give up his pension. He will prefer to — 577 — continue to live in the foreign country where- his presence as a consumer, and nothing but a consumer, will be of very little advantage to the economic life of the country. Only two legislations go as far as this, namely, those of Norway.•*• and Bulgaria. The first provides for total ineligibility in the case of a foreign victim who ceases to reside in the territory. This regulation is based upon a provision of Section 25 of the Act of 19 July 1918, depriving of the right to compensation all national or foreign beneficiaries who leave the country, but laying down that only the first may become entitled to the benefit of the pension on their return, if this takes place before the expiry of a period of 20 years. Only exceptions based upon diplomatic reciprocity and provided for in Section 25 of the Act, can shield the foreign victim from the special penalty to which he is subject. The Convention concluded on 12 February 1919 with Denmark and Sweden transforms it, in the case of nationals of these two countries, simply into a measure of suspension, under the conditions laid down for national victims. In Bulgaria, in accordance with the Act of 6 March 1924, the right to a pension ceases, in the case of a foreign beneficiary who goes abroad, of his own free will or under compulsion, to take up his residence there, unless treaties exist between the two States providing for reciprocity. The severity of the régime for the foreign victims is therefore accentuated by the fact that his departure involves ineligibility even if not voluntary. Thus measures of expulsion taken by the Government, even if for purely political reasons, are sufficient to deprive him of his rights. Apart from the restriction admitted in cases of diplomatic reciprocity, it is hardly possible to conceive of more rigorous conditions. They should in reality be regarded as the application of a general system of reprisals, with the further aggravation that they transform into provisions of the common law regulations generally kept within the sphere of exceptions. It has been shown above that the Greek legislation provides for ineligibility of the same character in the case of foreigners who are the victims of temporary incapacity, when such persons are not resident in Greece: this ineligibility is the more complete, in that it does not apply, as in Bulgaria, simply to the cash allowance, but extends to the various forms of compensation. Notwithstanding, owing to the fact that it is confined to workers who are only temporarily incapacitated, it may be regarded as much less hard on the persons concerned. 17 — 578 — Finally, although there is no question of ineligibility properly so-called, the system resulting from the legislation in the Province of Quebec must be mentioned in connection with these systems of exception. We have already indicated its general tendency in connection with exceptional benefits. The adverse character is, however, less marked as regards the compensation for economic loss, since if there is any question of the employer's responsibility, the loss will give rise under the common law to the payment, not of limited compensation but of full damages. Suspension of Payment of the Pension This measure is undoubtedly less severe. No doubt, as regards the worker, it denotes an idea of repression at the same time as and perhaps even more than a feeling of the difficulties which may arise out of the payment of pensions abroad. Moreover, from the administrative point of view, it has the disadvantage of great uncertainty as to the payments to be effected in the future; but it has at all events the merit of not definitively compromising the future of the worker. It is applied in three countries, namely Germany, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and Hungary, with modifications which make it in actual fact, especially in the first country, less hard upon the person concerned. In Germany, paragraph 615 of the Insurance Code provides for the suspension of the pension as long as the foreign beneficiary resides voluntarily and habitually abroad. The same applies if the change of residence is the result of prohibition to reside in the Empire on the grounds of a penal conviction. On the other hand, and contrary to the system existing in Bulgaria, such prohibition, if based simply upon administrative measures, in no way affects the payment of the compensation. The person concerned issimply bound to furnish certain proofs to the consulate under the same conditions as nationals living voluntarily abroad; this provision shows that the German legislator has not exaggerated the difficulties of effecting payments abroad. At any stage the Federal Council may waive suspension, at all events in so far as concerns industrial establishments and building yards, in the case of foreigners belonging to frontier regions and in that of nationals of States under whose legislation Germans and their survivors are granted equality of treatment. We shall see, moreover, that suspension, where it applies, may always give place to lump sum payment at the instance of the. insurance institution. - - 579 — The legislation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes also provides for the suspension of rights to payment, if the beneficiary is the subject of a foreign State and returns to his native country in order to take up his permanent residence there. As regards this point, moreover, the Act of 14 May 1922 (Section 111) merely applies to aliens the régime laid down for nationals in the case of residence abroad for a period exceeding three months. It even modifies this system to a certain extent since, in the case of foreigners, it makes the penalty conditional on the establishment of the permanent domicile abroad, whereas, in that of a national of the country, absence for more than three months is sufficient for its application. The essential difference of treatment, however, as we shall see later, consists in the extent of the rights allowed to either class when they have no intention of returning. In such cases it may result in the foreign subject being placed in a privileged position. Further, the same section provides that the pension shall continue to be paid in a foreign country in case of reciprocity. This is an exceptionally liberal provision, since foreigners are thereby exempted from the provisions concerning ineligibility laid down by the common law. The Hungarian Act of 5 April 1907 is considerably less liberal in character than the other two. As has been seen, insurance in this country is extended to foreign workers only in the case of diplomatic reciprocity or if an administrative decision exists imposing it on them officially. Taken in itself, the legislation concerning compensation is not very favourable to foreign victims. Like the legislation in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, however, it does not impose on such persons any regulations other than those laid down for nationals. Whether residence abroad is permanent or is limited to a maximum period of three months, the pension is suspended until the return of the person in question, the arrears which have fallen due being payable only in the second case. On the other hand, unlike the system established in the other countries, the Hungarian Act makes no provision whatsoever for persons who, having left the country without any expectation of returning there, desire to have their claims definitively settled. Except in the case of partial incapacity not exceeding 20 per cent., when the corresponding capital can be paid to the victim by the regional fund (Section 96), it does not give the victim — or indeed nationals — any legal means similar to those which are laid down in Sections 76 and 77 of the same text for dependants, and which we shall deal with later. Notwith- — 580 — standing, exceptions to these regulations are provided for in the case of diplomatic reciprocity; the pension must still be paid to the victim in such cases and the treatment accorded him is thus' better than in the case of a national. We have already had occasion to show that this advantage is only an apparent one, since the fact of being kept in the country on pain of being declared ineligible involves hardship for a foreigner, in that neither his feelings nor his interests are taken into account. One is inclined to wonder whether, apart from the loss of the pension referred to, a foreign worker leaving the country in which compensation is ensured him does not experience inequality of treatment in connection with the discontinuance of the supplementary grant allocated in a certain number of countries by way of compensation either for increased cost of living or for family responsibilities. It is obvious that the fact that any country reserves for nationals alone the benefit of cost of living allowances paid abroad will result in adverse treatment for foreign beneficiaries. Generally speaking, however, benefits of this nature, where they do exist, apply only to persons resident in the country, for whom they constitute a sort of premium for residence, a premium which is based upon a special economic situation. In Belgium, where compensation is supplemented by allowances corresponding to the increase in the cost of living, such allowances are entirely suspended in the case of beneficiaries who may happen to leave the country. From this point of view, therefore, the position of foreigners is governed entirely by the principle of equality upon which the Belgian legislation is based. We might note fiurther, in a Czechoslovak Act of 21 December 1921, a provision according to which the cost of living allowance is granted de jure only to persons domiciled in the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic. This text implies that supplementary benefits are possible even outside the territory, and it may be taken that preference will be given to nationals. Directly, however, the question ceases to be one of formal rights, it no longer comes within the scope of compensation for accidents, but is included under the heading of relief, in which, as may be imagined, the States must retain full powers of discretion. In conclusion, we may note the exceptionally generous provisions of the Polish Law of 6 July 1923. In confirming the principle of equality as between nationals and foreigners, this text has not limited it to the basic compensation, but provides that foreigners and their families shall be entitled to all the supplements provided for under the system of social insurance. — 581 — Commutation of the Pension for a Lump Sum This is the system generally employed by legislations which, for administrative or sentimental reasons, do not desire to facilitate the payment of pensions abroad. The results vary very considerably according to whether the capital allocated corresponds to the present value of the pension or represents only a part of it. They vary also according to whether the transaction is voluntary or compulsory from the point of view of the beneficiary. In order to indicate these differences, the following four cases may be distinguished : (a) commutation is de jure compulsory; (b) commutation depends upon the debtor; (c) commutation depends upon the creditor; (d) commutation depends upon agreement between the two parties. (a) Commutation is de jure compulsory. — The countries in which this rule is enforced are, generally speaking, those in which the operation is effected under conditions least favourable to the worker. This group includes France and the three countries which have inherited the former Russian legislation, namely Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The French Act of 9 April 1898, Section 3, bases forfeiture of the right to a pension on cessation of residence. The only compensation received by foreign workers who are the victims of accidents and cease to reside in French territory is a lump sum equal to three times the pension. Thus, this text does not simply grant in exchange for the pension a sum which, unless the worker is exceptionally old, will represent only a small portion of the capitalised value of the pension; it also breaks all juridical connection between the victim and the employer in whose service he was injured. This has two effects which are equally hard on the worker: on the one hand the curtailment of his rights is definitive and his return to the country will not entitle him to any readjustment and, on the other, if more than three years have elapsed since the accident, he will lose the right to any possible review, on account of aggravation or improvement, which victims are allowed under Section 19 during this period. The only corrective to these severe provisions is the possibility of exceptions being made by means of treaties in accordance with the principle of reciprocity. This applies in the case of Belgian, Italian, Polish and Czechoslovak nationals. The same provisions occur in the legislations of Esthonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Russian Act of 23 June 1912, which — 582 — is applied by the first two countries, and that of 2 June 1903 which is applied by the third, are drafted in less imperative terms. They provide that the pension shall be converted into a lump sum equal to three times the annual pension. Although these legislations, unlike the French Law, contain no express provision as regards the definitive character of the commutation this has always been admitted by jurisprudence and legal doctrine. In Esthonia and Latvia, diplomatic reciprocity makes it possible to exempt foreigners who are the victims of accidents from the exceptional system laid down for them; it applies between the two countries, in virtue of a treaty preliminary to the Economic and Customs Union of 14 December 1923. (b) Commutation is optional for the debtor. — The object of this system is to take into account the more or less serious difficulties arising out of the payment of pensions in the foreign country in question. In actual fact, however, the decision of the debtor institution will be determined mainly by the profit resulting for it from the conditions of the transaction. Five countries have given insurance institutions power to commute pensions, namely Germany, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden. The German law, while providing for the discontinuance of the pension, allows the insurance corporation to compensate a person who becomes resident in foreign territory by the payment of a single sum equal to three times the annual amount of the pension. The victim of an accident is free not to accept the transaction on this basis, in which case he will receive capital corresponding to the value of his annuity and calculated according to a method decided by the Federal Council. Exceptions are provided for foreigners inhabiting frontier regions, but reciprocity has no effect, in such cases, in accordance with the reservation expressly laid down in the various agreements concluded with other countries. Austria and Czechoslovakia are both governed by the Austrian Act of 1887. In virtue of this text, when the beneficiary is a foreigner and is permanently established abroad, the insurance institution is authorised to convert the pension to which he is entitled into a lump sum appropriate to the particular case. It goes without saying that under these conditions the payment can only be regarded as a definitive settlement. These provisions constitute an adequate safeguard for the rights of the victim, but in actual fact the insurance institutions make very little use of their powers. This is proved, so far as the Czechoslovak Republic is concerned, by its — 583 — Government's reply to a questionnaire addressed to it in connection with the Sixth International Labour Conference. In Sweden, the Act of 15 June 1922, provides for commutation on terms far less favourable to the persons concerned. If the foreign victim is not domiciled in the country, the compensation may, with his consent, be converted into a lump sum, amounting to 20-50 per cent, of the capital value; failing consent, he may be obliged to accept a lump sum at the rate of 50 per cent, of the capital value. This law provides further that conversion settles all claims to compensation. Notwithstanding, diplomatic reciprocity may sometimes protect certain foreign nationals from these regulations (Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Finland). (c) Commutation is optional for the creditor. — In such cases, the transaction would offer a certain advantage to the beneficiary, if the amount at which the lump sum laid down by law is fixed did not invariably involve the relinquishment of part of his rights. The system is found only in two countries, namely the Republic of Cuba and Portugal. The Cuban Act of 12 June 1916 is not absolutely clear. Section 18, concerning foreign workers, provides that "the foreign worker who becomes a victim of permanent incapacity, whether total or partial, and who leaves the country shall receive a lump sum as compensation". At first sight, therefore, one might imagine that this was a case of compulsory commutation. In another passage of the same law, however, mention is made of cases in which the worker "chooses compensation in a lump sum". One may conclude, therefore, that it is simply a matter of choice. When the worker avails himself of this right, the compensation amounts, in the case of total mcapacity, to three years' wages, and in that of partial incapacity to a proportion of the same sum corresponding to the degree of incapacity. There are no special regulations for temporary incapacity. On the other hand, the Portuguese Decree of 10 May 1919 provides expressly that foreigners who are victims of accidents shall have the right, if they leave the country, to receive a lump sum amounting to three times the annual pension allowed them. This text, like the Cuban law, contains no provision to the effect that such commutation shall be final. There seems, however, to be no doubt as regards this point. From the fact that the transaction is carried out by the desire of the person concerned, it could only be regarded as other than definitive if this were expressly stated by the legislator: there is no such mention in any text. — 584 — (d) Commutation is subject to agreement between the debtor and creditor. — The legislation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes is the only one which has made such agreement a condition for the commutation which may result from the automatic suspension provided for in the case of removal abroad. Whereas, in the same circumstances, a national victim can only obtain a grant equal to one year's pension — and then only on the production of certain proofs — the foreign victim is entitled to claim that his pension shall be converted into a lump sum theoretically equal to the value of his pension but which may not exceed three times - the annual amount of the pension. On the other hand, from a comparison of the texts applicable to the two categories of beneficiaries, it must be concluded that, in the case of a victim returning to the country, the renewal of the pension is confined to the national. The legislator appears to have aimed at encouraging the repatriation of nationals, by refusing to regard their absence as permanent, while in case of foreign beneficiaries, feeling that there was no hope of their return, or perhaps indifferent as regards this point, he desired to settle their position once and for all. The rights of foreign beneficiaries, moreover, simply amount to proving their claim before the Central Workers' Insurance Institution, with whom it rests to take a decision in the matter. But while the commutation of a pension implies the consent of this organisation, it would not be possible except at the instance of the party concerned. THE VICTIM OF THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT RESIDENT IN THE COUNTRY AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT This is a case which few laws appear to have considered. At first sight it might even appear in the nature of a paradox to imagine that the worker could reside anywhere but in the country in which he was injured. The definition of residence sanctioned by jurisprudence in the different countries makes it impossible, however, to ignore the case of workers whose dwelling is separated by a frontier from the place where they work. This involves the consideration, in determining the juridical consequences of the accident of which the worker was a victim, of a circumstance which relates exclusively to his private life and is antecedent to his right to compensation. Cases of ineligibility arising from this fact are more difficult to admit than those resulting from a change of residence which is due to an act subsequent to the accident that is, to a fresh fact depend- — 5S5 — ing, at all events theoretically, on the will of the person concerned. One would hesitate to admit any serious difference of treatment for two workers engaged in the same work every day, and in the same place and passing all their working time there together. While it is true that the greater part of the expenditure of a worker established abroad does not benefit the national economy, it is none the less a fact that his activities contribute to the prosperity of the country and that the benefits which are provided as a counterpart to his work should not be subject in principle to any condition. At all events, it would appear to be reasonable — if payment of the compensation is to be made subject to the material fact of living in the country — to give the victim the option of receiving this compensation or continuing to reside abroad. This solution has not been admitted anywhere ; on the contrary, writers 1 are found who maintain that, in cases in which the laws contain no express provision or are not clear, a victim residing abroad when •the -accident occurs might be refused all compensation. Notwithstanding, the tendency of jurisprudence, in the absence of any express provision in the law, is to assimilate non-residence to cessation of residence, and hence to give the victim the right, if occasion arises, to the conversion of the pension into a lump sum on the basis laid down by the various legislations. This, despite much argument, is the principle adopted in France, where the law does not provide for cases in which the victim is resident abroad. It is a fortiori applied in Germany, Austria, the Province of Quebec, Sweden and Czechoslovakia, where the law merely considers the fact of residence abroad, without expressly stating that if it is to involve ineligibility it must be subsequent to the accident. The same principle also applies in Greece in the case of temporary incapacity. On the other hand, the principle is not admitted in the case of several countries whose laws have provided for and sanctioned the transfer of residence abroad: these are the countries in which the texts actually refer to the fact of change of residence. This category includes, notably, Bulgaria, Cuba, Norway, and Portugal. The legislators of these countries do not appear to have considered that there might be a reason for making a distinction between workers employed under the same conditions, by reason of circumstances unconnected with their work and existing prior to their rights. 1 AUVILI.AIN: Les ouvriers étrangers en France el íes accidents du travail, p. kl. — 586 — The Serb-Croat-Slovene Act has aimed at preventing any difference of interpretation as regards this point. Under Section 8, the same treatment is accorded to foreign subjects "engaged within the territory of the Kingdom" as to nationals. Thus, the foreign worker whose home is on the other side of the frontier enjoys an absolute right, of which he could be deprived only by the application of measures of reprisal, which are left to the discretion of the Ministry for Social Welfare. Another law exists which provides specially for this class of daily emigrants, granting them no less favourable treatment. The Polish Act of 6 July 1923, the liberality of which was mentioned above in the case of victims who transfer their residence abroad, contains a remarkable provision concerning foreign workers employed in %he territory and residing abroad. It allows them not only the various benefits provided for under insurance but also the extraordinary grants and increases, notably those relating to the cost of living and family responsibilities. As in the case of the legislation just referred to, this system can only be suspended for the .purpose of reprisal. CHAPTER II CONDITIONS FOR COMPENSATION IN CASE OF DEATH Of the two elements constituting the compensation in fatal cases only one can be affected by the nationality of the victim or his representatives, namely the one corresponding to reparation for the economic loss caused by the death of the worker to the persons dependent on his earnings. In the various countries covered by our examination, the granting of funeral expenses is independent of all considerations of nationality. It could hardly be otherwise and one cannot imagine differences as regards the amount or conditions of payment of indemnities for the burial of a foreign victim. No legislation contains any special provisions in the matter. It should be noted, however, that in Sweden, if the victim dies abroad, the allowance is only paid "if the accident entails death within three months". This condition of time is not applicable to Swedish victims who have died abroad from the effects of an accident and thus constitutes a restrictive provision as regards foreigners at the same time as an administrative precaution, the object of which may be easily understood. On the other hand, nationality has important consequences from the point of view of the payment to representatives of compensation properly so-called. We have already seen to how great -an extent the fact of being an alien may effect the rights of the victim himself. We shall find that, in the case of the representatives its effects will be even more marked. To begin with, one question arises. Is only the nationality of the victim to be considered or is it also necessary to consider that of the representatives who become entitled to compensation owing to his death ? A strict application of the principles involved would lead to a consideration of the status of the victim alone and the rejection, in virtue of the maxim nemo plus dare potest quam ipse habet, of any distinction based upon the nationality of the representatives. This view, however, has been set aside under the legislation ef a large number of countries. The latter consider that it would — 588 — be inexpedient to extend to such nationals regulations inspired by a desire to afford protection (Austria, Brazil, Canada (British Columbia), Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Serb-CroatSlovene Kingdom, Spain, Sweden). In thus confining ineligibility to representatives of foreign nationality, and in guaranteeing in certain cases to his indirect beneficiaries advantages greater than the victim himself would have obtained had he lived, they have still further emphasised the exceptional character of these measures. The regulations which we shall consider here do not apply therefore to nationals who are representatives of foreign workers, such representatives being guaranteed under their own legislations the samé1 treatment as the representatives of national workers. It is desirable, in the second place, to ascertain whether in any legislation inequality of treatment exists as regards the actual limits set for the definition of representatives, in other words, whether th« number and status of the persons admitted as representatives of the victim are everywhere independent of nationality. The table given at the end of the present chapter will show that the definition of this class of persons is one of the points regarding which the national laws show least divergence. This agreement is easily explained. The economic loss caused to the family of the worker who is the victim of a fatal accident can in practice only be appreciated by methods which are practically invariable; whether the law endeavours to assess this loss or whether it simply presumes it, it is bound to rely upon simple data based in actual fact upon the civil status of the person concerned. One cannot imagine any reason for setting such data aside when it is a question of compensating the survivors of foreign workers. The bond of relationship or economic dependence upon which the various legislations unanimously base the recognition of the status of representative is not one which can vary according to the nationality of the victim. One notes, therefore, without surprise, that on the whole they make no distinction in the matter. One country alone constitutes an exception to the general rule, namely, Switzerland. Although insurance covers all workers employed in the territory, the full benefits are not granted there in the case of foreigners whose legislation does not accord ,Swiss nationals equivalent benefits. This system of discrimination involves the suppression of the right to compensation, as regards — 589 — certain survivors. Whereas, in the case of Swiss nationals and the nationals of countries according reciprocal treatment, the status of representatives isextended to ascendants in a direct line for life and to brothers and sisters up to the age of sixteen years inclusive (Section 86 of the Federal Act of 13 June 1911), it applies in the case of nationals of other countries only to husband or wife and children (Section 90). This is a restriction the severity of which cannot be disguised. The consequences appear all the more rigorous in that ineligibility as defined takes no account of any considerations relating to the special position of the representative. It is quite independent of his national origin and place of residence and is purely and simply in the nature of a measure of posthumous reprisal; it results, in fact, in the creation between persons injured to an equal extent and perhaps living side by side in Swiss territory of inequalities which, despite the absence of reciprocity between one country and another, are none the less contrary to all principles of equity. One might be inclined to see also in the Cuban legislation the same conception of a class of representatives the composition of which varies according to the nationality of the victim. In Section 18 concerning foreign workers, the Act of 12 June 1916 refers to the victim's representatives by the general term of heirs, which is not to be found in Section 11 relating to the representatives of national workers. As the compensation of the survivors of national workers covers the case of the husband or wife and the children, and further, that of the ascendants and brothers and sisters, must one conclude that the legislator intended to be more liberal in his definition of representatives of a foreign victim ? This interpre1 ! tation cannot be maintained, for Section 18 further provides that in such cases the compensation if converted into a lump sum shall be granted to the heirs under the same conditions as apply to the representatives of a national worker. It is clear, therefore, that the heirs ab intestato of a foreign victim are entitled to the compensation only in so far as the degree of relationship brings them within the category of persons enumerated by the law as possessing the status of representatives in the case of accidents of which the victims are nationals. No other legislation contains provisions from which it could be inferred that, in determining the economic relation between the foreign victim and his representatives, the basis taken is different from that upon which the financial effects of fatal accidents are settled when the victims are nationals. — 590 — In order to examine, where such exist, the special regulations applicable to representatives, we shall consider the same three hypotheses as were used in the previous chapter with a view to determining the personal rights of the victim; we shall also refer, when necessary, to the points already noted, in dealing with measures common to all the beneficiaries. THE REPRESENTATIVE IS RESIDENT IN THE COUNTRY AND WAS RESIDENT THERE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT One can obviously not expect the representative to come under a régime more advantageous than that provided for the victim himself in a similar case. Thus, we shall find again here, on the one hand, the common restrictions imposed on the latter by the general application of the system of reciprocity (Hungary and Lithuania), and, on the other, the special cases of inequality already referred to in the Swiss legislation (reduction of the pension to threefourths, in the case of non-reciprocity) and the Austrian legislation (possible suppression of the cost of living allowance, by way of reprisals). As a general rule no special measures of exception are provided in the case of representatives. The Cuban legislation appears to be the only one which in this respect has treated them differently from persons who become incapacitated. Assimilating the case of death to that of permanent total incapacity it imposes on representatives compulsory commutation automatically, and irrespective of residence, as in the case of direct beneficiaries leaving the country. There should be noted, further, the condition of residence laid down by the New Zealand law in connection with the compensation of representatives, whatever the nationality of the latter or of the victims. No exception can be made to this rule, except in the case of beneficiaries established in another territory of the British Empire and then only in so far as reciprocity of treatment is granted under the legislation of that territory to persons entitled to the benefit of the provisions in force in New Zealand. Similarly, under the legislation of Queensland, representatives who are no longer resident in Australia or New Zealand become ineligible; the possibilities of exceptions on terms of reciprocity are also confined to territory included within the British Empire. THE REPRESENTATIVE CEASES TO RESIDE IN THE COUNTRY Apart from the differences of treatment established under the two legislations just referred to and applicable a fortiori in the ease — 591 — of change of residence, there exist in other laws a large number of cases in which representatives who cease to reside in the country become ineligible. Some of these cases represent merely the transfer of the measures which we have seen imposed on the direct beneficiaries, while others constitute an aggravation of the inequality peculiar to the status of the relatives as mere representatives. Finally, there is one legislation, that of Hungary, in which the rights of representatives are assessed differently from those of the victims and may in certain special cases amount to preferential treatment. We shall deal with these three classes in succession. Application to the Representatives of the Regulations established for the Victim in the Case of Cessation of Residence This principle is uniformly admitted by the legislations which have laid down provisions in the matter (Austria, Bulgaria, Canada (Quebec), Czechoslovakia, Esthonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom, Sweden). Hence, the discontinuance of the pension de jure applies to representatives in Bulgaria and Norway; similarly its suspension applies in Germany and Austria, and again (with the exception of the Province of Quebec) commutation for a lump sum is found in all the countries enumerated above in the form of an optional or compulsory measure, as provided by the law, and with the more or less advantageous conditions involved by this operation from the point of view of the beneficiaries. An important addition which does not affect the victim himself has, however, been introduced into several of these legislations: it applies to persons to whom compensation is to be paid only for a period of less than three years. It would most certainly be unreasonable in this case to grant them a sum in excess of that which they would normally receive. The danger cannot occur in countries in-which commutation is left to the insurance to decide. On the other hand, it does arise in countries in which the operation is optional on the part of the person concerned or compulsory under law. The French legislator did not provide for this point in 1898. He repaired the omission in the Act of 31 March 1905. This law, in confirming the application to indirect beneficiaries of the compulsory commutation which applies to the victim himself in the case of removal abroad, stipulates further that, as regards the representatives, the capital paid shall not exceed the present value of the pension as provided for in the tariff fixed. The same precaution has been taken by the Esthonian and Latvian legisla- — 592 — tions and by the Portuguese legislation. The latter provides expressly for nationals who are minors and limits the amount of the lump sum to be paid in compensation to the amount to which they would be entitled if they continued to reside in Portugal up to the age of 14 years. Restrictions peculiar to Representatives Legislation presenting special disadvantages in the case of survivors has appeared only in three countries. In actual fact, it cannot be regarded as the outcome of administrative considerations when the material difficulties connected with payment abroad do not appear to be insurmountable in so far as concerns the victim himself. In two of the countries the disadvantages are confined, however, to cases in which diplomatic reciprocity does not exist (Denmark and Peru). Provisions of practically the same character are found again in the Danish and Peruvian legislations; both confine the right to compensation to survivors residing in the territory, without, it is true, making special mention of removal subsequent to the accident. It seems only reasonable to admit that payment of compensation may at all events be suspended, when the claimant establishes himself permanently abroad. In Denmark, the Act of 6 July 1916, Section 37, stipulates that the benefits of insurance shall be open only to survivors who are Danish citizens or are resident either in Denmark or Greenland. In Peru, on the other hand, a Regulation of 30 May 1924 (Section 3) provides that no compensation is due to heirs of foreign victims when such heirs do not reside within Peruvian territory. Both these texts provide for exceptions in cases of diplomatic reciprocity. In Denmark this system has already been applied in the case of Finnish representatives, in virtue of the Convention concluded between the two countries. As regards this point, British Columbia has established a somewhat exeeptional system: the Act of 1919, which is in force in this province, permits the Board to use its discretion and to lower the rate of compensation for foreign representatives not resident in Canada, taking into account the cost of living in the place where they reside, in order that they may be ensured advantages equal to those which they would have in the country. The Board is, notwithstanding, compelled to constitute a reserve corresponding to the reserve which would be required if the common tariff were applied. If one sets aside the possible differences in other countries — 593 — due to the effects of the cost of living supplement, this system appears to be the only one in which the legislator has sought to take into account the inequalities which may exist between one region and another by reason of variations in the cost of living. The scope of this system is, however, essentially restrictive since the law provides only for the hypothesis of residence in a place where the standard of living is lower than in Canada. Special Regime in Hungary In the Hungarian Act of 9 January 1907, the same tendency which we noted as underlying the legislation of Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom is found again, with the essential difference that, instead of being common to both classes of beneficiaries, the preference shown to foreigners as compared with nationals is confined to the representatives of the victim. This fact, however, could not be adduced as a proof that the Act is more generous, since, as we have seen above, the very obligation imposed upon the worker, and hence all the rights ensuing from insurance, depend upon the fulfilment of a preliminary condition, namely, the admission by the beneficiary's country of a system of diplomatic reciprocity, or again, upon the existence of the ministerial decision which, under the terms of Section 6 of the Act, may make insurance compulsory "irrespective of any question of reciprocity". Thus, the special provision concerning representatives is merely superimposed on the general regulation which is common to all foreign beneficiaries and the effect of which may be to make the said provision ineffective. For the same reasons as inspired the legislation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes later, the Hungarian Act provides for suspension as regards both national and foreign beneficiaries, in the case of removal abroad. This Act likewise confines to foreigners the right in these circumstances to have the pension commuted for a lump sum. Unlike other legislations, however, it has still further facilitated the definitive settlement of the rights of representatives by not only allowing this but by giving them the right to receive, "by way of a compromise", capital equal to three, times the pension, when they are about to establish themselves abroad without any expectation of returning. The Act adds that, if they do subsequently return to the country, they shall have no further right to the pension. The representatives are thus treated quite differently from the victims: less well, if they propose to return sooner or later, but more favourably, if they establish themselves definitively in their country of origin. This regulation, like the 38 — 594 — other reservations concerning foreigners, does not apply if reciprocity is accorded by the country of origin. THE REPRESENTATIVE WAS NOT RESIDENT IN AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT THE COUNTRY This is the case which has been dealt with least favourably under the various legislations. The distinction established by most of them between cessation of residence subsequent to the accident and non-residence at the time of the accident, results for the representatives, in this case, in a position which is just the opposite of that of the victim. The latter, as we have seen, is rarely penalised on the ground that his home is abroad, and when he is thus penalised, it is only to the extent to which a victim leaving the country after the accident would suffer. The idea of a stricter penalty in the case of a person resident abroad may have been defended by certain commentators who kept strictly to the letter of certain texts, but it has never been explicity stated in any legislation. In the case of representatives, on the contrary, ineligibility based upon non-residence constitutes far the most common case. The contradiction is only an apparent one. In the case of a victim who has no residence within the country, there exists a connection based upon work which should logically take precedence of residence. Does it not relate indeed to the very factor in virtue of which social legislation is bound to consider and protect the person concerned ? In the case of the worker, and still more of the worker removed from his own country, one must not lose sight of the essential factor of his juridical personality. The position of the mere representative is quite different. Even if he lives in the territory under the same conditions as a national, the mere fact of his being an alien imposes upon him a disadvantage which is not removed or modified, as in the case of the victim, by daily participation in the economic activity of his new country. If he resides abroad, the feeling of mistrust of which he is the object easily degenerates into suspicion and his position, no matter how hard it may be, inspires only faint interest. Further, it must be admitted that any attempt to determine the rights of survivors may in certain countries encounter serious difficulties and even fraud. One need only refer to the studies undertaken for the preparation of some of the principal laws instituted in the matter of industrial accidents — more especially the German and French laws — to realise the influence of these two considerations and to understand that they — 595 — have had an adverse effect on the position of representatives residing abroad at the time of the accident. We shall consider the distinctions made in this connection by the legislations with which we are dealing. Unlike the case of non-residence, the penalties in this connection consist almost exclusively in the suppression of compensation. Suppression of Compensation This is the rule of the five legislations where this penalty is found for cessation of residence (Bulgaria, Canada (Quebec), Denmark, Norway and Peru) with the corrective, except in the case of the province of Quebec, resulting from the application of the principle of diplomatic reciprocity. It is found next in countries whose laws have provided for a very liberal solution in the first hypothesis and, indeed, in other situations in which foreigners find themselves. These countries are the Argentine Republic, Brazil, Spain and Greece, which alike refuse all compensation to claimants not resident in the country at the time of the accident, whereas, except in the case of Greece in the matter of temporary incapacity, they do not provide for forfeiture, if the persons concerned leave the country when their claim to compensation has once been admitted. These measures, however, do not apply in the case of diplomatic reciprocity: the Conventions concluded by the Argentine Republic with Spain and Italy and by Brazil with Italy ensure the respective nationals complete equality from this point of view. In Brazil, the provision concerning ineligibility is all the stricter from the fact that the law places upon the claimants the onus of proving that they were resident in the country at the time of the accident. It should be added, however, that there is a bill before the Brazilian Parliament for the suppression of this restriction relating to foreigners — the only restriction in the law concerning industrial accidents. The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has already passed a vote in favour of the bill. The same disadvantageous provision occurs in other legislations which have dealt specially with cessation of residence; these, however, have attached far less gravity to non-residence, sometimes making commutation a favour which is left to the discretion of the institution responsible for compensation. This is the case in Germany, where the lump sum to be paid is not limited as elsewhere to an amount lower than the capital value of the pension. In accordance with the general principles of the German Act the — 596 — Federal Council may decide not to suppress the pension on account of non-residence in the case of foreigners belonging to the frontier regions and in cases of legislative reciprocity. The same condition of ineligibility applies a fortiori in countries where cessation of residence involves or may involve for the beneficiary a considerable reduction in his rights, owing to the compromise imposed by the law in the case of commutation and without there being any reason in this connection to distinguish between the optional or compulsory character of the transaction from the point of view of the creditor. In this group may be included Esthonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Sweden. Under the Swedish legislation, however, the provisions concerning ineligibility are far less severe. Ineligibility is confined to cases in which the deceased was not domiciled in the country. This denotes suspicion on the part of the legislator, when non-residence applies both to the victim and his representatives. The condition of residence is further aggravated in Esthonia and Latvia by a special stipulation ; only members of the family living with the head of the family at the time of the accident are allowed the benefits of the pension. This supplementary condition is not found in the provisions applicable to national victims. Of all the countries just enumerated, Lithuania is the only one which admits no exception in the case of diplomatic reciprocity. The others, in virtue of different Conventions, have assimilated to their own nationals those of a number of other countries (for France: Belgian, Italian, Luxemburg, Polish and Czechoslovak subjects; for Esthonia and Latvia: their respective subjects; for Sweden: British, Danish, Norwegian, and Finnish subjects). Other Penalties The measures included in this category simply represent the extension to non-residence of the rules applicable to cessation of residence. The considerations which have led the majority of the other legislations, in so far as the representatives of the victim are concerned, to provide in the second case for the total loss of rights, still further justify the simple legal assimilation of the fact of non-residence in the country at the time of the accident and that of departure after the right to compensation already exists. This assimilation is found in three countries in which the law provides for the commutation of the pension for a lump sum, namely, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Cuba. Hence, in the first two countries, it is optional for the insurance institution and is not restricted — 597 — to a fixed sum, while, in the third, it is optional for the representatives up to a maximum, which varies according to whether the incapacity is permanent or merely temporary, but which is always considerably lower than the capital value of the pension. Finally, there is one country in which the representative established abroad is better treated than the representative who becomes a resident abroad after acquiring the right to compensation; this is the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. This state of affairs, which is at variance with the principle found in all other legislations, results from the provisions of the law according to which the suspension of the compensation and hence the possible right to commutation applies only if the beneficiary returns to his country, no condition of residence, moreover, being imposed on foreign representatives before they can become entitled to compensation — a state of affairs which is not so strange as it appears since, on the one hand, the regulations concerning representatives in the case of cessation of residence are merely an extepsion of the provisions laid down for the victim and, on the other hand, the possibility of commutation, which is provided for in the law and is conditional on the consent of the persons concerned, compensates .to a certain extent, in the case of this first category of non-resident persons, for the disadvantages resulting from the suspension of compensation. * * * The foregoing are the points in regard to which the various legislations do not extend to the victims or their representatives the measures of protection provided for nationals. They may be summed up as in the following table. — 598 — TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION OP In the case of incapacity COUNTRY General character of the protection provided for foreigners ARGENTINA Protection de jure. Equality subject to diplomatic reciprocity. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth Equality jure. The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident The victim ceases to reside in the country No restriction In the case of residence out of Australia, continuation of the pension is conditional on proof that the incapacity will probably be permanent (a rule which also applies to nationals). de Southern Australia Ditto Ditto Western Australia Ditto Ditto New South Wales Ditto Ditto Queensland Ditto Ditto Tasmania Ditto Ditto Victoria Ditto Ditto AUSTRIA Protection de jure. Equality subject to legislative reciprocity. Possible s u p pression of cost of living allowance, either by way of reprisals or because the undertaking in which the accident occurred will henceforth be in foreign territory. In the case of permanent establishment abroad, the insurance institution has the option of commuting the annual pension for a lump sum appropriate to the case, unless legislative reciprocity exists. The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e c o u n t r y at t h e time of the accident — 599 — FOREIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH In the case of death Possible difference in the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country No restriction. No difference. The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident T r e a t m e n t of nationals who are representatives of a foreign worker No compensation except in the case of diplomatic reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — No special restrictions concerning nationality, but disqualiflcation common to all representatives in the case of transfer of residence out of Australia and New Zealand, except for the possible maintenance of compensation if reciprocity is granted under the legislation of the place of residence, provided such place is within the British Empire. • — — — — — — — — — — No difference. No special restriction, but possible suppression of cost of living allowance, either by way of reprisals or because the undertaking in which the accident occurred is henceforth in foreign territory. In the case of permanent establishment abroad, the insurance institution has the option of commutation for a lump sum appropriate to the case, unless legislative reciprocity exists. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. 600 TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION OP In the case of incapacity COUNTRY BELGIUM General character of the protection provided for foreigners Equality jure. Ditto BRAZIL Protection de jure. Equality subject to diplomatic reciprocity. BULGARIA Protection de jure, which may he extended in case of legislative reciprocity but which never amounts to equality of treatment (no compulsory insurance for foreigners workingjindependently or as public officials). CANADA Alberta Equality jure. Columbia Manitoba de Protection de jure, but only partial. Equality jure, The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e country at the time of the accident de BOLIVIA British The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident de Assimilation to national beneficiaries. No restriction. No compensation except in the case of diplomatic reciprocity. In case of residence out of the Province, continuation of the annual pension is conditional on proof that the incapacity will probably be permanent (a rule which also applies to national representatives). No restriction. Protection subject, in the case of non-residence (nationals of non-reciprocity, compensation may be granted at the obligation may be imposed upon the employer. New Brunswiok Ditto In the case of non-residence, compensation is subject to legislative reciprocity in the place of residence, and is limited to the amount accorded under the legislation of such place. (Regulation common to nationals and foreigners). Nova ¡Scotia Ditto Ditto Ontario Ditto Protection subject, in the case of non-residence (nationals disqualification concerning residents of ex-enemy countries.) — 601 — FOREIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (cóìlt.) In the case of death Possible difference in the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident — — — —. —. — — — — No compensation except in cases of diplomatic reciprocity. Same treatment. as representatives of a national work-. er. No difference. — No restriction. • T r e a t m e n t of nationals who are representatives of a foreign worker Ditto No restriction. No compensation except in the case of diplomatic reciprocity. Ditto No difference. No restriction. In the case of residence outside Canada, the Board has the power to reduce the compensation fixed by the tariff, taking into account the cost of living in the country of residence. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. or foreigners), to legislative reciprocity in the country of residence. In the. case discretion of the Board by means of sums drawn from the accident fund, or the Ditto In the case of non-residents, compensation is subject to legislative reciprocity in the place of residence, and is limited to the amount accorded under the legislation of such place. (Regulation common to nationals and foreigners). — — — Ditto or foreigners), to If gislative reciprocity in the country of residence. (Special Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. — 602 - TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION O] In the case of incapacity COUNTRY CANADA (cont.) Quebeo Saskatchewan Yukon CHILE General character of the protection provided for foreigners Protection de jure, but only partial. Equality jure. de No restriction. — Ditto Protection de jure, but only partial. CZECHOSLOVAKIA Equalitysubject to diplomatic reciprocity. DENMARK Protection de jure. Equality subject to diplomatic reciprocity. ECUADOR E q u a l i t y de jure. Ditto The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e c o u n t r y at t h e time of the accident No compensation, but redress may be sought under common law. — — In the case of non-residence, compensation is subject to legislative reciprocity in the place of residence, and is limited to the amount accorded under the legislation of such place. (Regulation common to nationals and foreigners.) Ditto CUBA ESTHONIA The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident — — — No restriction. Commutation of the pension into a lump sum equal to t h r e e years wages, in the case of incapacity, or into fraction of the sum corresponding to the degree of incapacity in the case of permanent partial incapacity. No restriction. Ditto The insurance institution has the option of commutation for an appropriatelump sum (with possible exceptions in the case of reciprocity). No restriction. — — — No restriction. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the a n n u a l pension (with possible exceptions in the case of reciprocity). No restriction. — 603 — FOREIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (COTlt.) In the case of death Possible difference in the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country No difference. No restriction. — — The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident No compensation, but redress may be sought under the common law. — — In the case of non-residence compensation is subject to legislative reciprocity in the place of residence, and is limited to the amount accorded under the legislation of such place. (Regulation common to nationals and foreigners.) — No difference. — — — Commutation for a lump sum based upon the compensation payable to the worker in the case of permanent total Incapacity. T r e a t m e n t of nationals who areî representatives of a foreign worker Same treatment as foreign representatives. — Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. — Same treatment as foreign representatives. Ditto No restriction. The insurance institution has the option of commutation for an appropriate lump sum (with possible exceptions in the case of reciprocity). Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. Ditto Ditto No compensation, except in the case òf diplomatic reciprocity. Ditto — — — — — No difference. No restriction. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension (with possible exceptions in the case of reciprocity). In the case of children the lump sum must not exceed the total amount payable as pension during the period which it has still to run. No compensation, except in the case of legislative reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. — 604 — TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION O In the case of incapacity COUNTRY General character of the protection provided for foreigners The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e country at the time of the accident — — — FINLAND Equality jure. FRANCE Protection de jure. Equality subject to diplomatic reciprocity. No restriction. GERMANY Protection de jure, which may be extended in the case of legislative reciprocity, but which never amounts to equality of treatment. Ditto Suspension of the pension, unless otherwise decided by the Federal Council, in the case of reciprocity or residence in a frontier district, or optional commutation for a lump sum which may be equal to 3 times the amount of the a n n u a l pension, with the consent of the person concerned, or, failing . such consent, to the capital value. Exceptions are admitted only in the case of foreigners belonging to the frontier districts, in virtue of a decision of the Federal Council. (If residence abroad is the result of expulsion not arising from a criminal conviction, the annual pension is paid, subject to the fulfilment of certain formalities.) Suspension of the pension, unless otherwise decided by the Federal Council, in the case of reciprocity, or conversion optional for the insurance institution into a lump sum, which may be equal to 3 times the amount of the annual pension with the consent of the person concerned or, failing such consent, to the capital value. GREAT BRITAIN Equality jure. — — — GREECE Protection de jure. Equality subject to diplomatic or legislative reciprocity. de de No restriction. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum ' equal to three times the annual pension, with possible exceptions in virtue of treaties. Limited compensation in the case of permanent total incapacity (with exceptions, subject to diplomatic or legislative reciprocity). — 605 — )REIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (cOTlt.) In the case of death Possible difference n the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country No difference. No restriction. Ditto Ditto The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident T r e a t m e n t of nationals who are representatives of» a foreign worker Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension, with possible exceptions in virtue of treaties (the sum paid may not exceed the present value in capital). No compensation, with possible exceptions in virtue of treaties. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. Suspension of the pension, unless otherwise decided by the Federal Council in the case of reciprocity or residence in a frontier district, or optional commutation for a lump sum, which may be equal to 3 times the amount of th'e annual pension, with the consent of the person concerned, or, failing such consent, the capital value. Exceptions are admitted only in the case of foreigners belonging to the frontier districts, in virtue of a decision of the Federal Council. (If residence abroad is the result of expulsion not arising from a criminal conviction, the annual pension is paid, subject to the fulfllment of certain formal- No compensation, unless otherwise decided by the Federal Council, in the case of residence in a frontier district or legislative reciprocity. Ditto No compensation, with exceptions in case of diplomatic or legislative reciprocity. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. ities.) No difference. No res triction. — 606 — TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION Oí In the case of incapacity General character of the protection provided for foreigners The victim is residen t in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e c o u n t r y at t h e time of the accident GUATEMALA Complete assimilation to national beneficiaries. — — — HUNGARY Compulsory insurance and equality, both subject to legislative reciprocity (insurance may also be imposed as an administrative measure). No restriction in the case of Insurance. Suspension,with option for the regional fund of allocating a grant equal to an annual pension. No restriction in the case of insurance. INDIA E q u a l i t y de jure. — — — Ditto — — — ITALY — — — — JAPAN — — — — LATVIA Equality subject to legislative reciprocity. No restriction. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the a n n u a l pension (with possible exceptions in the case of diplomatic reciprocity). No restriction. LITHUANIA Protection subject to legislative reciprocity, but even in such cases only partial. Compensation s u b j e c t to reciprocity. Failing such, redress may be sought under the ordinary law. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension. LUXEMBURG Equality which may be subject to legislative reciprocity, but in fact complete assimilation to national beneficiaries. COUNTRY IRISH FREE STATE D itto — 607 — FOREIGN VICTtMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (COTlt.) In the case of death Possible difference in the method of defining representatives Treat ment o f nationals who are representatives of a foreign worker The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident — — — Nojdifierence. No restriction in the case of insurance. Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension, except in cases of legislative reciprocity. No compensation, except in cases of legislative reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — No difference. No restriction. Commutation of the lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension (with possible exceptions in the case of reciprocity). In the case of children the lump sum must not exceed the total amount payable as pension during the period which it has still to run. No compensation, except in the case of legislative reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. Ditto Ditto Commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension. No compensation. Ditto — — — — " — — 608 — TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION OF In the case of incapacity COUNTRY NETHERLANDS NEWFOUNDLAND NEW ZEALAND General character of the protection provided for foreigners The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e c o u n t r y at t h e time of the accident — — — Equality de jure. The legislation makes no distinction except as regards domicile. Equality de jure. Ditto NORWAY Equality subject to diplomatic reciprocity. PANAMA Ditto PERU Ditto POLAND Equality de jure, subject to the right of the Council of Ministers to take measures of reprisal. PORTUGAL Protection de jure. Equality subject to legislative reciprocity. ROUMANIA Equality de jure. RUSSIA The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident Ditto No restriction. — — — No restriction. No restriction. The worker has the option of commutation of the pension for a lump sum equal to 3 times the annual pension. No restriction. — — — — — - — 609 — FOREIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (COTlt.) In the case of death ^Possible difference in the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident T r e a t m e n t of nationals who are representatives of a foreign worker — — — — — National or foreign representatives of national or foreign workers are entitled to compensation only if the country of residence is within the British Empire, and if, further, it grants reciprocity to persons subject to its legislation and resident in New Zealand. / No difference. No restriction. — — No difference. No restriction. No compensation, with possible exceptions in the case of diplomatic reciprocity. No difference. No restriction. The beneficiary has the option of commutation of the pension for a lump sum, which is equal in principle to 3 times the annual pension. In the case of children the lump sum must not exceed t h e t o t a l amount payable as pension during period which it has still to run. No compensation, except in cases of reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. — — — — — — — — — No compensation, except in cases of diplomatic reciprocity. — — Same treatment as foreign representatives. — — • 39 — 610 — TABULATED SUMMARY OF THE CONDITIONS FOR THE COMPENSATION OT In the case of incapacity General character of the protection provided for foreigners The victim is resident in the country and was resident there at the time of the accident The victim ceases to reside in the country The victim was not r e s i d e n t in t h e country at the time of the accident — — — — SERB-CROATSLOVENE KINGDOM Protection de jure, subject to measures of reprisal at the discretion of the Minister for Social Policy. Equality subject to legislative reciprocity. No restriction. Suspension or commutation of the pension, by agreement between the debtor and creditor, for a lump sum not exceeding 3 times the annual pension ; in cases of legislative reciprocity, payment of the pension in a foreign country (preferential régime as compared with nationals). No restriction. SOUTH AFRICA Equality jure. — — — SPAIN Protection de jure. Equality subject to legislative reciprocity. COUNTRY SALVADOR de No restriction. Ditto No restriction. SWITZERLAND Protection de jure. Equality subject to reciprocity as established by the Federal Council. Compensation reduced to threequarters, except in case of reciprocity. URUGUAY Equality jure. SWEDEN de — Option for the insurance institution of commuting the pension for a lump sum equal to 20 to 50 per cent, of the capital value of the pension, with the consent of the worker, or of 50 per cent. failing such consent. — — — 611 — FOREIGN VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF SUCH (Concluded) In the case of death Possible difference in the method of defining representatives The representative is resident in the country The representative ceases to reside in the country The representative was not resident in the country at the time of the accident T r e a t m e n t of nationals who are representatives of a foreign worker — — — — — No difference. No restriction. Suspension or commutation of the pension, by agreement between the debtor and creditor, for a lump sum not exceeding 3 times the annual pension ; in cases of legislative reciprocity payment of the pension in a foreign country (preferential régime as compared with nationals). No restriction. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. — — — — — Compensation s u b j e c t to reciprocity. Same treatment as representatives of a national worker. No difference. Ditto No restriction. No restriction. Option for the insurance institution of commuting the pension for a lump sum equal to 20 to 50 per cent, of the capital value of the pension, with the c o n s e n t of t h e beneficiary, or 50 per cent, failing such consent. No compensation if the deceased was not himself domiciled at the time of the accident. Otherwise option for the insurance institution of commuting the pension fora lump sum equal to 20 to 50 per cent, of the capital value of the pension, with c o n s e n t of t h e beneficiary, or of 50 per cent, failing such consent. Compensation refused to ascendants and brothers and sisters, except in the case of reciprocity. Compensation reduced to three-quarters, except in the case of reciprocity. Same treatment as foreign representatives. — — — — APPENDIX LIST OF LEGAL TEXTS Chiefly used in the Report on Compensation for Industrial Accidents ' ABBREVIATIONS International Publications : A. B. = Annuaire de la Législation publié par l'Office du Travail de Belgique, 1897-1919. B. B. = the International Labour Office, Basle (1902-1919). L. S. = Series of the International Labour Office, Geneva (since 1920). For other abbreviations see the foot-notes given with the list each country. du Travail, Bulletin of Legislative of texts for ARGENTINA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 9688, of 11 October 1915, respecting liability for industrial accidents. [Ley No. 9688 de 11 de octubre de 1915 sobre la responsabilidad por accidentes del trabajo.] UNSAIN: "Leyes obreras argentinas", p. 67. Decree of 14 January 1916 issuing regulations under the Act respecting liability for industrial accidents. [Decreto de 14 de enero de 1916 reglamentario de la ley de responsabilidad por accidentes del trabajo.] Ibid., p. 78. AUSTRALIA Commonwealth GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 29 of 1912 (assented to 24 December 1912) relating to compensation to workmen employed in the service of the Commonwealth for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Act No. 13 of 1911 (assented to 18 December 1911) relating to compensation to seamen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. — B. B. 1912, Vol. VII, p. 337. New South Wales GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act No. 71 (assented to 13 December 1916) to amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their em» The report is based on legislation as existing on 31 December 1924. » Abbreviations; N. I. G. = New South Wales Industrial Gazette Q. G G =• Queensland Government Gazette. — 614 — ployment, and for disability incurred from industrial and other diseases; to repeal the Workmen's Compensation Act 1910, and the Employers' Liability Act 1897; to amend certain other Acts; and for purposes consequent thereon or incidental thereto. Act No. 45 (assented to 31 December 1920) to amend and extend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1916, and for other purposes. Order Amended Regulation No. 8, dated 24 April 1924, under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1916. — N. I. G. 1924, Vol. XXV, No. 5, p. 890. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Acts Act No. 46 of 1916 (assented to 4 October 1916) to repeal the miners' Accident Relief Act 1900, the Miners' Accident Relief (Amendment) Act 1901, the Miners' Accident Relief (Validating) Act 1904, the Miners' Accident Relief (Amendment) Act 1910, the Miners' Accident Relief (Amendment) Act 1912; to provide for the application of the moneys and securities in the Miners' Accident Relief Fund and in the possession of committees, and for the granting and payment of allowances for accidents which have occurred before such repeal; and for purposes consequent thereon or incidental thereto. Act No. 13 of 1920 (assented to-19 November 1920) to provide for the payment of compensation in the case of workmen who suffer death or disablement, or are suspended from employment owing to the disease known as fibroid phthisis or silicosis of the lungs, or owing to the other diseases of the pulmonary or respiratory organs caused by exposure to silica or other dust; to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act 1916; and for purposes consequent thereon or incidental thereto. Act No. 36 of 1920 (assented to 31 December 1920) to provide for the promulgation of a scheme to procure the payment in the case of workmen certified after medical examination to be suffering from pneumoconiosis or tuberculosis and prevented from resuming employment in metalliferous mines at Broken Hill; to amend the Acts relating to workmen's compensation; and for purposes connected therewith. Act No. 31 of 1922 (assented to 24 November 1922) to extend the provisions for the payment of compensation to persons disabled by lead poisoning in or upon the Broken Hill mines; to establish a Medical Board with jurisdiction in the county of Yancowinna; to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act 1916, and certain other Acts; and for purposes connected therewith. — L. S. 1922, Austral. 3. Workmen's Compensation (Lead Poisoning — Broken Hill) Amendment Act, 1924. Queensland GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts The Workers' Compensation Acts, 1916-1921 (Consolidated Text). Act No. 5 of 1923 (assented to 20 August 1923) to amend "The Workers' Compensation Acts, 1916-1921" in certain particulars. Regulations The Workers' Compensation Regulations of 1917. Dated 3 May 1917. The Industrial and Mining Diseases Compensation Regulations of 1917. Regulations, dated 26 October 1923, under the Workers' Compensation Acts, 1916-1923. — Q. G. G. 1923, No. 143, 27 Oct. 1923. Regulations, dated 10' January 1924, under the Workers' Compensation Acts, 1916-1923. — Q. G. G. 1924, No. 6. — 615 — South Australia GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act No. 1053 (assented to 14 December 1911) to amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. Act No. 1351 (assented to 5 December 1918) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1911. Act No. 1379 (assented to 20 November 1919) to further amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1911. Act No. 1437 (assented to 1 December 1920) to further amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1911. Act No. 1525 (assented to 21 December 1922) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, Further Amendment Act, 1919. Act No. 1660 (assented to 15 January 1925) to further amend the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1911 to 1922. Tasmania GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act No. 40 of 1918, dated 14 January 1919, to amend the law with respect to compensation to workers for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. Act No. 29 of 1920, dated 20 December 1920, to amend "The Workers' Compensation Act, 1918", and for other purposes. Act No. 63 of 1921, dated 14 February 1922, to further amend "The Workers' Compensation Act, 1918". Victoria GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 2750 (dated 6 September 1915) to consolidate the law relating to compensation to workers for injuries occurring in the course of their employment. Workers' Compensation Act 1922, No. 3217. Dated 14 December 1922. Western Australia GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 69 of 1912 (assented to 21 December 1912) to amend the law with respect to compensation to workers for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. Act No. 43 of 1920 (assented to 31 December 1920) to amend the Workers' Compensation Act, 1912. Act No. 9 of 1923 (assented to 22 February 1923) to amend the Workers' Compensation Act, 1912. 13 Geo. V, No. XXXII. Act No. 40, of 1924 (assented to 16 January 1925) to amend the Workers' Compensation Act, 1912, 15 Geo. V, No. XV. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Act No. 16 of 1923 (assented to 22 February 1923) relating to miners' phthisis. 13 Geo. V, No. XXXIX. — L. S. 1923, Austral. 3. AUSTRIA ' GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 28 December 1887 respecting workers' accident insurance. [Gesetzbetreffend die Unfallversicherung der Arbeiter, 28. Dezember 1887.] R. G. B. i Abbreviations: B. G. B. = S. G. B. = Staatsgesetzblatt. Bundesgesetzblatt. R. G. B. => Reichsgesetzblatt. — 616 — No. 1, 1888; XXIVth Annual Report of the U.S.A. Commissioner of Labor, 1909, Vol. II, p. 2444. Act of 20 July 1894 to enlarge the scope of accident insurance, Accident Insurance Act Amendment Act, No. I. [Gesetz vom 20. Juli 1894 betreffend die Ausdehnung der Unfallversicherung. I. Novelle zum Unfallversicherungsgesetz.] R. G. B., No. 168, 1894; XXIVth Annual Report of the U.S.A. Commissioner of Labor, 1909, Vol. II, p. 2456. Act of 9 August 1908 respecting liability for injuries occurring in the working of motor vehicles. [Gesetz über die Haftung für Schäden mit dem Betriebe von Kraftfahrzeugen, 9. August 1908.] R. G. B., No. 162; B. B. 1910, p. 92. Act of 8 February 1909 supplementing in certain particulars the Acts relating to workers' accident and sickness insurance. [Gesetz vom 8. Februar 1909, womit einige Ergänzungen der Gesetze betreffend die Unfallversicherung und die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter getroffen werden.] R. G. B., No. 29, 1909; B. B. 1909, p. 69. Act of 29 April 1912 relating to accident insurance in the building trades. Accident Insurance Act Amendment Act, No. II. [Gesetz betr. die Unfallversicherung bei baugewerblichen Betrieben, vom 29. April 1912. II. Novelle zum Unfallversicherungsgesetz.] R. G. B., No. 96; B. B. 1912, pp. 350, 454. Accident Insurance Act Amendment Acts, Nos. III-XIV. [III.-XIV. Novellen zum Unfall Versicherungsgesetz.] No. I l l , 21 August 1917. R. G. B., No. 363. No. IV, 30 July 1919. S. G. B., No. 399. No. V, 9 July 1920. S. G. B., No. 93. No. VI, 17 March 1921. B. G. B., No. 173. No. VII, 18 November 1921. B. G. B., No. 662. No. VIII, 6 April 1922. B. G. B., No. 222. No. IX, 4 July 1922. R. G. B., No. 417. No. X, 6 September 1922. R. G. B., No. 670. No. XI, 3 February 1923. R. G. B., No. 75. No. XII, 3 July 1923. R. G. B., No. 360. No. XIII, 13 July 1923. R. G. B., No. 414. No. XIV, 11 April 1924. R. G. B., No. 146. Acts respecting cost-of-living bonuses on accident pensions — principal Act, 16 April 1920; last amended by the Act of 13 July 1923. [Gesetze betreffend Teuerungszulagen zu Unfallrenten: Grundgesetz vom 16. April 1920, zuletzt abgeändert durch Gesetz vom 13. Juli 1923.] B. G. B. 1920, No. 196: 1923, No. 415. Order Administrative Instructions of 1 December 1919, of the Ministry of Social Administration, respecting the division of undertakings liable to accident insurance into classes of risk and the fixing of coefficients of risk for the period from 1 January 1920 to 31 December 1924. [Vollzugsanweisung des Staatsamtes für soziale Verwaltung betr. die Einteilung der Unfallversicherungspflichtigen Betriebe in Gefahrenklassen und die Feststellung der Prozentsätze der Gefahrenklassen für die Zeit vom 1. Janner 1920 bis zum 31. Dezember 1924 ; vom 1. Dezember, 1919.] S. G. B., No. 536, 1919. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Acts Act of 30 December 1917 respecting the accident insurance of miners. [Gesetz betr. die Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter. Vom 30. Dezember 1917.] R. G. B., No. 523. Act of 10 December 1914 to amend the miners' accident insurance legislation and vary the competence of miners' mutual benefit societies. [Gesetz betr. Aenderungen in der Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter und in der Zuständigkeit für Bruderangelegenheiten. Vom 10. Dezember 1919.] S. G. B., No. 579. — 617 — Order Imperial Order of 7 April 1914 respecting the accident insurance of miners. [Kaiserliche Verordnung betr. die Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter. Vom 7. April 1914.] R. G.B., No. 80; B. B. 1915, p. 8. BELGIUM ' GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 24 December 1903, amended by the Acts of 27 August 1919 and 7 August 1921, respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Loi du 24 décembre 1903, modifiée par les lois du 27 août 1919 et du 7 août 1921, sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1903, p. 1247; 1919, p. 1001; 1921, p. 962; L. S. 1921 (Part I). Bel. 4. Orders Royal Order of 10 January 1904 to set up the Industrial Accident Commission. [Arrêté royal du 10 janvier 1904 portant institution de la commission des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 100. General Regulations of 29 August 1904 respecting industrial accidents. [Règlement général du 29 août 1904 contre les accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 781. Royal Order of 19 December 1904 fixing the conditions subject to which the head of an undertaking by depositing securities may be exempted from the obligation of depositing the capital for the annuity (Section 16, par. 3 of the Act of 24 December 1903 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents). [Arrêté royal du 19 décembre 1904 déterminant les conditions auxquelles le dépôt de titres peut dispenser les chefs d'entreprise du versement du capital de la rente (art. 16, alinéa 3, de la loi du 24 décembre 1903 sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 1211. Royal Order of 20 December 1904 respecting notification of accidents. [Arrêté royal du 20 décembre 1904, réglant les déclarations d'accidents.] R. T. 1904, p. 1212. Royal Order of 22 December 1904 laying down rules for the working of the guarantee fund set up under Section 20 of the Act of 24 December 1903 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Arrête royal du 22 décembre 1904 portant règlement organique du fonds de garantie institué par l'article 20 de la loi du 20 décembre 1903 sur la réparation des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 1217. Royal Order of 23 December 1904, under Section 2, No. 1, par. 11, of the Act of 24 December 1903, respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Arrêté royal du 23 décembre 1904, pris en exécution de l'art. 2, n° 1, onzième alinéa, de la loi du 24 décembre 1903 sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 1224. Royal Order of 28 December 1904 to fix the date for the coming into operation of the Act of 24 December 1903 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Arrêté royal du 28 décembre 1904, fixant la date d'entrée en vigueur de la loi du 24 décembre 1903 sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1904, p. 1225. Royal Order of 30 December 1908 to amend Sections 14 and 21 of the Royal Order of 22 December 1904, laying down rules for the working of the Guarantee Fund set up under the Act of 24 December 1903 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Arrêté royal du 30 décembre 1908, modifiant les articles 14 et 21 de l'arrêté royal du 22 décembre 1904 portant règlement organique du fonds de garantie institué par la loi du 24 1 Abbreviations: R. T. = Revue (lu Travail, — 618 — décembre 1903 sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1908, No. XIV, p. 62. Royal Order of 27 September 1912 respecting the interpretation of Section 14 of the Royal Order of 22 December 1904, laying down rules for the working of the Guarantee Fund set up under the Act of 24 December 1903 respecting compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents. [Arrêté royal du 27 septembre 1912 interprétant l'article 14 de l'arrêté royal du 22 décembre 1904, portant règlement organique du fonds de garantie institué par la loi du 24 décembre 1903 sur la réparation des dommages résultant des accidents du travail.] R. T. 1912, No. XVII, p. 1902. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Acts Act of 21 July 1844 establishing Benefit and Welfare Funds for seamen sailing under the Belgian flag. [Loi du 21 juillet 1844 établissant des caisses de secours et de prévoyance en faveur des marins navigant sous le pavillon belge.] Orders Royal Order of 28 February 1885, amended by the Royal Orders of 5 June 1888, 29 October 1888, 30 September 1900, and 31 October 1908, laying down rules for the National Benefit and Welfare Funds for seamen sailing under the Belgian flag. [Arrêté royal du 28 février 1885, modifié par les statuts de la caisse nationale de secours et de prévoyance en faveur des marins navigant sous le pavillon belge.] BOLIVIA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 17 January 1924 respecting compensation for industrial accidents. [Ley de 17 de enero de 1924 de indemnización de accidentes del trabajo.] Boletín del Departamento Nacional del Trabajo de la República Argentina, No. 77, May 1924, p. 1316; L. S. 1924, Bol. 1. BRAZIL GENERAL LEGISLATION Decree of 15 January 1919 respecting liability for industrial accidents. [Decreto No. 3724 de 15 de Janeiro de 1919 sobre as obrigaçoes resultantes dos accidentes no traballio.] Documentos parlamentares (Legislaçào social), Vol. I, 1919, p. 862; L. S. 1920, Braz. 1. Decree of 12 March 1919, confirming the administrative regulations under the Act of 15 January 1919, respecting liability for industrial accidents. [Decreto No. 13, 499 de 12 de marco de 1919, approva o regulamento para execuçào de lei No. 3,724 de 15 de Janeiro de 1919 sobre as obrigaçoes resultantes dos accidentes no traballio.] Documentos parlamentares (Legislaçào social), Vol. I, 1919, p. 869; L. S. 1920, Braz. 2. BULGARIA GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act respecting accident and sickness insurance for wage-earning and salaried employees, passed by Parliament on 7 April 1918, decreed by Ukase No. 14 — 619 — on 26 May 1918, and promulgated on 13 June 1918. — Official Gazette, 1918, No. 132. Act of 6 March 1924 respecting the general organisation of social insurance. — Official Gazette, 1924, No. 289, p. 1; L. S. 1924, Bulg. 1. Order Ukase No. 26, of 25 June 1924, issuing regulations under the Act of 6 March 1924. — Official Gazette, 1924, No. 69. CANADA1 GENERAL LEGISLATION Dominion Workmen's Compensation Act, consolidated text. Chapter 15 of 1918, with amendment. — L. L. 1920, p. 116. Bankruptcy Act Amendment Act of 4 June 1921. Chapter 17 of 1921. L. L. 1921, p. 13. Alberta Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918, consolidated text. Chapter 5 of 1918, with amendments. — L. L. 1920, p. 655. Act of 19 April 1921 (chapter 38 of 1921) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918. — L. L. 1921, p. 40. British Columbia Workmen's Compensation Act, consolidated text. Chapter 77 of 1916, with amendments. — L. L. 1920, p. 772. Workmen's Compensation Act Amendment Act of 16 December 1922. Chapter 86 of 1922. — L. L. 1922, p. 54. Manitoba The Workmen's Compensation Act. Chapter 159 of 1920. — L. L. 1920, p. 518. Act of 26 April 1921 (chapter 83 of 1921) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act. — L. L. 1921, p. 37. New Brunswick The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918, consolidated text. Chapter 37 of 1918, with amendments. — L. L. 1920, p. 256. Act of 13 April 1922 (chapter 10 of 1922) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1918. — L. L. 1922, p. 13. Nova Scotia The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1915, consolidated text. Chapter 1 of 1915, with amendments. — L. L. 1920, p. 182. Act of 29 April 1922 (chapter 26 of 1922) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1915. — L. L. 1922, p. 8. Act of 23 April 1923 (chapter 39 of 1923) to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act. 1915. — L. L. 1923, p. 18. Ontario Act of 24 March 1911 respecting compensation for fatal accidents. i Abbreviations: L. L. = Labour Legislation in Canada. — 620 — The Workmen's Compensation Act, consolidated text. Chapter 25 of 1914, yvith amendments. — L. L. 1920, p. 417. The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1922 (chapter 56 of 1922). Dated 13 June 1922. — L. L. 1922, p. 22. The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (chapter 31 of 1923). Dated 8 May 1923. — L. L. 1923, p. 35. Quebec Workmen's Compensation Act, consolidated text. (Revised Statutes, 1909, Art. 7321.) — L. L. 1920, p. 322. Workmen's Compensation — Accident Insurance (Revised Statutes, 1909, Art. 7436a, 7436ft, 7436c). — L. L. 1920, p. 327. Saskatchewan Workmen's Compensation Act (Revised Statutes 1920, chapter 210). — L. L. 1920, p. 589. Yukon Territory Workmen's Compensation Ordinance (chapter 1 of 1917). — L. L. 1920, p. 820. CHILE GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 3170 of 27 December 1916 respecting compensation for industrial accidents. [Ley No. 3170 de 27 de diciembre de 1916 sobre indemnizaciones por accidentes del trabajo.] Diario oficial, No. 11661, 30 Dec. 1916; TRONCOSO Y ANDREWS: "Legislación social obrera chilena", 1924, p. 76. General Regulations of 19 June 1917, under Act No. 3170 of 27 December 1916, respecting compensation for industrial accidents. [Reglamento Jeneral de 19 de junio de 1917 para la aplicación de la ley No. 3170 de 27 de diciembre de 1916, sobre indemnizaciones por accidentes del trabajo.] TRONCOSO Y ANDREWS, ibid., p. 84. Act No. 4055 of 8 September 1924 to amend the Industrial Accidents Act. [Ley No. 4055 que reforma la ley de accidentes del trabajo.] Diario oficial, No. 13987, 26 Sept. 1924; L. S. 1924, Chile 1. CUBA GENERAL LEGISLATION Administration Act of 24 January 1909, Art. 240. [Ley del Poder Ejecutivo de 24 de enero de 1909, art. 240.] "Legislación obrera de là República de Cuba", Habana, p. 104. Act of 12 June 1916 respecting compensation for industrial accidents. [Ley de 12 de junio de 1916 sobre indemnización por accidentes durante el trabajo.] Ibid., p. 105. Decree No. 1688 of 26 October 1917 issuing Regulations under the Act of 12 June 1916 respecting compensation for industrial accidents. [Decreto No. 1688 de 26 de octubre de 1917: reglamento de la ley de 12 de junio de 1916 sobre indemnizaciones por accidentes durante el trabajo.] Ibid., p. 122. CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC 1 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 28 December 1887 respecting workers' accident insurance. [Gesetz vom 28. Dezember 1887 betr. Unfallversicherung der Arbeiter.] R. G. B. 1888, No. 1. i Abbreviations: R. G. B. = Reichsgesetzblatt (Austrian). S.Z.N. = Sbirka ï&konS a narizení (Sammlung der Gesetze u. Verordnungen). — 621 — Act of 20 July 1894 to extend the accident insurance system. [Gesetz vom 20. Juli 1894 betr. Ausdehnung der Unfallversicherung.] R. G. B. 1894, No. 168. Act of 8 February 1909 respecting compulsory wage lists. [Gesetz vom .8. Februar 1909 betr. Lohnlistenzwang.] R. G. B. 1909, No. 29. Act of 21 August 1917 to amend the Accident Insurance Act. [Gesetz vom 21. August 1917 betr. Abänderung des Unfallversicherungsgesetzes.] R. G. B. 1917, No. 363. Act of 10 April 1919 to amend the Accident Insurance Act. [Zákon, kterym se mené ùrazovém pojiatëni dSlnikû.] S. Z. N., No. 207, p. 275. Act of 29 October 1919 respecting the allocation of cost of living bonuses to persons in receipt of accident pensions. [Zákon o drahotnich priplatcich k urazovym dùchodûm.] S. Z. N. 1919, No. 606, p. 935. Act of 12 August 1921 to amend certain provisions of the Accident Insurance Act. [Zákon, kterym se méni nekterá ustanoveni zákona o ùrazovém pojistëni délnik&.] S. Z. N. 1921, No. 300, p. 1243. Act of 21 December 1921 to prolong the operation of the Act respecting the allocation of cost of living bonuses to persons in receipt of accident pensions, and to amend certain of the provisions thereof. [Zákon, kterym se prodlujuje pusobnost zákona o drahotnich priplatcich k ùrazovém dftchodüm a meni se nékterá jeho ustanoveni.] S. Z. N. 1921, No. 481, p. 1811. Orders Order of 23 September 1919 to extend the application- of the Accident Insurance Act to Slovakia. [Narízení vlády republiky Ceskoslenské o zrízení zemské úradovny pro dëlnické pojistëni na Slovensku v Bratislava a rozâifeni pûsobnosti zakdnu o dëlnickém pojistëni na Slovensko.] S. Z. N. 1920, No. 516, p. 733. Order of 3 September 1920 to regulate accident insurance in Slovakia. [Nariseni vlády republiky Ceskoslovenské, jimz se upravuje úrazové pojiàtëni dëlniku na Slovensku a v Podkarpatske Rusi.] S. Z. N. 1920, No. 509, p. 1292. Order of 22 May 1924 respecting the continuance of the payment of a cost of living bonus to persons in receipt of accident pensions. [Narízení o dalsím poskytování drahotnich príplatkü k úrazovym düchodum.] S. Z. N. 1924, No. 109, p. 741. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Building Workers Act of 29 April 1912 respecting accident insurance in building undertakings. [Gesetz vom 29. April 1912 betreffend Unfallversicherung bei baugewerblichen Betrieben.] R. G. B. 1912, No. 96; B. B. 1912, Vol. VII, p. 350. g Miners Act of 30 December 1917 respecting miners' accident insurance. [Gesetz vom 30. Dezember 1917 betreffend Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter.] R. G. B. 1917, No. 523. Order of 7 April 1914 respecting miners' accident insurance. [Kaiserliche Verordnung vom 7. April 1914 betreffend Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter.] R. G. B. 1914, No. 80. DENMARKl GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act No. 205 of 6 July 1916 respecting insurance against the consequences of accidents. [Lov Nr. 205 af 6. Juli 1916 om Forsikring mod Fölger af Ulykkestilfaelde.] D. L. 1916, p. 484: B. B. 1917, Vol. XII, p. 7. » Abbreviations: D. L. = Dansk Lovsaraling Forsorg. L. = Lovtidende A. S. F. = Social — 622 — Act No. 314 of 28 June 1920, applicable to South Jutland, respecting insurance against accidents. [Lov Nr. 314 af 28. Juni 1920 for de sonderjyske Landsdele angaaende Forsikring mod Ulykkestilfœlde.] L., 8 July 1920. Act No. 394 of 28 June 1920 to amend Act No. 205 of 6 July 1916 respecting insurance against the consequences of accidents. [Lov Nr. 394 af 28. Juni 1920 om jEndring i Lov Nr. 205 af 6. Juli 1916 om Forsikring mod Folger af Ulykkestilfœlde.] D. L. 1920, p. 308; L. 27 July 1920; L. S. 1920, Den. 2. Orders Royal Order No. 202 of 22 March 1918 respecting the application to State officials and workers of the provisions of Act No. 205 of 6 July 1916 respecting insurance against the consequences of accidents ; amended by Order of 3 April 1923. [Kongelig Anordnung Nr. 202 af 22. Marts 1918 angaaende Anvendelse af Bestemmelserne i Lov Nr. 205 af 6. Juli 1916 om Forsikring mod Fölger af Ulykkestilfœlde pas Statens Tjenestemaend og Arbejdere. Jfr. Anordning Nr. 154 af 3. April 1923.] D. L. 1918, No. 202, p. 158; L. 1923, No. 154, p. 913. Notification of 22 March 1918 respecting the duty of the State to pay compensation to officials and workers in its employment in conformity with the Act of 6 July 1916. [Bekendtgoreise af 22de Marts 1918 vedrorende Ordningen af Statens Pligt til at yde sine Tjenestemœnd og Arbejdere Erstatning efter Lov af 6te Juli 1916.] D. L. 1918, p. 146. Notification No. 395 of 28 June 1920 promulgating Act No. 205 of 6 July 1916 respecting insurance against the consequences of accidents, as amended by Act No. 394 of 28 June 1920. [Bekendtgorelse af Lov Nr. 205 af 6. Juli 1916 om Forsikring mod Folger af Ulykkestilfœlde, saaledes som denne er œndret i Henhold til Lov Nr. 394 af 28. Juni 1920.] D. L. 1920, p. 315; L., 27 July 1920; L. S. 1920, Den. 2. Notifications issued under various provisions of the Act of 28 June 1920: (1) 23 July 1920, No. 413, under Sections 41 and 60; (2) 16 June 1922, No. 263, under Sections 41 and 60; (3) 8 July 1924, under Sections 41 and 60. [Bekendtgorelser i Henhold til Lov af 28. Juni 1920.] (1) D. L. 1920, p. 334; L., 30 July 1920; (2) L., 27 June 1922; (3) S. F. 1924, No. 6, p. 155; L., 15 July 1924. Royal Order No. 554 of 30 December 1921, authorising certain payments from the State accident insurance funds. [Kongelig Anordning Nr. 554 af 30. December 1921, om Bemyndigelse for Statens Ulykkesforsikring til at afholde forskellige Udgifter.] L., 19 Jan. 1922. Notification No. 8 of 7 January 1922 respecting rules for the commutation of a pension for a capital amount under Section 6 of Act No. 314 of 28 June 1920. [Bekendtgjorelse Nr. 8 af 7. Januar 1922 om Regler for Omsœtning af Rente til Kapitalbelob i Henhold til § 6 i Lov Nr. 314 af 28. Juni 1920.] L., 24 January 1922. Royal Order No. 503 of 29 November 1922 respecting the bringing into operation in the Faroe Islands of Act No. 205 of 6 July 1916 respecting insurance against the consequences of accidents as amended by Act No. 394 of 28 June 1920; amended by Order No. 37 of 23 February 1924. [Kongelig Anordning Nr. 503 af 29. November 1922, hvorved Lov Nr. 205 af 6. Juli 1916 om Forsikring mod Folger af Ulykkestilfœlde, jfr. Lov Nr. 394 af 28. Juni 1920 om Aendring i den nœvnte Lov, saetíes i Kraft paa Faeroerne; jfr. Anordning Nr. 37 af 23. Februar 1924.] L., 6 Dec. 1922; 28 Feb. 1924. ECUADOR GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 30 September 1921 respecting industrial accidents. [Ley de 30 de septiembre de 1921, de accidentes del trabajo.] Registro Oficial No. 316. 1 Oct. 1921; L. S. 1921 (Part II), Ec. 1. — 623 — ESTHONIA » GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 23 June 1912 respecting workers' accident insurance. B. B. 1913, p. 148. Amended by the Acts of 18 June 1917, 3 February 1920, and 4 August 1923. [Riigikogu poolt 4 augustil 1923 a. wastuwòetud tööliste ônnetusjuktumiste korral kindlustamise seaduste muutmisseadus No. 84.] R. T., No. 106, 17 August 1923. Act of 1912 in B.B. 1913, p. 148" Act of 2 June 1903 respecting compensation to wage-earning and salaried employees injured in factories, mines, and undertakings connected with mines, and to their families (Industrial Code, 1913, edition, sections 541-597). Act of 1 November 1921 to extend the provisions of the Act of 2 June 1903 to agricultural workers. Act of 19 July 1922 to extend the provisions of the Act of 23 June 1912 to State undertakings for the mining of oil-shale. Act of 27 July 1922 to extend the provisions of the Act of 23 June 1912 to State undertakings for peat-digging. Act of 7 March 1923 to extend the provisions of the Act of 23 June 1912 to the State printing works. Act of 8 March 1923 to extend the provisions of the Act of 23 June 1912 to air transport undertakings. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Act of 9 June 1904 respecting pensions to managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the metallurgical undertakings of the Ministry of War, and to their families. Act of 19 April 1906 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to wage-earning and salaried employees of public undertakings in commercial ports. Act of 23 March 1911 respecting compensation to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees of industrial and technical undertakings of the Ministry of Finance. Act of 28 June 1912 respecting compensation for accidents to employees, artisans, and labourers on railways accessible to the public, and to their families. Act of 7 October 1924 respecting pensions to employees of the State and local authorities. [Riigikogu poolt 7. Oktober 1924 a. wastuwòetud Riigija omawalitsuste teenijate pensioniseadus.] R. T. 1924, No. 123-124, p. 661. FINLAND2 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts and Orders Order of 18 August 1917 respecting the insurance of workers against accidents, amended by the Act of 24 October 1919. — [Asetus työväen tapaturmavakuutuksesta, annettu 18 p. elokuuta 1917. Laki, joka sisältää muu1 8 Abbreviations : R. T. = Riigi Teataja. Abbreviations : F. F. = Flnlands Författningssamling.. kokoelma. S. A. = Suomen Asetus- — 624 — toksia, annettu 24 p. lokakuuta 1919. Förordning om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring, den 18 augusti 1917. Lag, innef attande ändringar av förordningen, den 24 October 1919.J F. F. and S. A. 1917; 1919, No. 132. Act concerning certain provisions to explain the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting the insurance of workers against industrial accidents. — [Laki sisält ä v ä e r ä i t ä l 8 päivänä elokuuta 1917 työväen tapaturmavakuutuksesta annettua asetusta selittäviä määräyksiä, annettu 14 p. elokuuta 1918. Lag rörande särskilda, Förordning av den 18 augusti 1917 om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring förklarande stadganden, den 14 augusti 1918.] F . F . and S.A. 1918. Order of 28 December 1917 respecting the putting into operation of the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting the insurance of workers against accidents. — [Asetus työväen tapaturmavakuutuksesta 18 päivänä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen voimaanpanosta ja soveltamisesta, annettu 28 p. joulukuuta 1917. Förordning angäende verkställighet av förordning om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring av den 18 augusti 1917; den 28 december 1917.] F. F. and S. A. 1917, No. 120. Order of 28 December 1917 respecting the principles to be observed in the assessment of the degree of disablement and the amount of maintenance grants and annual compensation under the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting the insurance of workers against industrial accidents. — [Asetus mista perusteista, joita on noudatettava määrättäessä työväen tapaturmavakuutuksessa 18 päivänä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen mukaan työkyvyttömyysastetta sekä elatusapua ja vuotuista vahingonkorvausta, annettu 28 p. joulukuuta 1917: Förordning angäende de grander, som skola iakttagas vid bestämmandet, enligt Förordning av den 18 augusti 1917, om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring av invaliditetsgraden ävensom av underhàllsbidrag och ârligt skadestànd, den 28 december 1917.] F. F. and S. A. 1917. Resolutions of the Council of State and Instructions Resolution of the Senate, dated 28 December 1917, issuing regulations for the assessment and payment of compensation for accidents on work for the State, in pursuance of the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting insurance against industrial accidents; amended by a Resolution of the Council of State dated 13 April 1923. — [Suomen Senaatin päätös, joka sisältää ohjebt työväen tapaturmavakuutuksesta 18 päivänä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen mukaisen vahingonkorvauksen määräämistä ja suorittamista varten valtion töissä sattuneista tapaturmista, annettu 28 p. joulukuuta 1917- Valtioneuvoston päätös annettu 13 p. huhtikuuta 1923. Senatens Beslut, innefattande föreskrifter rörande fastställande och utbetalning av enligt Förordningen av den 18 augusti 1917, om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring, utgàende skadestànd för i statens arbete inträffade olvcksfall, den 28 december 1917 ; Staatsràdets beslut 13 aprii 1923.] F F. and S. A. 1917; 1923, No. 107. Instructions of 28 December 1917 for the Insurance Council. [Johtosääntö Vakuutusneuvostolle, annettu 28 p. joulukuuta 1917. Instruktion för Försäkringsradet, den 28 december 1917.] F. F. and S. A. 1917. Resolution of the Senate, dated 28 December 1917, under the third paragraph of Section 1 of the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting insurance against industrial accidents, directing that certain occupations be exempt until further notice from the provisions of the said Order. — [Suomen Senaatin päätös jolla työväen tapaturmavakuutuksesta 18 päivänä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen 1 §: n 3 momentin nojalla erinäisille teollisuusammateille toistaiseksi myönnetään vapautus sanotun asetuksen noudattamisesta, annettu 28 p. joulukuuta 1917. Senatens beslut, varigenom i stöd av 1 § 3 mom. i Förordning om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring, given den 18 augusti 1917, förordnas att vissa industriella yrken tillsvidare undantagits fràn bestämningarna i sagda förordning, den 28 december 1917.] F. F. and S. A. 1917. Resolutions of the Senate, dated 26 January and 27 September 1918, under the fourth paragraph of Section 1 of the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting — 625 — insurance against industrial accidents, directing that the establishments and undertakings mentioned in the said Order be exempt in certain communes from the provisions of the said Order. — [Suomen Senaatin päätös, jolla työväen tapaturmavakuutuksestal8 paivanä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen 1 §: n 4 momentin nojalla määrätään, että siinä mainitut liikkeet ja työt erinäisissä maalaiskunnissa toistaiseksi eivät ole sanotun asetuksen määräysten alaisia, annettu 26 p. tammikuuta 1918. Päätös, annettu 27 p. syyskuuta 1918. — Senatens beslut, varigenom med stöd av 1 § 4 mom. i Förordning om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring given den, 18 augusti 1917, förordnas att de i sagda lagrum omnämda rörelser och arbeten tillsvidare icke skola inom vissa kommuner vara underkastade bestämmingarna i sagda förordning. Den 26 januaril918. D:o den 27 September 1918.] — F . F . and S. A. 1918. Resolution of the Council of State, dated 4 August 1921, under the fourth paragraph of Section 1 of the Order of 18 August 1917 respecting insurance against industrial accidents, directing that until further notice the establishments and undertakings mentioned in the said Order be exempt in Petsamo from the provisions of the said Order. — Valtioneuvoston päätös, jolla työväen tapaturmavakuutuksestal8päivänä elokuuta 1917 annetun asetuksen 1§: n 4 momentin nojalla määrätään, etta siinä mainitut liikkeet ja työt Petsamon läänissä toistaiseksi eivät ole sanotun asetuksen määräysten alaisia, annettu 4 p. elokuuta 1921. Statsrádets beslut, varigenom med stöd av 1 § 4 mom. i förordningen om arbetares olycksfallsförsäkring, given den 18 augusti 1917 förordnas, att de i sagda lagrum omnämnda rörelser och arbeten tillsvidare icke skola i Petsamo län vara underkastade stadgandena i nämnda förordning, den 4 augusti 1921.] F . F . and S.A. 1921, No. 194. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Order of 18 August 1917 respecting the insurance of seamen against accidents; amended by the Act of 24 October 1919. —[Asetus merimiesten ja laivapalvelijain tapaturmavakuutuksesta, annettu 18 p. elokuuta 1917. Laki, sisältävä muutoksia, annettu 24 p. lokakuuta 1919. Förordning om sjömäns och fartygsbetjänings olycksfallsförsäkring, den 18 augusti 1917; Lag angâende ändring...., den 24 Oktober 1919.] S. A. 1917, 1919. FRANCE ! GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 9 April 1898 respecting liability for industrial accidents, amended by the Acts of 22 March 1902, 31 March 1905, 17 April 1906, 5 March 1917, 17 October 1919, 6 July 1920, 31 July 1920, 5 August 1920, 6 January 1921, and 12 April 1922. [Loi du 9 avril 1898 concernant les responsabilités des accidents dont les ouvriers sont victimes dans leur travail, modifiée par les lois des 22 mars 1902, 31 mars 1905, 17 avril 1906, 5 mars 1917, 17 octobre 1919, 6 juillet 1920, 31 juillet 1920, 5 août 1920, 6 janvier 1921 et 12 avril 1922.] J . O . , 10 April 1898; 27 March 1902; 2 April 1905; 18 April 1906; 7 March 1917; 18 October 1919; 9 July, 1 and 7 August 1920; 12 January 1921 ; 20 April 1922. Translation incorporating amendments down to 1906 in the 24th Annual Report of the U. S. A. Commissioner of Labour, pp. 24972506; amending Act of 5 August 1920: L. S. 1920, Fr. 9. Act of 24 May 1899 to extend the operations of the National Accident Insurance Fund in pursuance of the Act of 9 April 1898. [Loi du 24 mai 1899 étendant, en vue de l'application de la loi du 9 avril 1898, les opérations de la Caisse nationale d'assurance en cas d'accidents.] J. O., 25 May 1899. Act of 18 July 1907 to permit adhesion to the laws relating to industrial accidents. [Loi du 18 juillet 1907 ayant pour objet la faculté d'adhésion à la législation des accidents du travail.] J. O., 21 July 1907; B. B. 1908, p. 67. i Abbreviations: J. O = Journal officiel. 40 — 626 — Act of 25 November 1916 respecting men disabled in the war who meet with industrial accidents. [Loi du 25 novembre 1916 concernant les mutilés de la guerre victimes d'accidents du travail.] J. 0., 27 Nov. 1916. Act of 25 October 1919 to extend to industrial diseases the Act of 9 April 1898, respecting industrial accidents. [Loi du 25 octobre 1919 étendant aux maladies d'origine professionnelle la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 27 Oct. 1919; L. S. 1920, Fr. 7. Act of 15 July 1922 to institute temporary allowances to certain classes of pensioners under the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Loi du 15 juillet'1922 instituant des allocations temporaires en faveur de certaines catégories de bénéficiaires de rentes au titre de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 1922. Act of 30 December 1922 to alter the amount of the licence fees set aside to constitute the guarantee fund prescribed by section 24 of the Act of 9 April 1898, respecting liability for industrial accidents, and also the rates mentioned in the last paragraph of Section 1 of the Act of 25 November 1916 concerning the formation of the provident fund for men disabled in the war who meet with industrial accidents. [Loi du 30 décembre 1922 portant modification des taxes d'alimentation du fonds de garantie prévu par l'article 24 de la loi du 9 avril 1898 concernant les responsabilités des accidents du travail, ainsi que les taxes, visées au dernier alinéa de l'article premier de la loi du 25 novembre 1916, pour la constitution du fonds de prévoyance des blessés de la guerre victimes d'accidents du travail.] J. O., 31 Dec. 1922. Act of 30 June 1924 (No. 1), prescribing the method for fixing and collecting the charges to cover the temporary allowances to certain classes of pensioners under the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents which were instituted by the Act of 15 July 1922. [Première loi du 30 juin 1924 fixant le mpde d'établissement et de perception des taxes destinées à faire face au paiement des allocations temporaires instituées par la loi du 15 juillet 1922 en faveur de certaines catégories de bénéficiaires de rentes au titre de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 1 July 1924. Act of 30 June 1924 (No. 2) to extend for a further period of two years and to amend the Act of 15 July 1922 to institute temporary allowances to certain classes of pensioners under the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Deuxième loi du 30 juin 1924 prorogeant de deux années et modifiant la loi du 15 juillet 1922 instituant des allocations temporaires en faveur de certaines catégories de bénéficiaires de rentes au titre de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., lfJuly 1924. Decrees and Orders Decree (No. 1) of 28 February 1899 issuing public administrative regulations under Section 26 of the Act of 9 April 1898. [Premier décret du 28 février 1899 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'exécution de l'article 26 de la loi du 9 avril 1898.] J. O., 1 March 1899. Decree (No. 2) of 28 February 1899, under Section 27 of the Act of 9 April 1898; amended by the Decrees of 27 December 1906, 7 November 1917, 3 May 1920, 22 April 1921, and 9 May 1923. [Deuxième décret du 28 février 1899 en exécution de l'article 27 de la loi du 9 avril 1898 ; modifié par les décrets du 27 décembre 1906, du 7 novembre 1917, du 3 mai 1920, du 22 avril 1921 et du 9 mai 1923.] J. O., 1 March 1899, 28 December 1906, 9 November 1917, 6 May 1920, 22 April 1921, 9 May 1923. Decree (No. 3) of 28 February 1899, issuing public administrative regulations under Section 28 of the Act of 9 April 1898. [Troisième décret du 28 février 1899 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'exécution de l'article 28 de la loi du 9 avril 1898.] J. O., 1 March 1899. Decree of 2 January 1917 prescribing the conditions for the organisation and operations of the branch for the special provident fund for men disabled in the war who meet with industrial accidents. [Décret du 2 janvier 1917 déterminant les conditions d'organisation et de fonctionnement du service du « fonds spécial de prévoyance des blessés de la guerre » victimes d'accidents du travail.] J. O., 4 Jan. 1917. — 627 — Ministerial Order of 29 December 1919 to prescribe the minimum rates for fixing the actuarial reserves of associations for insurance against industrial accidents and the capital sums to cover the pensions payable by them. [Arrêté ministériel du 29 décembre 1919 déterminant le barème minimum pour la fixation des réserves mathématiques des sociétés d'assurance contre les accidents du travail et des capitaux constitutifs des rentes qu'elles ont a servir.] J. O., 31 Dec. 1919. Ministerial Order of 8 July 1920 to prescribe the scale of payments for medical treatment in cases of industrial accident, as required by Section 4 of the Act of 9 April 1898; amended by the Act of 31 March 1905. [Arrêté ministériel du 8 juillet 1920 fixant le tarif des frais médicaux en matières d'accidents du travail, prévu par l'article 4 de la loi du 9 avril 1898; modifié par la loi du 31 mars 1905.] J. O., 22 July 1920. Decree of 20 July 1922 to prescribe the conditions for the application of the Act of 15 July 1922 to institute temporary allowances to certain classes of pensioners under the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Décret du 20 juillet 1922 déterminant les conditions d'application de la loi du 15 juillet 1922 instituant des allocations temporaires en faveur de certaines catégories de bénéficiaires de rentes au titre de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 22 July 1922. Decree of 23 May 1923 issuing public administrative regulations under the first and second paragraphs of Section 1 of the Act of 30 December 1922 concerning the revenues of the guarantee fund for industrial accidents and the provident fund for men disabled in the war who meet with industrial accidents. [Décret du 23 mai 1923 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'application des paragraphes 1 e r et 2 de l'article 1 e r de la loi du 30 décembre 1922 en ce qui concerne l'alimentation du fonds de garantie en matière d'accidents du travail et du fonds de prévoyance des blessés de la guerre, victimes d'accidents du travail.] J. O., 1923. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture and Forestry Act of 30 June 1899 respecting accidents in agricultural undertakings caused by the use of machines driven by mechanical power. [Loi du 30 juin 1899 concernant les accidents causés dans les exploitations agricoles par l'emploi de machines mues par des moteurs inanimés.] J. O., 1 July 1899. Act of 15 July 1914 respecting the extension to forestry undertakings of the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Loi du 15 juillet 1914 relative à l'extension aux exploitations forestières des dispositions de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 17 July 1914; B. B. 1916, p. 97. Act of 15 December 1922 to extend the accident insurance legislation to agricultural undertakings. [Loi du 15 décembre 1922 étendant aux exploitations agricoles la législation sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 16 Dec. 1922; L. S. 1922, Fr. 3. Decree of 22 August 1923 issuing public administrative regulations under the first paragraph of Section 11 of the Act of 15 December 1922 to extend the accident insurance legislation to agricultural undertakings. [Décret du 22 août 1923 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'exécution de l'article 11, paragraphe 1 e r , de la loi du 15 décembre 1922, étendant aux exploitations agricoles la législation sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 30 Aug. 1923. Decree (No. 2) of 22 August 1923 issuing public administrative regulations under the second paragraph of Section 11 of the Act of 15 December 1922 to extend the accident insurance legislation to agricultural undertakings. [Deuxième décret du 22 août 1923 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'exécution de l'article 11, paragraphe 2, de la loi du 15 décembre 1922, étendant aux exploitations agricoles la législation sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 30 August 1923. — 623 — Commercial Establishments Act of 12 April 1906 to extend to all commercial undertakings the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents; amended by the Act of 26 March 1908. [Loi du 12 avril 1906 étendant à toutes les exploitations commerciales les dispositions de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail; modifiée par la loi du 26 mars 1908.] Act of 1906: J. O., 15 April 1906; B. B. 1906, p. 183. Act of 1908: J. O., 29 March 1908. Decree of 18 February 1907 issuing public administrative regulations under Section 5 of the Act of Í2 April 1906 to extend to all commercial undertakings the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Décret du 18 février 1907 portant règlement d'administration publique pour l'application de l'article 5 de la loi du 12 avril 1906 qui étend à toutes les exploitations commerciales les dispositions de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 22 Feb. 1907. . Mines Act of 13 December 1912 granting to miners' delegates the advantages of the provisions of the Act of 9 April 1898 respecting industrial accidents. [Loi du 13 décembre 1912 faisant bénéficier les délégués à la sécurité des ouvriers mineurs des dispositions de la loi du 9 avril 1898 sur les accidents du travail.] J. O., 15 Dec. 1912; B. B. 1913, p. 288. Domestic Workers Act of 2 August 1923 extending industrial accident legislation to domestic servants and other persons employed for a wage or salary in the household of the employer on indoor or outdoor work, and to caretakers. [Loi du 2 août 1923 étendant le régime de la législation sur les accidents du travail aux gens de maison, domestiques, concierges et serviteurs à gages.] J.O., 3 Aug. 1923; L. S. 1923, Fr. 1. GERMANY1 GENERAL LEGISLATION Notification of 15 December 1924 issuing the new text of the National Insurance Code. [Bekanntmachung der neuen Fassung der Reichsversicherungsordnung, vom 15. Dezember 1924]. R. G. B. 1924, I, No. 75, p. 779; L. S. 1924, Ger. 10. GREAT BRITAIN2 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 21 December 1906 to consolidate and amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment (6 Edw. VII, c. 58). — B. B. 1906, p. 18. Act of 20 October 1909 to authorise the making of such modifications in the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, in its application to French citizens, as may be necessary to give effect to a Convention between His Majesty and the President of the French Republic (9 Edw. VII, c. 16). — B. B. 1911, p. 32. Act of 16 May 1918 to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, with respect to persons suffering injury while working under an illegal contract (8 and 9 Geo. V, c. 8). — L. S. 1923, G. B. 2 (p. 41). Act of 16 November 1923 to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, and the Acts amending that Act, and to amend the law with respect to employers' liability insurance, the notification of accidents, first aid, and ambulance (13 and 14 Geo. V, c. 42). — L. S. 1923, G. B. 2. Orders Order of the Secretary of State, dated 16 January 1924, extending the provisions of Section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII, i Abbreviations: R. G. B. = Reichsgesetzblatt. Abbreviations : S. R. & O. = Statutory Rules and Orders. 2 — 629 — e. 58) to other diseases (skin diseases due to exposure to X-rays or radioactive substances and manganese poisoning). — S. R. & O. 1924, No. 30. Reprint to appear in L. S. 1924, G. B. 9. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Refractories Industries Act of 30 July 1918 to provide for the payment of compensation in the case of workmen who suffer death or disablement or are suspended from employment owing to the disease known as fibroid phthisis or silicosis of the lungs (8 and 9 Geo. V, c. 14); amended by Act of 7 August 1924 (14 and 15, Geo V, c. 40) i. — L. S. 1919, G. B. 1. Scheme of compensation (6 January 1919) made by the Secretary of State under the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act, 1918, for the refractories industries. — S. R. & O. 1919, No. 12 K Order of the Secretary of State, dated 28 August 1920, amending the scheme of compensation for the refractories industries under the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act, 1918. — S. R. & O. 1920, No. 1682 i. Order of the Secretary of State, dated 18 January 1924, further amending the scheme of compensation for the refractories industries. — S. R. & O. 1924, No. 41. Orders Order in Council of 22 November 1909 giving effect to the Convention between His Majesty and the President of the French Republic by modifying the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII, e. 58), in its application to workmen who are French citizens. — S. R. «Se O. 1909, No. 1372. Order of the Secretary of State, dated 26 February 1918, extending the provisions of Section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII, c. 58) to other diseases, and consolidating the Orders of 30 July 1913, 1 July 1914, 7 July 1915, and 6 May 1916, with amendment. — S. R. & O. 1918, No. 287; L. S. 1921, Part II, G. B. 2. Order of the Secretary of State, dated 15 November 1921, extending the provisions of Section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 (6 Edw. VII, c. 58), to other diseases (cases of cataract in iron and steel workers). — S. R. & 0 . 1921, No. 1785; L. S. 1921, Part II, G. B. 2. Order dated 31 December 1921, under Section 8 (6) of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, extending the provisions of the Act to cases of twisters' cramp caused by twisting of cotton or woollen (including worsted) yarns. — S. R. & O. 1921, No. 2031 ; L. S. 1921, Part II, G. B. 2. The Workmen's Compensation (Dermatitis) Order, 1923, of the Secretary of State, amending the Order of 26 February 1918, made under Section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906. Dated 2 January 1923 (S. R. & O. 1923, No. 6). — L. S. 1923, G. B. 2, p. 18. GREECE2 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act No. 551 of 31 December 1914 respecting liability for payment of compensation to wage-earning or salaried employees who are victims of industrial accidents. — E. K . N . 1919, p. 200; L. S. 1923, Gr. 1. Act No. 2193 of 5 June 1920 to amend and supplement certain Acts for the protection of workers. — L. S. 1920, Gr. 5. Act No. 2868 of 16 July 1922 respecting the compulsory insurance of wageearning and salaried employees. — E. K., Part I, 1922, No. 119, p. 554; L. S. 1922, Gr. 3. 1 2 Reprints of these will appear in L. S. 1924, G B. 3. Abbreviations: E. K. = Ephémeris tès Kybernéséos. noniké Nomothesia. E. K. N. = Ergatiké kai Koi- — 630 — Legislative Decree of 20 January 1923 to amend Act No. 551 (of 31 December 1914) respecting liability for payment of compensation to wage-earning or salaried employees who are victims of industrial accidents. — E. K. N. (App. 2), 1923, p. 66; L. S. 1923, Gr. 1. Legislative Decree of 19 November 1923 to amend and supplement Act No. 2868 respecting the compulsory insurance of wage-earning and salaried employees. — E. K., Part I, 28 Nov. 1923, No. 345, p. 2493; L. S. 1923, Gr. 6. Decrees Royal Decree of 24 July 1920 issuing the consolidated text of the Acts respecting the liability for payment of compensation to wage-earning or salaried employees who are victims of industrial accidents. — E. K. N. (App. 2) 1923, p. 56; L. S. 1923, Gr. 1. Royal Decree of 8 December 1923, to consolidate the provisions of Act No. 2868 and of the Legislative Decree of 19 November 1923, to amend and supplement the said Act. — E. K., Part I, 21 Dec. 1923, No. 373, p. 2690; L. S. 1923, Gr. 6. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Acts Act No. 2841 of 21 February 1901 respecting the payment of compensation to workers in mining undertakings who are victims of accidents and to the families of such workers. — E. K., Part I, 23 March 1901, No. 72. Act No. 3981 of 7 January 1912 to amend Act No. 2841 respecting the payment of compensation to workers in mining undertakings who are victims of industrial accidents and respecting mutual benefit societies for mines, metal works and quarries. — E. K. N. 1919, p. 245. Act No. 2114 of 11 March 1920 to amend and supplement Act No. 2841 respecting the payment of compensation to workers in mining undertakings who are victims of industrial accidents and to the families of such workers, as amended by Act No. 3981 of 7 January 1912. — E. K. N. 1919, App., p. 487. Legislative Decree of 15 December 1923, to amend and supplement the Acts relating to the Miners' Benefit Society. — E. K., Part I, 26 Dec. 1923, No. 380, p. 2730. Seamen Acts Act No. 3226 of 6-19 July 1907 respecting the Seamen's Invalidity Fund. — E. K., Part I, 1907, No. 145; B. B. 1909, p. 111. Act No. 2873 of 29 November 1922 to amend and supplement certain provisions of the Act respecting the Seamen's Invalidity Fund. — E. K., Part I, 1922, No. 120, p. 565. Legislative Decree of 6 August 1923 to amend codified Act No. 2873 respecting the Seamen's Invalidity Fund. — E. K., Part I, 8 Aug. 1923, No. 219, p. 1519; L. S. 1923, Gr. 7. Decrees Royal Decree of 28 April 1923 concerning the administration of codified Act No. 2873 of 29 November 1922 respecting the Seamen's Invalidity Fund, as now operative. — E. K., Part I, 6 July 1923, No. 185, p. 1279; L. S. 1923, Gr. 7. GUATEMALA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 21 November 1906 for the protection of workmen. de obreros, 21 noviembre de 1906.] [Ley protectora HÜNGARYl GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. X I X of 6 April 1907 respecting the sickness and accident insurance of employees in industrial and commercial occupations. [XIX. törveny-czikk 1 Abbreviations : O. T. = Orszàgos TOrvénytàr. B. K. = Budapesti Közlöny. — 631 — az ipari es kereskedelmi alkalmazottaknak betegség es baleset esetére vaiò biztositásáról. 1907. évi aprilis hó 6-án.] O. T., 9 April 1907; B. B. 1907, Vol. Il, p. 269. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture Acts Act No. XVI of 3 July 1900 respecting the Benefit Fund for agricultural workers and farm servants. [XVI. torvényczikk a gazdasági munkás: és cselédsegélypénztárról. 1900. évi. Julius hó 3- án.] O. T., 1 July 1900. Act No. XIV of 26 June 1902 to supplement Act No. XVI of 3 July 1900, respecting the Benefit Fund for agricultural workers and farm servants. [XIV. torvényczikk a gazdasági munkás— és cselédsegélypénztárról zsóló 1900 : XVI. t.-cz. kiegészitéséról. 1902. évi Junius hó 26 - án.] O. T., 29 June 1902. Act No. VIII of 24 February 1912 to supplement Acts No. XVI of 1900 and No. XIV of 1902 respecting the Benefit Fund for agricultural workers and farm servants. [VIII. torvénycikk az Országos Gazdasági Munkás — és Cselédsegélyzopénztárról szóló 1900: XVI. és 1902: XIV. t.-c. — ek kiegészitéséról. 1912. évi február hó 24-én.] O. T., 28 Feb. 1912. Act No. XX of 28 June 1913 respecting the State Fund for agricultural workers and respecting the legal regulations in force concerning the accident insurance and sickness relief of farm servants and workers employed in agricultural undertakings in connection with machinery. [XX. torvényczikk az Országos Gazdasági Munkáspénztárról és a gazdasági cselédék, valamint a gazdasági gépmunkások baleset esetére való biztositása és betegség esetében való ellátása tekkintetében irányadó torvényes rendelkezésékrol. 1913 evi, Junius hó 28 - án.] O. T., 2 July 1913. ICELAND SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Act No. 32 of 27 June 1921 respecting the accident insurance of seamen. [Log urn slysatrygging sjómanna, Nr. 32, 27 juni 1921.] Stjórnartidindi 1921, p. 82; L. S. 1921, Ice. 2. INDIA * GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 5 March 1923 to provide for the payment by certain classes of employers to their workmen of compensation for injury by accident (No. VIII of 1923). — Gazette of India, 10 March 1923; L. S. 1923, Ind. 1. Act of 1 March 1924 to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (No. VII of 1926). — B. L. G. 1924, Vol. I l l , No. 7, p. 28; L. S. 1924, Ind. 1. Workmen's Compensation Rules of 26 June 1924 (issued under Section 32 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923). — Govt, of India, Notification No. L. 1182 of 1924; B. L. G. 1924, Vol. I l l , No. 11, p. 23. ITALY2 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Codified Text, No. 51, dated 31 January 1904, of the Acts relating to industrial accidents. [Testo unico n. 51 della legge per gli infortuni degli operai 1 2 Abbreviations: B. L. G. = Bombay Labour Gazette. Abbreviations: B. L. = Bollettino del Lavoro. B. U. L. = Bollettino del Uflìcio del Lavoro. G. U. = Gazzetta ufttciale. N. C. L. = Nuovo Codice del Lavoro. — 632 — sul lavoro, del 31 gennaio 1904.] G. U., 27 Feb. 1904, No 48; L. S 1921 (Part I), It. 1. Act No. 296 of 20 March 1921 to amend Act No. 51 of 31 January 1904 concerning industrial accidents. [Legge 20 marzo 1921, n. 296, che apporta modificazioni a quella 31 gennaio 1904, n. 51, per gli infortuni degli operai sul lavoro.] G. U., 1 Aprii 1921, No. 77; L. S. (Part I), It. 1. Legislative Decree No. 1334, of 25 September 1921 concerning the treatment to be accorded to members of the staff of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs who are victims of industrial accidents. [Decreto-legge 25 settembre 1921, n. 1334, concernente il trattamento da farsi nei casi d'infortunio sul lavoro al personale dipendente dal ministero delle poste e dei telegrafi.] G. U. 1921, No. 238, p. 1200. Legislative Decree No. 633, of 8 March 1923 issuing rules for the accident insurance of workers employed by the State. [Regio decreto legge 8 marzo 1923, n. 633, che reca norme per l'assicurazione contro gl' infortuni nel lavoro degli operai che prestano F opera propria alle dipendenze dello Stato.] G. U. 1923, No. 81, p. 2816. Decrees Decree No. 141, of 13 March 1904, to approve the administrative regulations under codified Act No. 51 of 31 January 1904 relating to industrial accidents. [Regio decreto 13 marzo 1904, n. 141, che approva il regolamento per la esecuzione della legge (testo unico) 31 gennaio 1904, n. 51, per gli infortuni degli operai sul lavoro.] G. U., 15 Aprii 1904, No. 89. Ministerial Decree of 15 August 1904 to approve the individual compensation book to be issued to workers in pursuance of the Act concerning industrial accidents. [Decreto ministeriale 15 agosto 1904, che approva il libretto personale di paga da rilasciarsi agli operai in esecuzione della legge per gl' infortuni sul lavoro.] G. IL, 25 Aug. 1904, No. 199; B. U. L., II, 1904, p. 357. Royal Decree No. 716 of 6 June 1907 respecting the payment of compensation to employees and workers in the State postal and telegraph services for accidents arising in the course of their employment. [Regio decreto 6 giugno 1907, n. 716, concernente la concessione di indemnità per gli infortuni sul lavoro ad agenti ed operai dell' Amministrazione postale e telegrafica.] G. U., 16 Nov. 1907, No. 271; B. U. L. VIII, 1907, p. 1231; B. B. 1908, Voi. I l i , p. 106. Royal Decree No. 823, of 28 November 1907, extending the operation of the Act concerning industrial accidents to the State Telephone Department. [Regio Decreto 28 novembre 1907, n. 823, che estende all' Amministrazione dei telefoni dello Stato gli effetti della legge pei casi d'infortuni sul lavoro.] G.U.,20Jan.l908,No. 15;B. U. L., IX, 1908,p. 159;B.B. 1908, Voi. I l i , p. 192. Royal Decree No. 1204, of 20 October 1911, providing for the reorganisation of the Social Welfare and Insurance Council. [Regio Decreto 20 ottobre 1911, n. 1204, che provvede al riordinamento del consiglio della previdenza e delle assicurazioni sociali.] N. C. L. 1913, p. 1. Royal Decree No. 776, of 12 May 1921, to fix the maximum limit of earnings to be taken into account in calculating compensation under the Act concerning industrial accidents. [Regio decreto 12 maggio 1921, n. 776, che determina il limite massimo del reddito di lavoro dell' operaio per il computo delle indemnità agli effetti della legge sull' assicurazione contro gli infortuni.] G. LT., 1921, No. 153, p. 836; B. L., July 1921. Royal Decree No. 1366, of 2 October 1921, to amend the administrative regulations of 13 March 1904, No. 141, under Act No. 51 of 31 January 1904 relating to industrial accidents. [Regio decreto 2 ottobre 1921, n. 1366, che modifica il regolamento 13 marzo 1904, n. 141, per 1' esecuzione della legge 31 gennaio 1904, n. 51, per gli infortuni dogli operai sul lavoro.] G. U. 1921, No. 244, p. 1227. Royal Decree No. 2096, of 18 December 1921, respecting the compensation due to postal, telegraph and telephone employees who are victims of industrial accidents. [Regio decreto 18 dicembre 1921, n. 2096, relativo alle indemnità — 633 — spettanti al personale postale, telegrafico e telefonico nei casi d'infortunio sul lavoro.] G. U. 1922, No. 40, p. 338. Ministerial Decree of 1 March 1922 to extend to 31 December 1925 the schedule of risks appended to the Order of 6 July 1914 concerning the insurance of workers against industrial accidents in the new provinces. [Decreto ministeriale 1 marzo 1922 che proroga fino al 31 dicembre 1925 la tabella di classificazione dei rischi annessa all'ordinanza 6 luglio 1914, B. L. I. n. 143, concernente l'assicurazione degli operai contro gli infortuni sul lavoro nelle nuove Provincie] G. IL, 25 March 1922, No. 71; B. L. 1922, No. 3, p. 28-II. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture Acts Legislative Decree, No. 1450 of 23 August 1917, respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Decreto-legge 23 agosto 1917 n. 1450, concernente 1' assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. U., 14 Sept. 1917, No. 218; L. S. 1921 (Part I), It. 2. Act No. 297, of 20 March 1921, to amend Legislative Decree No. 1450, of 23 August 1917, respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Legge 20 marzo 1921 n. 297, che reca modificazioni al decretolegge luogotenenziale 23 agosto 1917 n. 1450 concernente 1' assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. IL, 1 Aprii 1921, No. 77, p. 361; L. S. 1921 (Part I), It. 2. Legislative Decree No. 432, of 11 February 1923, to amend Legislative Decree No. 1450, of 23 August 1917, and Act No. 291 of 24 March 1921, respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Regio decreto-legge 11 febbraio 1923 n. 432, che reca modificazioni a quello 23 agosto 1917 n. 1450 ed alla legge 24 marzo 1921, n. 291, concernenti provvedimenti per P assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. IL, 17 March 1923, No. 64, p. 2286; L. S. 1923, It. 5. Decrees Decree No. 1889, of 21 November 1918, approving the administrative regulations under Legislative Decree No. 1450, of 23 August 1917, respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Decreto Luogotenenziale 21 novembre 1918, n. 1889, che approva il regolamento per F esecuzione del decreto-legge 23 agosto 1917, n. 1450, concernente 1' assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. U., 21 Dee. 1918, No. 300. Decree No. 1367, of 2 October 1921, to amend the administrative regulations No. 1889, of 21 November 1918, under the Legislative Decree No. 1450, of 23 August 1917, respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Regio Decreto 2 ottobre 1921 n. 1367, che modifica il regolamento 21 novembre 1918 n. 1889 per F esecuzione del decreto-legge 23 agosto 1917 n. 1450 concernente l'assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. U. 1921, No. 244, p. 1224. Ministerial Decree of 15 March 1922 to approve the scales of contributions for the year 1922, in respect of compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Decreto ministeriale 15 marzo 1922 col quale si approvano le tariffe dei contributi per l'anno 1922 dell' assicurazione obbligatoria contro gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. U. 1922, No. 75, p. 708. Decree No. 704, of 14 May 1922, respecting the division of the country into insurance districts for the purpose of compulsory insurance against accidents in agricultural work. [Regio Decreto 14 maggio 1922, n. 704, concernente la ripartizione del territorio del Regno in compartimenti di assicurazione per gli infortuni sul lavoro in agricoltura.] G. U. 1922, No. 135. Aviators Legislative Decree No. 2207, of 20 August 1923; regulations for aviation[Regio Decreto-legge 20 agosto 1923 n. 2207 : norme per la navigazione aerea.] (Section 34 deals with the insurance of aviators.) G. U. 1923, No. 253. — 634 — Fishermen Act No. 312, of 24 March 1921, to make provision for the benefit of the fishing industry and fishermen. [Legge 24 marzo 1921 n 312, che reca provvedimenti in favore della pesca e dei pescatori.] (Part V: Accident Insurance.) G. U. 1921, No. 78, p. 363; L. S. 1921 (Part I), It. 3. Maritime Transport Legislative Decree No. 1825, of 17 November 1918, to amend certain sections of Act No. 51 of 31 January 1904 concerning industrial accidents, in respect of maritime transport. [Decreto-legge luogotenenziale 17 novembre 1918, n. 1825, che modifica alcuni articoli del testo unico 31 gennaio 1904, n. 51, per gli infortuni degli operai sul lavoro relativamente ai trasporti marittimi.] G. U., 9 Dee. 1918, No. 289; B. U. L. (new series), 1918, p. 194; L. S. 1921 (Part I), It. 1. JAPAN GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Factory Act of 28 March 1911 (§§ 1, 15). — B. B. 1911, p. 267. Act No. 70 of 22 April 1922 relating to health insurance (Provisions respecting accidents). — L. S. 1922, Jap. 3. Act. No. 33 of 29 March 1923 to amend the Factory Act (§§ 1, 15). — L. S. 1923, Jap. 1. Orders Order of 2 August 1916 in pursuance of the Factory Act. Imperial Decree, No. 193 (§§ 1-27, 35). — B. B. 1917, p. 27. Regulations of 3 August 1916 in pursuance of the Factory Act. Order No. 19 of the Ministry for Agriculture and Trade (§§ 1, 13, 14,"l5, 19, 23, 24, 25, 28). — B. B. 1917, p. 34. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Mining Act, 1916 (§ 80). Order No. 21, of 3 August 1916, of the Department for Agriculture and Trade (§§ 17-42). LATVIA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 23 June 1912 respecting workers' accident insurance, [1912 g. junija noteikumi par strâdnieku apdrosinasanu nelaimes gadijumos; IV. nodala, 372-491. p. p.] B. B. 1913, p. 148. Act of 2 June 1903 for compensation to wage-earning and salaried employees injured in factories, mines, and undertakings connected with mines, and to their families. [1903 g. 2. junija noteikumi par atlidzibu nelaimes gadijumos cietusiem fabriku rflpniecibas, kalnu un kalnrQpniecibas uzncmumu stradniekiem, ka ari vinu gimenes locekliem; VII. nodaja, 541-597. p. p.] SPECIAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 9 June 1904 respecting pensions to managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the metallurgical undertakings of the Ministry of War, and to their families. [Noteikumi par atlidzibu no profesionalam slimibäm un nelaimes gadijumos cietusiem kara ministrijas artilerijas iestazu strad- — 635 — niekiem un kalpotajiem, ka ari vinu gimenes locekliem; V i l i , nodala, 598. 657. p. p.] Act of 19 December 1905 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the State and Senate Printing Works. [Tadi pat noteikumi par valsts tipografijäm ; X. nodala, 674-686. p. p.] Act of 6 March 1906 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees of the Ministry of Marine. [Tadi pat noteikumi par jnrniecibas departamentu) XI. nodaja, 687-699. p. p.] Act of 19 April 1906 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to wage-earning and salaried employees of public undertakings in commercial ports. [Tadi pat noteikumi par tirdzniecibas ostu valsts uznêmumiem; XII. nodaja, 700-715. p. p.] Act of 23 March 1911 respecting compensation for accidents to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees of industrial and technical undertakings of the Ministry of Finance. [Noteikumi par atKdzibu nelaimes gadijumos cietusiem flnansu ministrijas rûpniecibas un technisko iestäzu stradniekiem un kalpotajiem, ka ari vinu gimenes locekjiem; XIII. nodala, 716-771 p. p.] Act of 28 June 1912 respecting compensation for accidents to employees, artisans and labourers on railways accessible to the public, and to their families. [1912 g. 28. junija likums par atUdzibu nelaimes gadijumos cietusiem dzelzsceju kalpotajiem, amatniekiem un stradniekiem, ka ari vinu gimenes locekjiem. Satiksmes ceju nolikumu, 1916. g. izd., 612-718. p. p.] Act of 13 June 1922 respecting pensions to military and civil officers and employees. [Noteikumi par karaviru un valsts ieredins un kalpotaju pensiam. Likumu un valdîbas rïkojumu krajums, 1. burtnica, 10. februari 1922, p. 14.] LITHUANIA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 2 June 1903 respecting compensation to injured wage-earning and salaried employees in factories, mines and undertakings connected with mines, and to their families. [Taisyklès del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose darbininkams ir tarnautojams, o taip pat ju seimu nariams fabriku pramonés ir kasyklu jmonése. Pram. Darbo 1st. 1913 m. leidimo 541-597 str.] SPECIAL LEGISLATION Act of 9 June 1904 respecting pensions to managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the metallurgical undertakings of the Ministry of War, and to their families. [1904 m. birzelio 9 d. istatymas del pensiju meisteriams, darbininkams ir tarnautojams karo valdybos imonëse. Pram. Darb. ¡st. 598-657 Str.] Act of 6 June 1905 respecting compensation in case of accident or sickness to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the metallurgical undertakings of the Ministry for the State Revenues. [1905 m. birzelio 6 d. jstatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose meisteriams, darbininkams ir laisvai samdomiems tarnantojams taip vadinamos "Udielu" (caro gimines turty) valdybos fabriku ir kasyklu jmonese. Pram. Darb. 1st. 658-673 str.] Act of 19 December 1905 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the State printing works. [1905 m. gruodzio 19 d. jstatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose meisteriams, darbininkams ir — 636 — laisvai samdomiems tamautojams valstybes in senato spaustuvëse. Pram. Darb. Jst. 674-686 str.] Act of 6 March 1906 respecting compensation in case of industrial accidents to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees of the Ministry of the Marine. [1906 m. kovo 6 d. istatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose laisvai samdomiems, meisteriams, darbininkams ir tarnautojams jfiriu valdyboje. Pram. Darb. Ist. 687-699 str.] Act of 19 April 1906 respecting compensation for industrial accidents to wage-earning and salaried employees in public undertakings in commercial ports. [1906 m. balandzio 19 d. istatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose darbininkams ir tarnautojams valdzios imonëse, esanciose prekybos uostu zinioje. Pram. Darb. Jst. 700-715 str.] Act of 23 March 1911 respecting compensation for accidents to temporary managers and wage-earning and salaried employees in the industrial and technical undertakings of the Ministry of Finance. [1911 m. kovo 23 d. istatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose meisteriams, darbininkams ir laisvai samdomiems tarnautojams Finansu Ministerijos pramonës ir technikos imonëse. Pram. Darb. Ist. 716-771 str.] Act of 28 June 1911 respecting compensation to injured employees, artisans, and labourers on railways accessible to the public, and to their families. [1912 m. birzelio 28 d. jstatymas del atlyginimo nukentèjusiems nelaiminguose atsitikimuose gelzkeliu tarnautojams, meisterjams ir darbininkams. Istat. Rink. XII t.'l d.] LUXEMBURG ' GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 5 April 1902 respecting compulsory accident insurance for workers. [Loi du 5 avril 1902 concernant l'assurance obligatoire des ouvriers contre les accidents; Gesetz vom 5. April 1902 betreffend die Arbeiterunfallversicherung.J M. 1902, No. 20. Act of 23 December 1904 respecting the extension of compulsory accident insurance for workers. [Loi du 23 décembre 1904 concernant l'extension de l'assurance obligatoire contre les accidents; Gesetz vom 23. Dezember 1904 betreffend die Ausdehnung der Arbeiterunfallversicherung] . M. 1904, No. 82. Act of 12 May 1905 respecting the administration of the accident insurance laws as it affects international relations. [Loi du 12 mai 1905 concernant l'exécution des lois assurance-accidents par rapport aux relations internationales ; Gesetz vom 12. Mai 1905 betr. die Ausführung der UnfallversicherungsGesetze im internationalen Verkehr.] A. R. 1918, p. 212. Act of 21 April 1908 to supplement and amend the Acts relating to the compulsory insurance of workmen against accidents and sickness. [Loi du 21 avril 1908 complétant et modifiant la législation concernant l'assurance obligatoire des ouvriers contre les accidents et les maladies; Gesetz vom 21. April 1908, wodurch die Gesetzgebung betreffend die Zwangsversicherung der Arbeiter gegen Unfall und Krankheit vervollständigt und abgeändert wird.] M. 1908, No. 25; B. B. 1908, p. 109. Decrees Grand-ducal Decree of 23 January 1903 respecting the draft general regulations for the administration of the Act of 5 April 1902 respecting compulsory accident insurance for workers. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 23 janvier 1903 concernant le projet de règlement général d'exécution de la loi du 5 avril 1902 sur l'assurance obligatoire des ouvriers contre les accidents; Grossh. Beschluss vom 23. Januar 1903 betreffend die allgemeinen Ausführungsbestimmungen zum Unfallversicherungsgesetz vom 5. April 1902.] M. 1903, No. 4, p. 37. i Abbreviations : A. R. = Das Ai'beiterrecht (Staatsministerium). 51. = Mémorial du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (published in parallel French and German editions). • — 637 — Ministerial Order of 23 January 1903 respecting accident notices and inquiries. [Arrêté ministériel du 23 janvier 1903 concernant les déclarations d'accidents et les enquêtes; Beschluss vom 23. Januar 1903 betreffend die Anmeldung und Untersuchung der Unfälle.] A. R. 1908, p. 166. Grand-ducal Decree of 17 February 1903 respecting the election of employers' and workers' delegates for purposes of accident insurance. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 17 février 1903 concernant les élections des délégués patrons et délégués ouvriers en matière d'assurance-accidents; Grossh. Beschluss vom 17. Februar 1903 betreffend die Wahlen der Arbeitgeber- und Arbeiterdelegierten in Sachen der Unfallversicherung.] M. 1903, No. 10, p. 121. Ministerial Order of 4 April 1903 to approve the rules of the Accident Insurance Association. [Arrêté du 4 avril 1903 portant approbation des statuts de l'association d'assurance-accidents; Beschluss vom 4. April 1903, wodurch das Statut der Unfallversicherungsgenossenschaft genehmigt wird]. M. 1903, No. 24, p. 349. Circular of 5 April 1903 respecting the carrying out of the Accident Insurance Act by the sick funds. [Circulaire du 5 avril 1903 relative à l'exécution de la loi sur l'assurance-accidents par les caisses de maladie; Rundschreiben vom 5. April 1903 betreffend die Ausführung des Unfallversicherungsgesetzes •durch die Krankenkassen.] "Assurance contre les accidents", published by the Government of Luxemburg, 1903, p. 11. Grand-ducal Decree of 7 April 1903 respecting judicial procedure in arbitration courts and the Court of Appeal. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 7 avril 1903 concernant la procédure judiciaire devant les tribunaux arbitraux et la cour supérieure de justice; Grossh. Beschluss vom 7. April 1903 betreffend das gerichtliche Verfahren bei den Schiedsgerichten und dem Obergerichtshofe.] A. R. 1908, p. 204. Grand-ducal Decree of 7 April 1903 respecting the calculation of the capital value of pensions to workers for purposes of appeal. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 7 avril 1903 concernant le calcul de la valeur en capital des rentes ouvrières au point de vue du taux d'appel; Grossh. Beschluss vom 7. April 1903 betreffend die Berechnung des Kapitalwertes von Arbeiterrenten hinsichtlich der Berufungsinstanz.] M. 1903, No. 26, p. 393. Grand-ducal Decree of 23 December 1904 to exempt from compulsory accident insurance certain trades involving very little risk. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 23 décembre 1904 dispensant de l'assurance obligatoire contre les accidents certains métiers présentant des dangers insignifiants; Grossh. Beschluss vom 23. December 1904, wodurch gewisse nur leichten Gefahren ausgesetzten Gewerbe von der Unfallversicherungspflicht entbunden werden.] A. R. 1908, p. 109. Circular of 24 December 1904 concerning the administration of the Act respecting the extension of compulsory accident insurance for workers. Rundschreiben vom 24. Dezember 1904 betreffend die Ausführung des Gesetzes betr. die Ausdehnung der Arbeiterunfallversicherung.] "Extension de l'assurance contre les accidents, loi du 23 décembre 1904", published by the Government of Luxemburg, p. 22. Ministerial Order of 2 January 1919 to approve the amendments of the «lasses and co-efficients of risk for accident insurance purposes. [Arrêté du 2 Janvier 1919 approuvant les modifications apportées aux classes et aux «oefficients de risques en matière d'assurance-accidents; Beschluss vom 2. Januar 1919, wodurch die Abänderungen der Gefahrenklassen und Gefahrenziffer in Sachen der Unfallversicherung genehmigt werden.] M., 12 Jan. 1919, p. 23. Grand-ducal Decree of 5 March 1919 to approve the amendments of Sections 3, 4 or 5 of the rules of the Accident Insurance Association (industrial branch). [Arrêté grand-ducal du 5 mars 1919 portant approbation des modifications apportées aux art. 3, 4 et 5 des statuts de l'association d'assurance contre les accidents (section industrielle); Grossh. Beschluss vom 5. März 1919, wodurch die Abänderungen der Art. 3, 4 und 5 des Statuts der Unfallversicherungsgenossenschaft (Industrie-Abteilung) genehmigt werden.] M., 13 March 1919, p. 259. — 638 — Ministerial Order of 11 September 1920, to prescribe rules for the payment of bonuses to persons entitled to accident pensions. [Arrêté du 11 September 1920 portant fixation du régime des suppléments à servir aux personnes titulaires d'une rente-accident; Beschluss vom 11. September 1920 über die Gewährung von Zuschüssen an Unfallrentner.] M., 18 Sept. 1920, p. 1090. Ministerial Order of "16 October 1920 respecting the election of workers' delegates for purposes of accident insurance, [Arrêté du 16 octobre 1920 concernant l'élection des délégués ouvriers en matière d'assurance-accidents; Beschluss vom 16. Oktober 1920 betreffend die Wahlen der Arbeiterdelegierten in Sachen der Unfallversicherung.] M., 18 Oct. 1920, p. 1191. Ministerial Order of 13 December 1921 to approve the amendments of the classes and co-efficients of risk for accident insurance purposes. [Arrêté du 13 décembre 1921 approuvant les modifications apportées aux classes et aux pourcentages de risques dans l'assurance-accidents; Beschluss vom 13. Dezember 1921, wodurch die Abänderungen der Gefahrenklassen und Gefahrenziffer in Sachen der Unfallversicherung genehmigt werden.] M., 17 Dec. 1921, p. 1135. Ministerial Order of 19 April 1923 to amend the M. O. of 11 September 1920 to prescribe rules for the payment of bonuses to persons entitled to accident pensions. [Arrêté du 19 avril 1923 portant modification de l'arrêté du 11 septembre 1920 concernant le régime des suppléments à servir aux titulaires d'une rente-accident ; Beschluss vom 19. April 1923, wodurch der Beschluss vom 11 September 1920 über die Gewährung von Zuschüssen an Unfallrentner abgeändert wird.] M. 1923, No. 17. Ministerial Order of 12 May 1923 supplementing the Order of 19 April 1923 in respect of the payment of bonuses on accident pensions to aliens. [Arrêté du 12 mai 1923 concernant l'application aux crédirentiers étrangers du régime des suppléments aux rentes-accidents institué par l'arrêté du 11 septembre 1920 et modifié par celui du 19 avril 1923; Beschluss vom 12. Mai 1923, wodurch der Beschluss vom 19. April 1923, hinsichtlich der Gewährung vom Unfallrentenzuschüssen an Ausländer, ergänzt wird.] K. 1923, No 23. p. 256. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture Act of 20 December 1909 respecting the extension of compulsory accident insurance to undertakings in agriculture and forestry. [Loi du 20 décembre 1909 concernant l'extension de l'assurance obligatoire contre les accidents aux exploitations agricoles et forestières; Gesetz vom 20. Dezember 1909 betreffend die Ausdehnung der Arbeiterunfallversicherung auf land- und forstwirtschaftliche Betriebe.] M. 1909, No. 76, p. 1097. Decrees Circular of 20 December 1909 concerning the administration of the Act representing insurance in agriculture and forestry. [Circulaire du 20 décembre 1909 relative à l'exécution de la loi concernant l'assurance agricole et forestière ; Rundschreiben vom 20. Dezember 1909 betreffend die Ausführung des landund forstwirtschaftlichen Unfallversicherungsgesetzes.]. M. 1909, No. 76. Grand-ducal Decree of 20 December 1909 respecting the nomination of the delegates required by the Act respecting insurance in agriculture and forestry. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 20 décembre 1909 ayant pour objet la nomination des divers délégués prévus par la loi concernant l'assurance agricole et forestière; Grossh. Beschluss vom 20. Dezember 1909 betr. die Delegiertenwahlen auf Grund des land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Unfallversicherungsgesetzes.] M. 1909, No. 76. Ministerial Order of 10 June 1919 to fix the co-efficients and classes of risk for purposes of insurance in agriculture and forestry. [Arrêté ministériel du 10 juin 1919 portant fixation des coefficients et des classes de risques en matière d'assurance agricole et forestière; Beschluss vom 10. Juni 1919 betreffend die Feststellung der Gefahrenziffer und Gefahrenklassen hinsichtlich — 639 — der land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Unfallversicherung.] M., 14 June 1919, p. 641. Ministerial Order of 14 July 1921 to fix fresh rates of the average annual earnings for the purposes of the Act respecting accident insurance in agriculture and forestry. [Arrêté ministériel du 14 juillet 1921 portant fixation nouvelle de la rémunération annuelle moyenne en vue de l'application de la loi sur l'assurance-accidents agricole et forestière; Beschluss vom 14. Juli 1921, wodurch der Durchschnittsjahresverdienst hinsichtlich der Anwendung des land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Unfallversicherungsgesetzes neu geregelt wird.] M., 27 July 1921, p. 835. Grand-ducal Decree of 22 August 1922 to substitute new provisions for the Orders of 20 December 1909 and 25 June 1911 respecting the assessments and valuations required by the putting into operation of the Act respecting accident insurance in agriculture and forestry, and the procedure to be adopted. [Arrêté grand-ducal du 22 août 1922 remplaçant les arrêtés des 20 décembre 1909 et 25 juin 1911 concernant les fixations et évaluations nécessitées par la mise en exécution de la loi extensive de l'assurance agricole et forestière, ainsi que la procédure à suivre; Grossh. Beschluss vom 22. August 1922, wodurch die Beschlüsse vom 20. Dezember 1909 und vom 25. Juni 1911, betreffend die durch Inkraftsetzung des land- und forstwirtschaftlicher Unfallversicherungsgesetzes bedingten Festsetzungen und Abschätzungen, sowie die Abwicklung des Verfahrens, durch neue Bestimmungen ersetzt werden.] M. 1922, No. 62, p. 929. NETHERLANDS l GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Decree of 28 June, 1921, promulgating the text of the (Accidents) Act of 2 January 1901 (S. No. 1), as amended and supplemented by the Acts of 3 February 1902 (S. No. 14), 13 January 1908 (S. No. 24), 13 February 1909 (S. No. 46), 12 June 1909 (S. No. 146), 30 June 1909 (S. Nos. 204,205), 1 July 1909 (S. No. 249), 15 July 1910 (S. No. 228), 11 February 1911 (S. No. 62), 14 January 1918 (S. No. 20), 26 July 1918 (S. No. 499), 11 April 1919 (S. No. 167), 9 October 1920 (S. No. 780), and 2 May 1921 (S. No. 700). [Besluit van den 28sten Juni 1921 ter bekendmaking van den tekst der wet van 2 Januari 1901 (S. No. 1) zooals die wet is gewijzigd en aangevuld bij de wetten van 3 Februari 1902 (S. No. 14), 13 Januari 1908 (S. No. 24), 13 Februari 1909 (S. No. 46), 12 Juni 1909 (S. No. 146), 30 Juni 1909 (S. No. 204), 30 Juni 1909 (S. No. 205), 1 Juli 1909 (S. No. 249), 15 Juli 1910 (S. No. 228), 11 Februari 1911 (S. No. 62), 14 Januari 1918 (S. No. 20), 26 Juli 1918 (S. No. 499), 11 April 1919 (S. No. 167), 9 October 1920 (S. No. 780), 2 Mei 1921 (S. No. 700).] S. 1921, No. 819; L. S. 1921 (Part II), Neth. 1. Acts to amend the Accidents Act, 1921: Act of 18 February 1922 to approve the treaty between the Netherlands and Belgium respecting accident insurance. [Wet van den 18den Februari 1922 houdende goedkeuring van het tusschen Nederland en Belgie gesloten verdrag betreffende Ongevallenverzekering.] S. 1922, No. 70. Act of 21 April 1922 to amend the Act respecting the State Insurance Bank (S. 1920, No. 780). Section 97 of the Accidents Act, 1921, the Invalidity Act and the Old Age Act. [Wet van den 21sten April 1922 houdende wijziging der wet op de Rijksverzekeringsbank (S. 1920, N. 780) der Ongevallenwet 1921, der Invaliditeitswet en der Ouderdomswet 1919.] S. 1922, No. 196. Act of 19 May 1922. [Wet van den 19den Mei 1922 houdende wijziging der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1922, No. 355; L. S. 1921 (Part II), Neth. 1 (p. 2, footnote 2). Act of 17 March 1923. [Wet van den 17den Maart 1923 tot wijziging der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1923, No. 87; L. S 1923, Neth. 2. 1 Abbreviation: S. = Staatsblad. — 640 — Decrees The following Decrees have been issued under various provisions of the Accidents Act, 1901, and its codified text of 1921: 26 May 1920, under the last subsection of Section 15 of the Act of 1901. [Besluit van den 26sten Mei 1920 tot wijziging van het Koninklijk Besluit van 10 Mei 1907 (S. No. 98) tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld bij artikel 15, laatste lid, der Ongevallenwet 1901.] S. 1920, No. 257. 27 November 1920, under Section 45 of the Act of 1901. [Besluit van den 27 November 1920, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur ter uitvoering van artikel 45 der Ongevallenwet 1901.] S. 1920, No. 831. 3 September 1921, under Section 105, subsection 3, of the Act of 1921 * amended by Decree of 27 August 1923. [Besluit van den 3den September 1921 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 105, derde lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921 zooals dit isgewijzigdbij Besluit van 27 Augustus 1923.] S. 1921, No. 1038; 1923, No. 419. 3 September 1921, under Section 66, subsection 3. [Besluit van den 3den September 1921 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 66, derde lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1041. 3 September 1921, under Section 14, subsection 1; amended by Decrees of 11 May 1922 and 28 March 1924. [Besluit van den 3den September 1921, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 14, eerste lid, der Ongevallenwet, 1921, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 11 Mei 1922 en 28 Maart 1924.] S. 1921, No. 1043; 1922, No. 280; 1924, No. 161. 14 September 1921, under Section 4, subsection 1; amended by Decrees of 26 April 1922 and 30 November 1923. [Besluit van den 14den September 1921 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld bij artikel 4, eerste lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 26 April 1922 en 30 November 1923.] S. 1921, No. 1057; 1922, No. 224; 1923, No. 533. 14 September 1921, under Section 7, subsection 2, No. I l l (la and 2). [Besluit van den 14den September 1921 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 7, tweede lid III, onder I o a en 2° der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1058. 14 September 1921, under Section 7, subsection 2, No. I l l (lc). [Besluit -van den 14den September 1921, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 7, tweede lid III, onder I o c, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1059. 14 September 1921 under Section 7, subsection 2, No. I l l (Id). Besluit van den 14den September 1921, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 7, tweede lid, III, onder I o d, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1060. 14 September 1921, under Section 43, subsection (4), and Section 47. [Besluit van den 14den September 1921, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 43, vierde lid en artikel 47 der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1062. 14 September 1921, under Section 40, subsection 1; amended by Decree of 22 December 1921. [Besluit van den 14den September 1921, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 40, eerste lid, der Ongevallenwet, 1921, zooals dit gewijzigd is bij Besluit van 22 December 1921.] S. 1921, Nos. 1063, 1370. 30 September 1921, under Section 41, subsection 2. [Besluit, van den 30sten September 1921, houdende een regeling als bedoeld in artikel 41, lid 2, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1105. 20 October 1921 under Section 110. [Besluit van den 20sten October 1921, lioudende vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 110 der Ongevallenwet, 1921.] S. 1921, No. 1139. i All subsequent Decrees refer to the text of 1921. — 641 — 29 November 1921, under Section 29, subsection 1 ; repeals Decree of 18 June 4909; amended by Decree of 14 February 1924. [Besluit van den 29sten November 1921 tot intrekking van het Besluit van 18 Juni 1909 (S. No. 189) laatstelijk gewijzigd bij dat van 2 Mei 1921 (S. No. 704) en tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel vanBestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 29, eerste lid, der Ongevallenwet, 1921, zooals dit gewijzigd is bij Besluit van 14 Februari 1924.] S. 1921, No. 1337; 1924, No. 46. 21 January 1922, under Section 54, subsections 2, 4 and 5, and 64, Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 6; repeals Decree of 5 December 1902; amended by Decree of 6 October 1923. [Besluit van den 21sten Januari 1922 tot intrekking van het Koninklijk Besluit van 5 December 1902 (S. No. 206) zooals dit laatstelijk is gewijzigd bij Koninklijk Besluit van 28 Juni 1919 (S. No. 456) en tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in den artikelen 54, tweede, vierde, en vijfde lid, en 64, sub 1, 3, 4 en 6 der Ongevallenwet 1921, zooals dit gewijzigd is bij Besluit van 6 October 1923.] S. 1922, No. 26; 1923, No. 475. 10 February 1922, under Section 64, No. 2; repeals Decree of 21 November 1902 ; amended by Decree of 18 March 1924. [Besluit van den lOden Februari 1922 tot intrekking van het Koninklijk Besluit van 21 November 1902, (S. No. 200), laatstelijk gewijzigd bij Koninklijk Besluit van 3 Maart 1919 (S. No. 61) en tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 64, onder 2, der Ongevallenwet 1921, zooals dit gewijzigd is bij Besluit van 18 Maart 1924.] S. 1922, No. 58, 1924, No. 125. 15 July 1922, under Section i l l , subsections 1, 4 and 5; amended by Decrees of 30 December 1922,17 April 1923, and 23 April 1924, [Besluit van den 15den Juli 1922 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in het eerste, vierde en vijfde lid van artikel 111 der Ongevallenwet 1921, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 30 December 1922, 17 April 1923, •23 April 1924.] S. 1922, Nos. 451, 769; 1923, No. 144; 1924, No. 202. 9 January 1923, under Section 88. [Besluit van den 9den Januari 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 88 der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1923, No. 3. 22 January 1923, under Section 88, subsections 1 and 2, and Section 89, subsection 2; repeals Decree of 23 September 1921. [Besluit van den 22sten Januari 1923, tot intrekking van het Koninklijk Besluit van 23 September 1921. (S. No. 1093) en tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in de artikelen 88, eerste en tweede lid en 89, tweede lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1923, No. 23. 24 September 1923, under Section 66, subsection 5 and Section 69, subsection 7. [Besluit van den 24sten September 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikelen 66, vijfde lid, en 69, zevende lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1923, No. 463. Decree of 4 August 1923 to amend the Royal Decree of 9 June 1904 (S. No. 119) to prevent the simultaneous receipt of temporary allowances or pensions under the Accidents Act 1921 and salary, wages or half-pay chargeable to the State. [Besluit van den 4den August 1923, tot wijziging van het Koninklijk Besluit van 9 Juni 1904 (S. No. 119) ter voorkoming van gelijktijdig genot van tijdelijke uitkeering of rente ingevolge de Ongevallenwet 1921, en wedde, belooning of wachtgeld ten laste van den Staat.] S. 1923, No. 392. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture Acts Act of 20 May 1922 to insure persons employed in agricultural occupations .against the pecuniary consequences of accidents with which they meet in connection with their employment. [Wet van den 20sten Mei 1922 tot verzekering van personen, werkzaam in de landbouwbedrijven, tegen geldelijke _gevolgen van ongevallen, hun in verband met hunne dienstbetrekking overkomen.] S. 1922, No. 365; L. S. 1922, Neth. 2. 41 — 642 — Act of 21 March 1924 to amend the Agricultural and Horticultural Accidents Act 1922. [Wet van den 21sten maart 1924, tot wijziging der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1924, No. 137. Decrees The following Decrees have been issued under the various provisions of the Agricultural and Horticultural Accident Act, 1922: 19 October 1922, under Section 13, No. 3. [Besluit van den 19den October 1922, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 13, sub 3e der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1922, No. 566. 26 October 1922, under Section 10, subsections 2, 5, and 6, as amended by Decrees of 17 April 1923 and 23 April 1924. [Besluit van den 26sten October 1922, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in het tweede, vijfde en zesde lid van artikel 10 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, zooals dit gewijzigd is bij Besluiten van 17 April 1923 en 23 April 1924.] S. 1922, No. 571; 1923, No. 145; 1924, No. 203. 12 December 1922, under Section 11, subsection 2. [Besluit van den 12den December 1922, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld bij artikel 11, tweede lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1922, No. 672. 26 January 1923, under Section 17, subsections 1 and 2, and Section 25 (¿>). [Besluit van den 26sten Januar 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in de artikelen 17, eerste en tweede lid, en 25, sub b, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 25. 12 March 1923, under Section 35, subsection 1; amended by Decree of 17 July 1923. [Besluit van den 12den Maart 1923 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 35, eerste lid, der Landen Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 17 Juli 1923.] S. 1923, Nos. 63, 370. 17 April 1923, under Section 19, subsection 3; amended by Decree of 20 June 1924. [Besluit van den 17den April 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 19, lid 3, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van den 20 Juni 1924.] S. 1923, No. 143; 1924, No. 311. 24 May 1923, under Section 96. [Besluit van den 24sten Mei 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 96 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 215. 24 May 1923, under Section 96. [Besluit van den 24sten Mei 1923 tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 96 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 216. 11 June 1923, under Section 90, subsection 3. [Besluit van den l l d e n Juni 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld bij artikel 90, derde lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet, 1922.] S. 1923, No. 258. 30 July 1923, under Section 26, subsection 1 ; amended by Decree of 10 April 1924, [Besluit van den 30sten Juli 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 26, eerste lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 10 April 1924.] S. 1923, No. 385; 1924, No. 181. 27 August 1923, under Section 114, subsection 2. [Besluit van den 27sten August 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 114, tweede lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet, 1922.] S. 1923, No. 420. 30 August 1923, under Section 25 (6). [Besluit van den 30sten August. 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur als bedoeld in artikel 25 onder b der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 424. 21 September 1923, under Section 52. [Besluit van den 21sten September 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 52 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 459.. — 643 — 21 September 1923, under Section 79. [Besluit van den 21sten September 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel vanBestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 79 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 460. 5 November 1923, under Section 110 of the Accidents Act 1921 and Section 122 of the Agricultural and Horticultural Accidents Act in conjunction with Section 40, subsection 7, of the Accidents Act, 1921. [Besluit van den 5den November, 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 110 der Ongevallenwet 1921 en artikel 122 der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, in verband met artikel 40, zevende lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1923, No. 502. 29 November 1923, under Section 34, subsection 1. [Besluit van den 29sten November 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 34, eerste lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 528. 20 December 1923, under Section 105, subsection 1. [Besluit van den 20sten December 1923, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 105, eerste lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1923, No. 553. 14 May 1924, under Section 110 of the Accidents Act, 1921, and Section 122 of the Agricultural and Horticultural Accidents Act, 1922, in conjunction with Section 40, subsection 7, of the Accidents Act, 1921. [Besluit van den 14den Mei 1924, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 110 der Ongevallenwet 1921 en artikel 122 der Landen Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922, in verband met artikel 40, zevende lid, der Ongevallenwet 1921.] S. 1924, No. 245. 27 May 1924, under Section 106a, subsection 1. [Besluit van den 27sten Mei 1924, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld in artikel 106a, eerste lid, der Land- en Tuinbouwongevallenwet 1922.] S. 1924, No. 267. Seamen Acts Act of 8 May 1915 to lay down provisions respecting allowances to seamen and their surviving dependants in connection with accidents to seamen arising out of or in connection with an occurrence which is a direct result of the present war (War Marine Accidents Act, 1915). [Wet van den 8sten Mei 1915, tot vaststelling van bepalingen betreffende het waarborgen van uitkeeringen aan schepelingen en hunne nagelaten betrekkingen in verband met ongevallen aan schepelingen overkomen ten gevolge van of in verband met eene gebeurtenis, welke een onmiddellijk gevolg is van den huidigen oorlog. (Oorlogszeeongevallenwet 1915).] S. 1915, No. 214; B. B. 1915, Vol. X, p. 214. Act of 27 June 1919 to amend the War Marine Accidents Act, 1915. [Wet van den 27sten Juni 1919 tot wijziging der Oorlogszeeongevallenwet 1915.] S. 1919, No. 415. Act of 27 June 1919 to amend the War Marine Accidents Act, 1915. [Wet van den 27sten June 1919 tot wijziging der Oorlogszeeongevallenwet 1915.] S. 1919, No. 563. Decrees Decree of 10 September 1919 issuing public administrative regulations under the Marine Accidents Act, 1919. [Besluit van den lOden September 1919, tot vaststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur tot uitvoering van de Zeeongevallenwet 1919.] S. 1919, No. 563. National Insurance Bank Act of 9 October 1920 respecting the organisation of the National Insurance Bank. [Wet van den 9den October 1920, houdende organisatie van de Rijksverzekeringsbank.] S. 1920, No. 780. Act of 21 April 1922 to amend the Act respecting the National Insurance Bank, the Accidents Act, 1921, the Invalidity Act and the Old Age Act, 1919. [Wet van den 21sten April 1922, houdende wijziging der wet op de Rijks- — 644 — verzekeringsbank, der Ongevallenwet 1921, der Invaliditeitswet en der Ouderdomswet 1919.] S. 1920, No. 780; 1922, No. 196. Act of 19 May 1922 to amend the Act respecting the National Insurance Bank. [Wet van den 19den Mei 1922, houdende wijziging der wet op de Rijksverzekeringsbank.] S. 1922, No. 351. Act of 7 June 1924 to amend the Act respecting the National Insurance Bank. [Wet van den 7den Juni 1924 houdende wijziging der wet op de Rijksverzekeringsbank.] S. 1920, No. 282. Decrees Decree of 3 September 1921 to amend the Decree of 20 May 1907 issuing public administrative regulations under Section 5, last subsection, of the Act respecting the National Insurance Bank; amended by Decree of 26 May 1920. [Besluit van den 3den September 1921, tot nadere wijziging van het Koninklijk Besluit van 10 Mei 1907, tot väststelling van een Algemeenen Maatregel van Bestuur, als bedoeld bij artikel 5, laatste lid, der wet op de Rijksverzekeringsbank, gewijzigd bij Koninklijk Besluit van 26 Mei 1920.] S. 1907, No. 98; 1920, Nos. 780, 257; 1921, No. 1045. Decree of 18 April 1921 to regulate the distribution of the expenses under Section 19, subsection 1 of the Act respecting the National Insurance Bank; amended by Decrees of 23 December 1922 and 18 March 1924. [Besluit van den 18den April 1921, tot väststelling van de regelen nopens de verdeeling der in artikel 19 eerste lid, der wet op de Rijksverzekeringsbank, bedoelde kosten zooals dit is gewijzigd bij Besluit van 23 December 1922 en 18 Maart 1924.] S. 1920, No. 780; 1921, No. 678; 1922, No. 731; 1924, No. 124. NEWFOUNDLAND GENERAL LEGISLATION Chapter 212 of the Consolidated Statutes, 1916, relating to compensation to workmen. — Consolidated Statutes of Newfoundland, 1916, Vol. I l l , p. 1833. Act of 5 June 1919 to amend the Act 8 Edward VII [1908], chapter 5 [embodied in the Consolidated Statutes, 1916], entitled "An Act with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment" (9-10 Geo. V, cap. 23). NEW ZEALAND GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 39 of 31 October 1922 to consolidate and amend the law with respect to compensation to workers for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. NORWAY1 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 13 August 1915 respecting the accident insurance of industrial workers and other persons. [Lov av 13 august 1915 om ulykkesforsikring for industriarbeidere m. v.] A. N. L. 1912-1915, p. 1151. Act of 19 July 1918 to amend the Act of 13 August 1915, respecting the accident insurance of industrial workers and other persons. [Lov av 19 juli 1918 om forandring i lov om ulykkesforsikring for industriarbeidere m. v. av 13 august 1915.] N. L., Part II, 1918, p. 482. • 1 Abbreviations: tidende. A. N.'JU = Almindelig Norsk Lovsamling. N. L,. = Norsk Lov- — 645 — Resolutions Decision of the Storting of 8 July 1919 respecting the premium rates of the State Insurance Institution and respecting the classification according to risk of undertakings liable to compulsory insurance. [Stortingsbeslutning av 8 juli 1919 om praemietariffer for riksforsikringsanstalten og de forsikringspligtige bedrifters inndeling i fareklaser.] N. L., Part II, 1919, p. 339. Resolution of 29 June 1923 to alter the classification of undertakings according to risk and the premium rates for the purposes of the accident insurance system for industrial workers, as laid down by the Resolution of 8 July 1919.] [Resolusjon av 29 juni 1923 om forandring i den ved konkelig resolusjon av 8 juli 1919 fastsatte inndeling in fareklasser og premiesatser for ulykkesforsikringen for industriarbeidere.] N. L., Part II, 1923, p. 257. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Acts Act of 18 August 1911 respecting accident insurance for seamen. [Lov av 18 august 1911 om ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend.] A. N. L. 1908-1911, p. 1255; L. S. 1923, Nor. 2. Act of 30 July 1915 to amend and supplement the Act of 18 August 1911 respecting accident insurance for seamen. [Lov av 30 juli 1915 om forandringer i og tillaeg til lov av 18 august 1911 om ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend.] A. N. L. 1912-1915, p. 1040; L. S. 1923, Nor. 2. Act of 15 June 1917 to amend Section 10 of the Act of 18 August 1911 respecting accident insurance for seamen, together with the supplementary Act of 30 July 1915. [Lov av 15 juni 1917 om forandring av § 10 i lov om ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend av 18 august 1911 med tillaegs lov av 30 juli 1915.] N. L., Part II, 1917, p. 350; L. S. 1923, Nor. 2. Act of 19 July 1918 to amend and supplement the Act of 18 August 1911 respecting accident insurance for seamen, together with the supplementary Acts of 30 July 1915 and 15 June 1917. [Lov av 19 juli 1918 indeholdende forandringer i og tillaeg til lov om ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend av 18 August 1911 med tillaegslove av 30 juli 1915 og 15 juni 1917.] N. L., Part II, 1918, p. 484; L. S. 1923, Nor. 2. Act of 16 February 1923 to amend the Act of 18 August 1911 respecting the accident insurance of seamen, together with the supplementary Acts. [Lov av 16 februar 1923 om forandringer i lov om ulykkesforsikring for sjomenn av 18 august 1911 med tillaegslover.] N. L., Part II, 1923, p. 55; L. S. 1923, Nor. 2. Resolutions Resolution of 30 May 1913 respecting accident insurance premium rates for seamen. [Resolution av 30 maj 1913 om premiesatser for ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend.] A. N. L. 1912-1915, p. 519. Resolution of 12 April 1920 respecting accident insurance premium rates for seamen. [Resolution av 12 aprii 1920 om premiesatser for ulykkesforsikring for sjomaend.] N. L., Part II, 1920, p. 148. Fishermen Act of 10 December 1920 relating to accident insurance for fishermen. [Lov av 10 desember 1920 om ulykkesforsikring for fiskere.] N. L., Part II, 1920, p. 565; L. S. 1920, Nor. 2. PANAMA GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 17 of 1916 (16 November 1916) respecting industrial accidents [Ley 17 de 1916, de 16 de noviembre de 1916, sobre accidentes de trabajo] Gaceta oficial, No. 2476, 16 Nov. 1916. — 646 — Act No. 43 oí 1916 (30 December 1916) to amend and supplement Act No. 17 of 1916 respecting industrial accidents. [Ley 43 de 1916 de 30 de diciembre de 1916, por la cual se reforma y adiciona la ley 17 de 1916 sobre accidentes de trabajo.] Gaceta oficial, 2 Feb. 1917. PERU 1 GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 20 January 1911 respecting compensation for industrial accidents [Lev de 20 de enero de 1911 sobre reparación de accidentes del trabajo.] Boletín del "Departamento Nacional del Trabajo, 1911, No. 16, p. 225; B. I. R. S. Voi. VII, p. 1213; B. B. 1911, p. 179. Act of 25 November 1918 to regulate the employment of women and children, Section 9. [Ley que reglamenta el trabajo de los mujeres y de los niños, promulgada el 25 de novembre de 1918.] B. I. R. S. 1919, p. 659; B. B. 1919, p. 186. Decrees Decrees of 4 July 1913 respecting degrees of disablement, minimum wage, and workers' insurance. [Decretos de 4 de julio de 1913 — grados de incapacidad, salario mínimo, seguro obrero.] Decree of 30 May 1924 issuing regulations under the Industrial Accidents Act. [Decreto de 30 de mayo de 1924 reglamentando la ley de accidentes del trabajo.] El Peruano, 10 June 1924, p. 545. POLAND 2 Former Congress Poland and Former Austrian Poland GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 28 December 1887 respecting workers' accident insurance. [Gesetz vom 28. Dezember 1887 betreffend Unfallversicherung der Arbeiter.] R. G. B. 1888, No. 1. Act of 20 July 1894 respecting the extension of accident insurance. [Gesetz vom 20. Juli 1894 betreffend Ausdehnung der Unfallversicherung.] R. G. B. 1894, No. 168. Act of 8 February 1909 to supplement the Acts respecting workers' accident and sickness insurance. Compulsory wage lists. [Gesetz vom 8. Februar 1909, womit einige Ergänzungen der Gesetze betreffend die Unfallversicherung und die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter getroffen werden. Lohnlistenzwang.] R. G. B. 1909, XIV. Stück, No. 29, p. 81. Act of 21 August 1917 to amend the Accident Insurance Act. [Gesetz vom 21. August 1917 betreffend Abänderung des Unfallversicherungsgesetzes.] R.G. B. 1917, CLVI. Stück, No. 363, p. 963. Act of 7 July 1921 to amend certain provisions of the Austrian Acts respecting workers' accident insurance which were in operation in Polish territory formerly annexed to Austria, and to extend the Acts respecting accident insurance in operation in that territory to the territory formerly belonging to Hungary now transferred to Poland. [Ustawa z dnia 7 lipca 1921 r. w przedmiocie zmian niektórych postanowieñ ustaw austrjackich o ubezpieczeniu robotników od wypadków, obowiazujacych na terytorjum b. zaboru austrjackiego, oraz o rozciagnieciu obowiazujacych tam ustaw o obezpieczeniu od nieszczesliwych wypadków na terytorjum przylaczone do Polski, a nalezace poprzednio do Królestwa Wggierskiego.] Dz.'U. 1921, No. 65, poz. 413, p. 1096. Abbreviatio-ns: B. I. R. S. = Boletín del Instituto de Reformas Sociales (Madrid). Abbreviations: D.U. = Dziennik Ustaw. R. G. B. = Reichsgesetzblatt (Austrian). — 647 — Act of 30 January 1924 to extend to the provinces (województwo) of Warsaw, Lodz, Kielce, Lublin, Bialystok, Volhynia, Polesia, Novogrodek and the territory of Wilno the laws respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in operation in the provinces of Cracow, Lwow, Stanislawow, Tarnopol and the Teschen region of Silesia. [Ustawa z dnia 30 stycznia 1924 roku w przedmiocie rozciagniacia obowiazujacych na obszarze województw: krakowskiego, lwowskiego', stanislawowskiego, tarnopolskiego i cieszyrískiej czgSci wojewódstwa slaskiego ustaw o obowiazkowem ubezpieczeniu robotnikow od wypadków na obszar województw; "warszawskiego, lódzkiego, kieleckiego, lubelskiego, bialostockiego, wolyiìskiego, poleskiego i nowagródzkiego oraz Ziemi Wileñskiej.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 16, poz. 148, p. 184. Orders Administrative Order of the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of 24 March 1922 respecting the classification according to risks of dangerous undertakings which are liable to compulsory insurance against industrial accidents in conformity with the provisions of the Acts of 28 December 1887 and 20 July 1894, as amended by the Act of 7 July 1921, and fixing the risk classes for certain categories of risk for the period 1 July 1921 to 31 December 1924. [Rozporzadzenie Ministra Pracy i Opieki Spolecznej z dnia 24 marca 1922 r. w przedmiocie przydzielnia do kategorji niebezpieczenstwa przedsigbiorstw, podlegajr.cych obowiazkowi ubezpieczenia od wypadków w mysl postanowieñ ustaw z dnia 28 grudnia 1887 r. i z dnia 20 lipca 1894 r. w brzmieniu ustalonem ùstawa z dnia 7 lipca 1921 r. oraz w przedmiocie ustanowienia klas niebezpieczenstwa dia poszczególnych kategorji niebezpieczenstwa na czas od 1 lipca 1921 r. do 31 grudnia 1924 r.] Dz. U. 1922, No. 37, poz. 311, p. 555. Order of the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of 7 March 1924 respecting cost of living bonuses on accident insurance pensions of persons drawing pensions and bonuses from the Lwow Accident Insurance Institution; amended by the Order of 7 July 1924. [Rozporzadzenie Ministra Pracy i Opieki Spoleczhej z dnia 7 marca 1924 r. w przedmiocie dodatków drozyZnianycn do rent ubezpieczenia od wypadków dia osób, pobierajacych renty i dodatki do rent z Zakladu ubezpieczenia od wypadków we Lwowie: cf. Rozporzadzenie z dnia 7 lipca 1924.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 26, poz. 269, p. 372; No. 60, poz. 604, p. 870. Order of the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of 7 July 1924 respecting the bringing into operation of the Act of 30 January 1924 to extend to the provinces of Warsaw, Lodz, Kielce, Lublin, Bialystok, Volhynia, Polesia, Novogrodek, and the territory of Wilno the laws respecting compulsory insurance against accidents in operation in the provinces of Cracow, Lwow, Stanislawow, Tarnopol and the Teschen region of Silesia. [Rozporzadzenia Ministra Pracy i Opieki spolecznej z dnia 7 czerwca 1924 r. o wprowadzeniu w zycie ustawy z dnia 30 stycznia 1924 r. w przedmiocie rozciagniacia obowiazuj§cych na obszarze województw; krakowskiego, lwowskiego, stanislawowskiego, tarnopolskiego i cieszyñskiej czgsci województwa alaskiego ustaw o obowiazkowem ubezpieczeniu robotników od wypadków na obszarze województw; warszawskiego, lodzkiego, kieleckiego, lubelskiego, bialostockiego, wolynskiego, poleskiego, nowogródzkiego oraz Ziemi Wilertskiej.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 50, poz. 512, p. 738. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Builders Act of 29 April 1912 respecting accident insurance in building undertakings. [Gesetz vom 29. April 1912 betreffend Unfallversicherung bei baugéwerblichen Betrieben.] R. G. B. 1912, XXXIX. Stück, No. 96, p. 333; B. B. 1912, Vol. VII, p. 350. Miners Imperial Order of 7 April 1914 respecting miners' accident insurance. [Kaiserliche Verordnung vom 7. April 1914 betreffend Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter.] R. G. B. 1914, XXXVI. Stück, No. 80, p. 592; B. B. 1915, Vol. X, p. 8. — 648 — Act of 30 December 1917 respecting miners' accident insurance. [Gesetz vom 30. Dezember 1917 betreffend Unfallversicherung der Bergarbeiter.] R. G. B. 1917, CCXXXVIII. Stück, No. 523, p. 1449. Former Prussian Territory GENERAL LEGISLATION Federal Insurance Code (German) of 1911 (Book I I I : Accidents), including amendments to 31 December 1918. [Reichsversicherungsordnung von 1911, Buch III, Unfallversicherung, mit allen Abänderungen bis zum 31. Dezember 1918.] Order of 5 February 1924 issued by the Minister of Finance in conjunction with the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, respecting the adoption of a fixed standard in calculating payments made under the accident insurance system in operation in former Prussian territory. [Rozporzgdzenie Ministra Skarbu z dnia 5 lutego 1924 r. wydane w porozumieniu z Ministrem Pracy i Opieki Spoleczeni w przedmiocie zastosowania jednostki statej do wymiaru oplat w zakresie ubezpieczen od wypadków w b. dzielnicy pruskiej.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 19, poz. 192, p. 279. Order of 30 June 1924, issued by the Minister of Finance in conjunction with the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, respecting the conversion into Polish currency (zloty) of accident insurance contributions in former Prussian territory. [Rozporzgdzenie Ministra Skarbu z dnia 30 czerwca 1924 r. wydane w porozumieniu z. Ministrem Pracy i Opieki Spolecznej o przerachowaniu na zlote kwot w ubezpieczeniu od wypadków w b. dzielnicy pruskiej.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 58, poz. 590, p. 858. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Agriculture Order of 27 August 1921, of the Minister for former Prussian Territory, respecting accident insurance in gardening. [Rozporzgdzenie Ministra b. Dzielnicy Pruskiej z dnia 27 sierpnia 1921 r. w sprawie ubezpiecznia od nieszczesliwych wypadków w ogrodnictwie.] Dz. U. 1921, No. 82, poz. 572, p. 1492. Order of 22 September 1924, issued by the Minister of Finance in agreement with the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, respecting the conversion into zloty of sums of money in connection with agricultural accidents in the territory formerly belonging to Prussia. [Rozporzgdzenie Ministra Skarbu z dnia 22 wrzesnia 1924 r. wydane w porozumieniu z Ministrem Pracy i Opieki Spolecznej w sprawie przerachowania na zlote kwot pienieznych w ubezpieczeniu od wypadków w rolnictwie obowiazujacem w b. dzielnicy pruskiej.] Dz. U. 1924, No. 84, poz. 810, p. 1292. PORTUGAL GENERAL LEGISLATION Act No. 83, of 24 July 1913, to establish the right of wage-earning and salaried employees meeting with industrial accidents to hospital treatment, medical requisites and compensation. [Ley No. 83, 24 julio 1913, establecendo o direito a asistencia clinica, medicamentos e indemnisaçâo para os operarios e empregados victimas de accidentes no traballio.] Diario do Governo, 24 July 1913, No. 171. Decree No. 5637, of 10 May 1919, to organise compulsory insurance against industrial accidents in all trades. [Decreto No. 5637, 10 Maio 1919, organizando o seguro social obligatorio nos desastros de trabalho em todas as profissôes.] Ibid., 1919, 10 May, 1st series, No. 98, 8th supplement. Decree No. 5640, of 10 May 1919, to create and organise the Compulsory — 649 — Insurance and General Provident Institution. [Decreto No. 5637, 10 Maio1919, criando e organizando o instituto de seguros sociales obriga torios e deprevidencia general.] Ibid. ROUMANIA» GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 25 January 1912 respecting the organisation of handicrafts, minor credit institutions, and workmen's insurance. [Lege pentru organizarea meseriilor, creditului si asigurarilor muncitoresti.J M. O., 27 Jan. 1912, No. 236; B. B. 1913, p. 53. Acts of 26 April and 31 May 1913 to amend and supplement the Act of 25 January 1912. [Legi pentru modiflcarea si adáugirea unor dispozij.iuni din legea pentru organizarea meseriilor, creditului §i asigurarilor muncitorestij M. O., 28 April and 5 June 1913. Act of 2 July 1924 to amend and supplement provisionally certain provisions of the social insurance laws for the territory of Roumania. [Lege pentru modiflcarea si complectarea provizorie a unor dispozitiuni din legile asigurarilor sociale"din cuprinsul României.] M. O., 4 July 1924, No. 143, p. 7613; L. S. 1924, Rou. 1. RUSSIA 2 GENERAL LEGISLATION Laws Labour Code of the Russian Federative Socialist Soviet Republic. 1922 edition. Chapter 17. — C. L. D. 1922, No. 70; L. S. 1922, Russ. 1. Civil Code of the Russian Federative Socialist Soviet Republic. Sections 412-415. — C. L. D. 1922, No. 71. Orders Decree of 21 December 1922 of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissaries, to transfer social insurance questions from the People's Social Insurance Commissariat to the People's Labour Commissariat. — C. L. D. 1922, No. 81. Circular of 22 February 1922 of the People's Social Insurance Commissariat, respecting the organisation of territorial insurance funds. — N. P. S. I. C. 1922, No. 5. Order of 6 June 1922 of the Council of People's Commissaries, issuing regulations concerning the Central Social Insurance Board.— Izvestia, 11 June 1922. Regulations of 11 June 1922 for the social insurance boards for the governments. — N. P. S. I. C. 1922, No. 27. Order of 23 January 1923 of the Council of People's Commissaries, respecting medical boards. — C. L. D. 1923, No. 4. Instructions No. 125/29, issued on 24 March 1923 by the People's Labour Commissariat, respecting the payment by one insurance fund of benefit for temporary loss of working capacity to members of another fund. — I. Q. 1923, No. 14. Decree of 3 April 1923 of the Council of People's Commissaries, concerning employers' liability for contraventions of the social insurance laws. — C. L. D. 1923, No. 27. Order of 12 April 1923 of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissaries, respecting the scale of insurance contributions for persons employed for remuneration. — C. L. D. 1923, No. 31. Circular and Instructions of 12 June 1923 of the People's Labour Commis1 8 Abbreviations: M. O. = Monitorial oficial. Abbreviations: C. L. D. = Collection of Laws and Decrees. I. Q. = Insurance Questions. N. P. L. C. = Notices of the People's Labour Commissariat. N. P. S. I. C. = Notices of the People's Social Insurance Commissariat. — 650 — sariat, respecting supervision of the payment of insurance contributions. — I. Q. 1923, No. 23. Circular of 21 June 1923 of the People's Labour Commissariat, respecting the insurance of seasonal and temporary workers. — I. Q. 1923, No. 26. Regulations of 21 July 1923 of the People's Labour Commissariat, respecting insurance offices and authorised representatives of insurance funds. — I. Q. 1923, No. 34. Order of 3 January 1924 of the People's Labour Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, issuing rules for assistance to disabled workers whose incapacity for work is due to an industrial accident, and also to members of the families of wage-earning and salaried employees whose death is the result of an accident. — N. P. L. C. 1924, No. 1. Regulations of 15 January 1924 respecting the Social Insurance Fund, approved by the People's Labour Commissariat and the People's Commissariat of Finance of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and by the People's Commissariat of Justice of the Russian Federative Socialist Soviet Republic. — N. P. L. C. 1924, Nos. 6-7. Order of 8 February 1924 of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissaries, to alter the scale of insurance contributions for institutions appearing in State and local budgets. — Izvestia, 10 Feb. 1924. Order of 15 June 1924 of the People's Labour Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, respecting the rates of pensions and benefit for social insurance purposes. — N. P. L. C. 1924, No. 27. Order of 23 July 1924 of the People's Labour Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, respecting the payment of pensions to disabled workers travelling outside the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. — N. P. L. C. 1924, No. 31. Order No. 249, issued on 26 June 1924 by the People's Labour Commissariat, respecting the maximum amount of benefit for temporary loss of working capacity. — N. P. L. C. 1924, No. 31. Order of 7 August 1924 of the People's Labour Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, concerning the insurance of disabled persons employed for remuneration. — N. P. L. C. 1924, Nos. 33-34. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Transport Workers Circular of 15 March 1922 of the People's Social Insurance Commissariat, issuing regulations for transport workers' insurance funds. — N. P. S. I. C. 1922, No. 8. Circular of 25 March 1922 of the People's Social Insurance Commissariat, issuing regulations for the transport workers' insurance section of the Social Insurance Board. — N. P. S. I. C. 1922, No. 10. Instructions of 30 June 1924 of the People's Transport Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, concerning the calculation and payment of insurance contributions for railway workers. — N. P. L. C. 1924, No. 39. Apprentices Circular of 14 September 1923 of the People's Labour Commissariat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, respecting the insurance of apprentices in small-scale industry, industrial arts and handicrafts, and in industrial cooperative societies. — I. Q. 1923, No. 38. SALVADOR GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 12 March 1911 respecting industrial accidents. [Ley de accidentes del trabajo, 12 de mayo de 1911.] Diario oficial, 15 May 1911. — 651 — Regulations of 7 September 1914, under the Industrial Accidents Act. [Reglamento de 7 de septiembre de 1911 para la aplicación de la ley de accidentes del trabajo.] SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE KINGDOM GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 14 May 1922 respecting workers' insurance. 1922, Nos. 5-6; L. S. 1922, S. C. S. K. 2.) (Labour Protection, SOUTH AFRICA Union of South Africa GENERAL LEGISLATION Workmen's Compensation Act of 1 July 1914. — Statutes of the Union of South Africa, 1914, No. 25, p. 146. Workmen's Compensation (Industrial Diseases) Act of 29 May 1917. — Ibid., No. 13, p. 30. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Miners Act of 21 June 1919 to consolidate and amend the Acts relating to Miners' Phthisis. — Ibid., 1919, No. 40, p. 352. Southern Rhodesia GENERAL LEGISLATION Native Labourers Compensation Ordinance of 4 August 1922 (Ordinances 1922, No. 15). — L. S. 1922, S. R. 1 (A). Workmen's Compensation Ordinance of 22 September 1922 (Ordinances 1922, No. 20). — L. S. 1922, S. R. 1 (B). Regulations of 22 September 1922, approved by the Administrator under Section 33 of the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, 1922. — Government Notices, 1922, No. 429. SPAIN l GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 10 January 1922 relating to industrial accidents, as amended. [Ley reformada relativa a los accidentes del trabajo, 10 de enero de 1922.] G. M., 11 Jan. 1922, p. 177; B. I. R. S., Feb. 1922, p. 357; L. S. 1922, Sp. 1. Orders Royal Order of 24 January 1922 providing that the Act of 10 January 1922 to amend the Act relating to industrial accidents shall come into operation twenty days after its promulgation. [Real Orden de 24 de enero de 1922 declarando que la ley de 10 de enero próximo pasada que modifica la de accidentes del trabajo entrera en vigor a los veinte días de su promulgación oficial.] B. I. R. S. 1922, No. 213, p. 581. Royal Order of 7 April 1922 providing that all contraventions of the laws and orders, etc. relating to social matters in operation prior to the coming into force of the amended Act of 10 January 1922, relating to industrial 1 Abbreviations: B. I. R. S. = Boletín del Instituto de Reformas Sociales. Gaceta de Madrid. L. O. = Legislación Obrera. G. M. = — 652 — accidents, shall be subject to the provisions in force at the date when the contravention occurred in so far as concerns jurisdiction, procedure and imposition of fines. [Real Orden declarando que todas las infracciones de las disposiciones legales y reglamentarios de carácter social que hayan tenido efecto con anterioridad a la vigencia de la ley reformada relativa a accidentes del trabajo, de 10 de enero próximo pasado, quedan sometidas a los preceptos vigentes en la fecha de la infracción, en cuanto a la competencia, procedimiento y aplicación del importe de las multas.] B. I. R. S. 1922, No. 215, p. 1050. Provisional Regulations, dated 21 April 1922, governing labour inspection, issued under the amended Act of 10 January 1922 relating to industrial accidents. [Reglamento provisional para el servicio de inspección con arreglo a los preceptos de la ley reformada de accidentes del trabajo de 10 de enero de 1922.] B. I. R. S. 1922, No. 215, p. 1064. Royal Decree of 29 December 1922 to approve the provisional regulations for the administration of the amended Act of 10 January 1922 relating to industrial accidents. [Real Decreto de 29 de diciembre de 1922 aprobando el reglamento provisional para la aplicación de la ley reformada relativa a los accidentes del trabajo, de 10 de enero del corriente año.] G. M., 31 Dec. 1922, No. 365, p. 1354; L. S. 1922, Sp. 1. Royal Order of 15 February 1924 to amend sections 107 and 108 of the provisional regulations for the administration of the Act relating to industrial accidents, pending the issue of definitive regulations under the Act. [Real Orden de 15 de febrero de 1924 disponiendo que en tanto no se redacta el reglamento definitivo para la ejecución de la ley de accidentes del trabajo, queden modificandos en la forma que se publican los artículos 107 y 108 de dicho reglamento.] G. M. 1924, No. 48, p. 884. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Seamen Royal Decree of 15 October 1919 respecting the compulsory insurance of ships' crews against accidents at sea. [Real Decreto de 15 de octubre de 1919: Accidentes del mar: seguro obligatorio de las dotaciones.] G. M.. 21 Oct. 1919; L. O., Part II, p. 339. Royal Order of 28 October 1919 issuing regulations for the due observance of the provisions laid down in the Royal Decree of 15 October 1919 respecting the compulsory insurance by shipowners of members of the crews of their vessels against accidents at sea. [Real orden dictando reglas para el debida Cumplimiento de lo preceptuado en el Real decreto de 15 del mes actual sobre la obligación impuesta a los navieros de asegurar el personal de las dotaciones de sus barcos contra los accidentes de mar.] B. I. R. S., No. 190, April 1920, p. 273. Royal Order of 7 December 1919 to authorise mutual benefit societies to undertake insurance against accidents at sea, provided that they establish to the satisfaction of the official Insurance Committee that they have complied with the conditions laid down in this Royal Order. [Real orden de 7 de diciembre de 1919 autorizando para verificar el seguro de accidentes de mar a las sociedades mutuas que, ante el comité oficial de seguros, acrediten el cumplimiento de las obligaciones que las impone la Real orden que se publica.] B. I. R, S., No. 190, April 1920, p. 337. Royal Decree of 17 May 1921 to make the system of insurance against accidents at sea set up under the Decree of 15 October 1919 compulsory for pilots in Spanish ports during the exercise of their duties, provided that these duties are in conformity with the conditions laid down in this Decree. [Real Decreto haciendo extensivo y obligatorio para el personal de prácticos de puertos en España, en el ejercicio de sus funciones, en cuanto no se opongan a las bases que se señalan, el seguro sobre accidentes de mar creado por el de 15 de octubre de 1919.] B. I. R. S. 1920, No. 214, p. 828. Royal Decree of 1 September 1923 to add a third paragraph to the Royal Decree of 15 October 1919 respecting insurance against accidents at sea. [Real decreto adicionando el tercer párrafo que se inserta, al Real decreto — 653 — de 15 de octubre de 1919 sobre seguros por accidentes de mar.] G. M. 1923, No. 254, p. 1058. Bank Employees Royal Order of 9 January 1922 providing that the Act of 30 January 1900 respecting industrial accidents and the Act of 4 July 1918 respecting hours of work in commercial establishments shall not apply to banking establishments. [Real orden disponiendo que no es aplicable a los establecimientos bancarios la ley de 30 de enero de 1900 relativa a los accidentes del trabajo ni la de 4 de julio de 1918 referente a la jornada mercantil.] B. I. R. S. 1922, No. 212, p. 355. SWEDEN i GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Act of 17 June 1916 concerning insurance against industrial accidents, amended by the Acts of 14 June 1917, 26 April 1918, 19 June 1919, 18 June 1920, 15 June 1922, and 23 May 1924. [Lag om försäkring for olycksfall i arbete, den 17 juni 1916; Lag den 14 juni 1917, den 26 aprii 1918, den 19 juni 1919, den 18 juni 1920, den 15 juni 1922, och den 23 mai 1924.] S. F. 1916, No. 235; 1917, No. 389; 1918, No. 256; 1919, No. 323, 324; 1920, No. 326; 1922, No. 320; 1924, No. 155; L. S. 1922 (Swe. 2), 1924 (Swe. 1). Act of 29 June 1917 concerning the Insurance Council, amended by the Act of 24 May 1918. [Lag om försäkringsradet, den 29 juni 1917. Lag den 24 mai 1918.] S. F. 1917, No. 466; 1918, No. 323. Orders Regulations issued by the Crown on 29 June 1917 concerning the management of the Fund mentioned in Section 19 of the Act of 17 June 1916 concerning insurance against industrial accidents. [Kungl. Maj :ts nâdiga réglemente angâende förvaltningen av den i 19 § av lagen den 17 juni 1916 om försäkring for olycksfall i arbete omförmälda fond, dem 29 juni 1917.] S. F. 1917, No. 473. Royal Notification of 30 November 1917 concerning certain provisions respecting the application of the Act of 17 June 1916 concerning insurance against industrial accidents, to workers employed by the State; Section 1 amended by the Notification of 31 January 1919. [Kungl. Maj:ts nâdiga kungörelse angâende särskilda bestämmelser i fraga om tillämpning av lagen om försäkring för olycksfall i arbete den 17 juni 1916 â arbetare, som användas tili arbete för statens rakning, den 30 november 1917; Kungörelse den 31 januari 1919, om ândrad lydelse i 1 §.] S. F. 1917, No. 832; 1919, No. 99. Royal Notification of 21 December 1917 concerning notification of industrial accidents, etc. [Kungl. Maj:ts nâdiga kungörelse angâende anmälan om olycksfall i arbete m. m., den 21 december 1917.] S. F. 1917, No. 911. Royal Notification of 31 December 1918 respecting payment of compensation according to the Act concerning insurance against industrial accidents. [Kungl. Maj: ts nâdiga kungörelse angâende utbetalning av ersattning enligt lagen om försäkring for olycksfall i arbete, den 31 december 1917.] S. F. 1917, No. 950. Instructions issued by the Crown on 31 December 1917 for the State Insurance Institution; amended by the Notification of 31 December 1921. [Instruktion för riksförsäkringsanstalten, den 31 december 1917; Kungörelse den 31 december 1921 om ändring i vissa delar av Instruktionen.] S. F. 1917, No. 987; 1921, No. 771. Royal Notification of 3 December 1918 concerning payment of and accounting for premiums for insurance in the State Insurance Institution according to the Act concerning insurance against industrial accidents; amended by the Notification of 5 December 1919. [Kungl. Maj: ts nâdiga kungörelse av 1 Abbreviations: S. F. = Svensk Författningssamling. — 654 — 3 december 1918 angáende närmare bestämmelser om inbetalning och redovisning av avgifter för försäkringar i riksförsakringsanstalten jämlikt lagen om försäkring för olycksfall i arbete; Kungörelse av 5 december 1919.] S. F. 1918, No. 1018; 1919, No. 815. Royal Notification of 20 August 1919 concerning the procedure for the payment of contributions by certain insurance associations to the expenses of management of the Insurance Council and the State Insurance Institution. [Kungl. Maj : ts nädriga kungörelse den 20 August 1919 angáende ordningen for inbetalning av vissa försäkringsbolags bidrag till bestridande av omkostnaderna för försäkringsradet och riksförsakringsanstalten.] S. F. 1919, No. 598. Royal Order of 31 March 1922 concerning the collection of premiums for insurance in the State Insurance Institution according to the Act concerning insurance against industrial accidents. [Kungl. Maj : ts nàdiga förordning den 31 mars 1922 angáende uppbord av avgifter för försäkring i riksförsäkrings anstalten jämlikt lagen om försäkring för olycksfall i arbete.] S. F. 1922, No. 130. SPECIAL LEGISLATION Fishermen Royal Order of 11 June 1918 respecting the special insurance of fishermen against injuries resulting from accidents, amended by the Order of 31 March 1922. [Kungl. Maj:ts nädiga Förordning angáende en särskild för fiskare avsedd försäkring mot skada tili följd av olycksfall, den 11 juni 1918; Förordning den 31 mars 1922 om ändrad lyddse av 4,8 och 12 §§.] S. F. 1918, No. 375; 1922, No. 131; 1918, Order translated in; L. S. 1919, Swe. 1. SWITZERLAND * GENERAL LEGISLATION Acts Federal Act of 13 June 1911 respecting Sickness and accident insurance. [Bundesgesetz vom 13. Juni 1911 über die Kranken- und Unfallversicherung; Loi fédérale du 13 juin 1911 sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1912, No. 9, p. 353; R. L. F. 1912, No. 9, p. 351. Federal Act of 18 June 1915 to supplement the Federal Act of 13 June 1911, respecting sickness and accident insurance. [Bundesgesetz vom 18. Juni 1915 betreffend die Ergänzung des Bundesgesetzes vom 13. Juni 1911 über die Kranken- und Unfallversicherung; Loi fédérale du 18 juin complétant la loi fédérale du 13 juin 1911 sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1915, No. 46, p. 381; R. L. F. 1915, No. 46, p. 353; B. B. 1915, Vol. X, p. 214. Federal Act of 9 October 1920 to amend certain provisions of the Federal Act of 13 June 1911 respecting sickness and accident insurance. [Bundesgesetz vom 9. Oktober 1920 betreffend die Abänderung einzelner Bestimmungen des Bundesgesetzes vom 13. Juni 1911; Loi fédérale du 9 octobre 1920 concernant la revision de certaines dispositions de la loi fédérale du 13 juin 1911 sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1921, No. 3 ; R. L. F. 1921, No. 3, p. 47; L. S. 1920, Switz. 7. Orders Order No. l 1)is of 20 August 1922 respecting accident insurance. [Verordnung I b i s vom 20. August 1920 über die Unfallversicherung; Ordonnance Ibis d u 20 août 1920 sur l'assurance accidents.] E. G. 1920, No. 38, p. 483; R. L. F. 1920, No. 38; L. S. 1920, Switz. 8. Resolution of the Federal Council of 12 March 1912 respecting the coining into operation of certain provisions of the Federal Act respecting sickness i Abbreviations: E.G. = Eidgenössische Gesetzsammlung. R. L. F. = Recueil des Lois fédérales. — 655 — and accident insurance. [Bundesratsbeschluss vom 12. März 1912 betreffend Inkraftsetzung einzelner Bestimmungen des Bundesgesetzes über die Krankenund Unfallversicherung; Arrêté du Conseil fédéral du 12 mars 1912 concernant l'entrée en vigueur de certaines dispositions de la loi fédérale sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1922, No. 9, p. 402; R. L. F. 1912, No. 9, p. 396. Resolution of the Federal Council of 15 April 1913 respecting the coming into operation of certain provisions of the Federal Act respecting sickness and accident insurance. [Bundesratsbeschluss vom 15. April 1913 betreffend Inkraftsetzung einzelner Bestimmungen des Bundesgesetzes über die Krankanund Unfallversicherung; Arrêté du Conseil fédéral du 15 avril 1923 concernant l'entrée en vigueur de certaines dispositions de la loi fédérale sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1913, No. 9, p. 68; R. L. F. 1913, No. 9, p. 66. Resolution of the Federal Council of 19 August 1913 respecting the coming into operation of the Parts II and III of the Federal Act respecting sickness and accident insurance. [Bundesratsbeschluss vom 19. August 1913 betreffend •Inkraftsetzung des zweiten und dritten Titels des Bundesgesetzes über Kranken- und Unfallversicherung; Arrêté du Conseil fédéral du 19 août 1913 concernant la mise en vigueur du deuxième et du troisième titre de la loi fédérale sur l'assurance en cas de maladie et d'accidents.] E. G. 1913, No. 20, p. 325; R. L. F. 1913, No. 20, p. 293. Order No. I' e r of 8 December 1922 respecting accident insurance. [Verter ordnung t eIr vom 8. Dezember 1922 über die Unfallversicherung ; Ordonnance I du 8 décembre 1922 sur l'assurance-accidents.] E. G. 1922, No. 38; R. L. F. 1922, No. 38, p. 587. URUGUAY GENERAL LEGISLATION Act of 15 November 1920 respecting industrial accidents. [Ley de accidentes del trabajo, 15 de Noviembre de 1920.] Legislación obrera del Uruguay, No. 1, 1921, p. 63; L. S. 1920, Ur. 1.