amended by P.L. 29-076:3 (May 9, 2008). Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 35-111:2 (Dec. 1, 2020). 2013 NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters in subsections (d) (3) and (4) were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric scheme. COMMENT: GC § 6500.13 became permanent law in the 14th Guam Legislature. It is continued here in its existing form modified to suit the format of this Chapter. Since the Guam Memorial Hospital is an autonomous agency, it must be treated differently than the Department of Public Health and Social Services, which is a line agency. Also, Government Health Professionals may be acting as agents of the government through other line agencies. This Section also clears up a number of difficulties that have arisen in suits over the years, but never resolved on appeal. Thus, it is clear that the government is liable, as a government, only for the obligations of line
agencies. The autonomous agencies are liable for their own torts. For contract obligations see § 6500.31. The rationale for providing the same limitations for all of the government is that, unlike private parties, the government has a continuing responsibility for the whole people of Guam. One or two suits cannot defeat the rationale for the government’s existence by so depleting the treasury that the government cannot function. A similar rationale applies to the Hospital, the Telephone and Power Authorities, and any other such autonomous agencies as the Legislature may see fit to create. The tort limitations are raised to take into account inflation, increased court awards and the needs of the victims of the torts. 1986 NOTE: The reference in this section as published in P.L. 17-029 to § 6500.5 is a typographical error. As enacted, § 6500.05 has nothing to do with the time in which the government may investigate a claim. That limit of six months is found in § 6500.17 of P.L. 17-029 and, accordingly, § 6208(b) of this Chapter.