Limitation period checker

Many people assume there is always ten years. Ten years is the general period that applies where the law fixes nothing else. Several of the commonest claims run far shorter than that, and some leave only three months.

This tool calculates from the dates entered. The correct starting date is a question of fact, explained below. A criminal offence that can be settled carries two deadlines at once: a complaint within three months, and prosecution within the limitation period.

The starting date is not always the date of the event

The point most often misunderstood is when time starts. Many periods run from the day the claimant learned of the damage and of the person liable, which can be months or years after the event itself: damage that appears later, or a case where it took time to find out who caused it. The starting date is therefore a question of fact that parties often dispute.

Matters with two deadlines at once

Some claims carry a short period from the day the claimant learned of the matter and a long stop from the date of the event. Once the long stop passes the claim is gone, however recently the claimant found out, so the date of the event has to be entered as well.

• Tort: one year from learning of the wrong and of the person liable, and not more than ten years from the day the wrong was done.
• Unjust enrichment: one year from learning of the right to recover, and not more than ten years from the day that right arose.
• Revoking a fraudulent transfer: one year from the creditor learning of the ground, and not more than ten years from the transaction.
• Succession: one year from the heir learning, or having reason to learn, of the death, and not more than ten years from the death.
• Unsafe products: three years from learning of the damage and of the business liable, and not more than ten years from the day the product was sold.

Compoundable offences: both deadlines must be met

For an offence that can be settled, such as fraud, misappropriation, damage to property or a dishonoured cheque, the injured party must lodge a complaint within three months of learning of the offence and of the offender. Miss that and the case is out of time at once, even with years left to prosecute.

Once the complaint is in time, the case must still be filed and the accused brought before the court within the limitation period for that offence, which runs from the date of the offence rather than from the date of knowledge. The two run side by side and both must be met.

Offences that cannot be settled

Theft, forgery, fraud on the public and a director entering false statements in the company books cannot be settled, so no three-month complaint period applies. They carry a limitation period running from the date of the offence, longer or shorter according to the penalty: ten years where the penalty is imprisonment of more than one year up to seven years, and five years where it is more than one month up to one year.

One cheque, three separate clocks

A cheque the bank refuses to pay gives rise to two rights at once: a civil claim for the money and a criminal case against the person who issued it. Each carries its own period, and they do not start on the same day.

• Civil: the holder may sue the drawer within one year of the date written on the cheque, which is when the bill falls due, not the day the bank refused payment.
• Criminal: a complaint must be lodged within three months of the day the bank refused payment, that being the day the holder learned of the offence. This is the shortest of the three and the one most often missed.
• Criminal: once the complaint is in time, the case must still be filed and the drawer brought before the court within five years of the offence, taken as the date written on the cheque, the day it was issued.

The commonest way to lose the right is to let the debtor put the cheque through again. A later refusal creates no fresh offence and does not restart the three months, which always run from the first refusal.

The other is waiting on a notice of dishonour. If the drawer pays within thirty days of receiving that notice the case is at an end, but those thirty days run alongside the three months and do not stop them. Waiting for the thirty days before lodging a complaint is a real risk; lodge the complaint first.

What makes time start again

In a civil matter, time already run may stop and start again if the debtor admits the debt, by a written acknowledgement, a part payment, or a message accepting that the sum is still owed, and also when the creditor files suit. The admission must come before the period expires. A part payment made after it has expired does not restart the original period but gives rise to a fresh two-year period for acknowledgement of liability.

A criminal matter has no equivalent. Lodging a complaint does not stop the limitation period running. It stops only once the case has been filed and the accused is before the court; a warrant alone is not enough.

Common misunderstandings

• A cheque carries three separate clocks that start on different days, set out in a section of its own below. A holder who remembers the wrong one often loses the right while time still remains on another.
• Selling goods or supplying work to a customer who uses them in their own business does not fall in the two-year period but in the five-year one, which covers most trade between businesses.
• Where a tort is also a criminal offence, such as misappropriation or fraud, the longer criminal period applies instead of one year.
• A right under a judgment carries a ten-year limitation period, which is a different thing from the ten years allowed for enforcement under the Civil Procedure Code. That one runs from the judgment of the last court in the case and cannot be interrupted.
• A limitation period is not taken by the court of its own motion. The debtor must raise it, though in practice a represented party always does.

Read more

• Article: limitation periods
• Calculator: default interest
• Service: civil cases

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