Limitation periods are more easily set aside in defamation cases. The court has a wide discretion. Citations: Times 15-Nov-1995 Statutes: Limitation Act 1980 32A Jurisdiction: England and Wales Defamation Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.84515
The appellant had taken out a licence to drill for oil on its land. To maximise its return it drilled at a deep level out under the claimant’s land. It now appealed against a finding that this was a trespass, and that it should pay damages on a licence basis. Held: The drilling was a … Continue reading Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd and Another v Bocardo Sa: CA 15 Jun 2009
The claimants appealed from rejection of their claims for losses saying that such losses had been caused by their solicitors in failing properly to identify the tenant and the relevant lease when issuing notices to quit. The solicitors argued that the losses occurred when the defective notices were served, and by that date, the claims … Continue reading Gordon and Others (Trustees of The Inter Vivos Trust) v Campbell Riddell Breeze Paterson Llp: SC 15 Nov 2017
The landlord of a block of flats needed vacant possession to pursue redevelopment. The respondent solicitors failed to give the necessary notice in good time, delaying the development by a year. The landlord appellant delayed five years before claiming damages, and now appealed against denial of his claim, arguing that section 11 produced in the … Continue reading Dunlop v McGowans: HL 6 Mar 1980
Where a first writ issued within the primary limitation period is itself ineffective (although not a nullity) through having been issued variously without consent against a company in liquidation. Held: The Walkley principle does not apply to defeat in limine a second action, notwithstanding that in each of those cases the defect was recognised to … Continue reading Mcevoy v AA Welding and Fabrication Ltd: CA 15 Dec 1997
Limitation rules were not to be dis-applied merely because the defendant was insured. Citations: Gazette 15-Jan-1997, Times 15-Nov-1996 Statutes: Limitation Act 1980 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Limitation Updated: 03 November 2022; Ref: scu.82710
The plaintiffs had discovered that the defendant surveyors had negligently failed to observe that there was dry rot but did not start proceedings until other negligence was discovered more than six years later. Held: Although the negligent survey had led to two heads of loss there was only one cause of action. Since the plaintiffs … Continue reading Hamlin and Another v Edwin Evans (A Firm): CA 15 Jul 1996
Appeal against finding that a local authority was not responsible for the sexual abuse of the appellant whilst with foster carers as a child. Held: As to whether the duty as non-delegable, such a duty must relate to a function which the local authority had assumed a duty to perform. Fostering was not a function … Continue reading NA v Nottinghamshire County Council: CA 12 Nov 2015
LRA Adverse possession – locus standi of a person not having an interest in the land – adding new parties – holding a substantive hearing in absence of a party – Limitation Act 1980 Section 15; Schedule 1, paragraphs 1 and 8 – Land Registration Act 2002 Schedule 4; Adjudicator to Her Majesty’s Land Registry … Continue reading Arnold and Arnold v Roughton Land Trust Musker and Musker, (Practice and Procedure): LRA 5 Nov 2007
The claimant sought damages in negligence against solicitors who had advised the executors in an estate of which he was a beneficiary. He now sought to amend his claim to make a claim in his personal and in derivative capacities. Sums had been paid out of the estate which had defeated the inheritance rights of … Continue reading Roberts v Gill and Co and Another: CA 15 Jul 2008
The court considered the meaning of ‘war’ in the context of an insurance contract: ‘The issue is not whether the events in Lebanon were recognised in the United Kingdom as amounting to a civil war in the sense in which the term is used in Public International Law with the corollary that this country would, … Continue reading Spinneys (1948) Ltd v Royal Insurance Co Ltd: 1980
Citations: [1998] EWCA Civ 1000 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – McDonnell and Another v Walker CA 24-Nov-2009 The defendant appealed against the disapplication of section 11 of the 1980 Act under section 33. Held: The appeal succeeded. The defendant had not contributed significantly to the delay: ‘the defendant received claims … Continue reading A B and others v Liverpool City Council; Nugent Care Society (Formerly Catholic Social Services [Liverpool]) and Trustees of National Children’s Home and Orphanage Registered: CA 15 Jun 1998
The court will not add a person as a defendant to an existing action if the claim was already statute-barred and he wished to rely on that defence, and if the court allows such addition ex parte it will not, on objection allow the addition to stand. Where a defendant is added under Ord.15 r.6 … Continue reading Liff v Peasley: CA 1980
The court was asked as to the principles applicable to the court’s discretion, when making an order for the restoration to the register of a dissolved company, to order that the running of time for the bringing of claims by the company for the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980 should be suspended during all … Continue reading County Leasing Asset Management Ltd and Others v Hawkes: CA 4 Dec 2015
The court was asked whether the judge was right to grant summary judgment striking down the first and third appellants’ negligence claims against their solicitors on the grounds that they were issued more than 3 years after they acquired ‘the knowledge required for bringing an action for damages in respect of the relevant damage’ within … Continue reading Blakemores Ldp v Scott and Another: CA 7 Oct 2015
Appeal by the claimants from the order of Simon J by which he ordered on summary judgment applications by the defendants that (1) the claimants are not entitled to rely on section 32(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980; and the claims are time barred pursuant to sections 2 and 9 of the 1980 Act insofar … Continue reading Arcadia Group Brands Ltd and Others v Visa Inc and Others: CA 5 Aug 2015
UTLC COMPENSATION – LIMITATION – whether acquiring authority estopped from relying on limitation defence by continuation of negotiations and advance payment made after expiry of limitation period – section 9, Limitation Act 1980 – notice of reference dismissed [2015] UKUT 43 (LC) Bailii Limitation Act 1980 9 England and Wales Land, Limitation Updated: 27 December … Continue reading Khan v Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (T/A Nexus): UTLC 27 Jan 2015
The House gave guidance how it would treat an invitation to depart from a previous decision of the House. Such a course was possible, but the direction was not an ‘open sesame’ for a differently constituted committee to prefer their views to those of the committee which determined the decision unanimously or by a majority. … Continue reading Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent): HL 1966
The plaintiff, on arriving at the airport found that his luggage had been lost. The defendant denied liability saying he had not notified his claim within the requisite period.
Held: Elementary justice requires that the rules by which the . .
The claimants had been the registered proprietors of land, they lost it through the adverse possession of former tenants holding over. They claimed that the law had dispossessed them of their lawful rights.
Held: The cumulative effect of the . .
The plaintiff, injured in an accident, pleaded trespass to the person, which was not a breach of duty within the proviso to the section, in order to achieve the advantages of a six-year limitation period.
Held: Trespass is strictly speaking . .
1267 – 1278 – 1285 – 1297 – 1361 – 1449 – 1491 – 1533 – 1677 – 1688 – 1689 – 1700 – 1706 – 1710 – 1730 – 1737 – 1738 – 1751 – 1774 – 1792 – 1793 – 1804 – 1814 – 1819 – 1824 – 1828 – 1831 – 1832 … Continue reading Acts
A beneficiary under an intestacy, who tried to position himself as owner of assets in the estate, became a constructive trustee of those assets, with or without letters of administration, and accordingly the claim for the return of the land was not time-barred. ‘Parliament, wittingly or unwittingly has drawn a distinction between personal representatives and … Continue reading James v Williams: CA 8 Mar 1999
The claimant had for many years operated a mobile cafe from a layby on land owned by the respondents. He had claimed title to it by adverse possession. He appealed against rejection of the claim, the court having found that his occupation had not been continuous. Held: The evidence was clear and saitisfactory that he … Continue reading Devanney v London Borough of Hounslow: CA 13 Dec 2012
Land Registration Act 1925 section 75 – Limitation Act 1980 section 15 and Sch 1 Para 8(4) – Adverse possession – Agreement – Lease or Licence – Whether consent given by paper owner – Whether squatter had intention to possess – Adverse possession not made out – Application dismissed Citations: [2006] EWLandRA 2004 – 1242 … Continue reading J C Decaux Ltd v Kwik Save Stores Ltd (Adverse Possession): LRA 23 Jun 2006
The claimants appealed against a decision of the Adjudicator that they had not acquired a piece of their neighbour’s land by adverse possession, on the basis that their use had been by virtue of an oral licence. The judge had found the occupation to be insufficient to demnstrate exclusion of others from the land. Held: … Continue reading Wilson and Another v Grainger: ChD 4 Dec 2009
The parties had agreed for a lease, and the tenant entered possession, but no formal lease was executed. The tenant stopped paying rent in 1977 or 1984. He now claimed rectification of the registers to show him as proprietor. The landlord argued that as a lease in writing, time ran from the notice to quit. … Continue reading Long v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council: ChD 20 Mar 1996
The defendants appealed an order refusing title by adverse possession to registered land. They denied that the limitation period had been restarted by their solicitor’s letter acknowledging the title. Held: The letter must be read as a whole. As such it was an admission of title. The requirement that the possession be adverse requires only … Continue reading Allen v Matthews: CA 13 Mar 2007
The court considered a claim for the adverse possesion of land. Held: Dyson LJ said: ‘to establish a claim of adverse possession for the requisite period of 12 years it is necessary to establish: (1) actual possession; (2) an intention to possess. That has two elements. First a subjective element requiring the person, the trespasser, … Continue reading Inglewood Investments Company Ltd v Baker: CA 8 Nov 2002
Land had been purchased compulsorily, but the respondent unlawfully returned to possession in 1966, and now claimed title by adverse possession. The Council executed a vesting deed poll in 1988. The Council asserted that he could not be in adverse possession of his own land. Held: ‘anyone who has possession of land can maintain an … Continue reading Rhondda Cynon Taff Borough Council v Watkins: CA 12 Feb 2003
Where a tenant under a grazing license had stayed over after the end of the tenancy, and had been refused a renewed licence, and had continued to graze the land for over twelve years, the mere overstaying was not enough to evidence an animus possidendi, an intention to assert an interest contrary to that of … Continue reading J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd and Another v Caroline Graham and Another: CA 6 Feb 2001
The authority had served notices on the second defendant, requiring him to execute works to bring a property up to a habitable condition. Eventually the authority executed the works themselves, and sought repayment from him of the costs. He resisted enforcement proceedings on the basis that claim was defeated by limitation, and the long delay. … Continue reading The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea v Amanullah Khan and The Wellcome Trust: ChD 13 Jun 2001
LRA Easements of right of way and right to park; Doctrine of Lost Modern Grant, Prescription Act 1832 ss. 2, 4; requirement for a suit or action; deviation of a right of way; section 15(1) of the Limitation Act 1980; permissive use; [2014] EWLandRA 2012 – 0600 Bailii Prescription Act 1832 2 4, Limitation Act … Continue reading Russo and Others v Clarke and Another (Easements and Profits A Prendre : Easements of Parking): LRA 3 Feb 2014
The parties’ respective properties were separated by a fence or hedge and the true owner had no access to the disputed land. In 1967 the Defendants’ predecessors in title began to maintain the land by mowing the grass and trimming the hedges and using the land for their own purposes. The evidence was that the … Continue reading Buckinghamshire County Council v Moran: CA 13 Feb 1989
The claimants sought ownership by adverse possession of land. Once the paper owner had been found, they indicated a readiness to purchase their interest. The court had found that this letter contradicted an animus possidendi. The claimant had overstayed the expiration of a grazing tenancy, and been asked to leave but had not been dispossessed. … Continue reading J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd and Others v Graham and Another: HL 4 Jul 2002
The defendant appealed against an order for him to surrender possession of land he had claimed by adverse possession. The Council was the registered proprietor. The defendant said he had used the land since 1981 for dumping of motor vehicle parts. The judge had decided that the defendant had not established factual possession for the … Continue reading Chambers v London Borough of Havering: CA 20 Dec 2011
LRA Application to close registered title by documentary title owners/ first registration of possessory title based on adverse possession/ Whether factual and mental elements of adverse possession established/ Whether the occupation was with consent/ Whether witness statements made by their apparent author/ whether a witness offered an inducement to give evidence/ Whether a further adjournment … Continue reading Phillips and Others v Vaughan: LRA 4 Mar 2016
The mortgagees had made no payments under the charge for more than twelve years, and had remained in possession throughout. They argued that the bank were prevented from now seeking to enforce the charge. The bank argued that the possession had not been adverse. The court had declared that the bank could not proceed. Held: … Continue reading National Westminster Bank Plc v Ashe (Trustee In Bankruptcy of Djabar Babai): CA 8 Feb 2008
The defendant tenants appealed an order for them to surrender possession of land which they claimed had been acquired by adverse possession. The buildings, including one which shared a party wall with the building owned by the defendants had been demolished in 1960, and the land enclosed. By former tenants. The land was registered in … Continue reading Tower Hamlets v Barrett and Another: CA 19 Jul 2005
The court heard preliminary applications in a case asserting acquisition of land by adverse possession, the land being parts of the foreshore of the Severn Estuary.
Held: A person may acquire title to part of the bed of a tidal river by . .
LRA KEYWORDS: documentary title; claim for adverse possession of land part of which formerly constituted a right of way; alteration of the dominant and servient tenements; abandonment of right of way; Limitation . .
LRA Easements and Profits A Prendre – Acquisition of easement by prescription; easement on foot over existing right of way granted by deed; identification of the dominant tenement; whether user as of right; . .
The fact alone of being prepared to take a licence of land would not defeat an application for adverse possession, but a request for a licence would be relevant. The adverse possession commenced from the time when the licence expired, given that a . .
The University applied to have struck out the claim by the claimant for damages alleging negligence in its teaching leading to a lower class degree than he said he should have been awarded. Held: Strike out on the basis that the claim was bound to fail was refused. Nor was the claim bound to fail … Continue reading Siddiqui v University of Oxford: QBD 5 Dec 2016
Houses were built on defective foundations. The purchasers sued the builders and later the architects who designed them. The defendants argued that the houses were doomed from the start so that the cause of action accrued, not when the physical damage to the houses occurred, but when the plaintiffs became the owners of the houses … Continue reading Ketteman v Hansel Properties Ltd: HL 1987
The substitution of a successor party to a claim does not constitute a new claim for limitation purposes. Millett LJ considered the objects of the 1980 Act: ‘The 1980 Act was enacted in order to implement the recommendations of the Twenty-First Report of the Law Reform Committee (Final Report on Limitation of Actions) (Cmnd 6923) … Continue reading Yorkshire Regional Health Authority v Fairclough Building Ltd and Another: CA 16 Nov 1995
Defendant’s strike out application – limitation Judges: Mann J Citations: [2020] EWHC 1593 (Ch) Links: Bailii Statutes: Limitation Act 1980 32 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: See Also – Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd (1436) ChD 4-Jun-2020 . . Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete. Limitation, Torts – Other … Continue reading Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd: ChD 19 Jun 2020
There was a heated dispute between neighbours, culminating in some generous or perhaps over-generous pruning by the claimant of the defendant’s trees and shrubs on the boundaries. The defendants reported the matter to the police. Both Mr and Mrs Dalziel made oral complaints to the officer who attended upon them. He later returned and Mr … Continue reading Buckley v Dalziel: QBD 3 May 2007
The court considered the application of the limitation period to answering when damage occurred when it arises under an unsecured contingent liability. The claimant insurance company had provided after the event litigation insurance policies to the solicitors and their clients, relying on assessments of the cases made by the defendants. The court below had held … Continue reading Axa Insurance Ltd v Akther and Darby Solicitors and Others: CA 12 Nov 2009
An administrator de son tort, who was also a beneficiary, held the estate property on trust, and so could not establish adverse possession against the estate during the period of trusteeship. He held a sufficient interest in the assets already. A delay in the application for the grant did not apply where time had not … Continue reading Earnshaw and Others v Hartley: CA 31 Mar 1999
Flaux J summarised the principles to be applied when considering what discovery of a fraud was, and what was ‘reasonable diligence’ so as to set the limitation clock started. He observed that: ‘If section 32(1) involved a statutory assumption that the claimant was on notice of something meriting investigation, it would make it very difficult … Continue reading Granville Technology Group Ltd and Others v Infineon Technologies Ag and Another: ComC 25 Feb 2020
Partners Liable for Dishonest Act of Solicitor A solicitor had been alleged to have acted dishonestly, having assisted in a fraudulent breach of trust by drafting certain documents. Contributions to the damages were sought from his partners. Held: The acts complained of were so close to the activities which a solicitor would normally undertake, that … Continue reading Dubai Aluminium Company Limited v Salaam and Others: HL 5 Dec 2002
Where an action had been begun on basis of allegations of negligence and breach of trust, new allegations of fraud where quite separate new causes of claim, and went beyond amendments and were disallowed outside the relevant limitation period. Sections 23 and 36 and the absence of express statutory mention in the 1980 Act of … Continue reading Paragon Finance Plc (Formerly Known As National Home Loans Corporation Plc v D B Thakerar and Co (a Firm); Ranga and Co (a Firm) and Sterling Financial Services Limited: CA 21 Jul 1998
The commissioners sought to claim title to a foreshore by adverse possession. The claimant asserted that he had acquired title in his capacity of Lord Marcher of Magor which had owned the bed of the estuary since the Norman Conquest, and that the Crown could not acquire title by adverse possession, by a wrong against … Continue reading Roberts v Crown Estate Commissioners: CA 20 Feb 2008
The court considered an extension of the time for claiming damages for personal injuries after the claimants said they had been sexually abused as children in the care of the defendants. Held: The test to be applied under section 14(2) was ‘partly subjective’and ‘section 14(2) was designed principally to provide for cases of late diagnosis … Continue reading KR and others v Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings) Ltd and Another: CA 10 Jun 2003
The plaintiff suffered injury walking a gangway onto a moored ship. Her solicitors failed to identify the owner of the ship, misspelling the name and failing to search in the General Register of Shipping and Seamen. The eventual claim was made outside the basic limitation period. Was the plaintiff fixed with knowledge under section 14(3)(b)? … Continue reading Henderson v Temple Pier Company Limited: CA 23 Apr 1998
The claimant sought to enforce an arbitration award made in 1983. Time might otherwise have expired, but the claimants relied on a fax which they said was an acknowledgement of the debt, and also upon a finding in a Romanian court which created an issue estoppel. Held: A typed signature on a fax was capable … Continue reading Good Challenger Navegante S A v Metalexportimport SA: CA 24 Nov 2003
The claimant said that he had been exposed him to excessive noise during the course of his employment, causing his deafness. He noticed his hearing problems in 2001. He was also aware that exposure to noise could cause hearing loss, but did not associate his own hearing problems with exposure to noise in earlier years. … Continue reading Johnson v Ministry of Defence and Another: CA 21 Nov 2012
Where there was still a possibility of a claim for restitution, a decision to strike out the action on the basis that there was no extant cause of action, was wrong. Citations: Times 15-May-1997 Statutes: Limitation Act 1980 35(5) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited – Pontin v Wood CA 1962 The writ had been … Continue reading Brennan v Brighton Borough Council: CA 7 May 1997
The deceased had begun an action on becoming ill after exposure to asbestos by the defendant. He withdrew his action after receiving expert evidence that his illness was unrelated. A post-mortem examination showed this evidence to be mistaken. His widow sought to pursue an action, but it was claimed that this was out of time. … Continue reading Barry Young (Deceased) v Western Power Distribution (South West) Plc: CA 18 Jul 2003
The claimant applied for leave to bring an action for race discrimination nine years after the acts complained of. Leave was granted. The respondent said the tribunal should have heard the complaint first before deciding to extend time. Held: The discretion given was to act as the tribunal thought just and equitable. There was no … Continue reading Afolabi v Southwark London Borough Council: CA 24 Jan 2003
The claimant sought damages saying that he had been abused as a child whilst in the defendant’s care. The defendants appealed a finding that the claimant had not first known of his injury more than three years before begining his action. Held: The same word ‘reasonable’ in sections 14(2) and 14(3) of the 1980 Act … Continue reading Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) and Another v Young: CA 14 Nov 2006
The claimant said that as a child the defendant had failed in its duty to protect her from her abusive mother and later from foster parents. Held: Males J, dealt with the issues of liability and limitation, leaving issues concerning causation and quantum of damages to be dealt with later if necessary. As to limitation, … Continue reading NA v Nottinghamshire County Council: QBD 2 Dec 2014
The defendant appealed a finding of negligence and the associated costs order. Held: The claimant had obtained an order allowing an extension of the limitation period in order to pursue the claim. Whilst the substantial damages award should be left in place, but on the limitation issue, the claimant had failed in several respects, and … Continue reading Kew v Bettamix Ltd and others: CA 14 Nov 2006
LRA Adverse Possession – Registration with possessory freehold title – Limitation of action – Alteration of the register – Meaning of alteration and rectification – Land Registration Act 2002 s 9(1)(c),(5), s 11(7), s 65, s 131, Sch 4 paras 1, 5, and 6 – Limitation Act 1980 s 15(1), (6), s 17, Sch.1, paras … Continue reading Thompson and Thompson v Hatherton Marina Limited: LRA 11 May 2007
The claimant appealed against an order that his claim in defamation had failed for limitation, the judge having held that time ran from publication even though the claimant did not know the identity of the author. Held: The appeal was dismissed. The court had to take two separate decisions. First had the cause of action … Continue reading Edwards v Golding and others: CA 3 Apr 2007
The claimant had undergone heart surgery as an infant in 1976, and claimed damages for professional negligence. The procedure involved a dangerous procedure, a resection of coarctation. As a consequence, the Claimant suffered a number of problems associated with neurological deficit and partial paraplegia. Held: As to limitation, the knowledge required to satisfy s.14(1)(b) is … Continue reading Mirza v Birmingham Health Authority: QBD 31 Jul 2001
The court considered an appeal against an order allowing an amendment outside the limitation period which would Judges: Lloyd, Wilson, Gross LJJ Citations: [2010] EWCA Civ 1153, [2011] Bus LR 504, [2011] BPIR 158, [2011] 1 WLR 1364 Links: Bailii Statutes: Civil Procedure Rules 19.5, Limitation Act 1980 35 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited … Continue reading Irwin and Another v Lynch and Another: CA 6 Oct 2010
The defendant had been convicted and sentenced for the attempted rape of the claimant. He had subsequently won a substantial sum on the lottery, and she now sought damages. He replied that the action was statute barred being now 16 years old. The claimant said the decision to deny her claim had interfered with her … Continue reading A v Hoare: QBD 14 Oct 2005
COMPENSATION – limitation – Land Compensation Act 1973 – whether proceedings brought when notice of reference sent to Tribunal – whether notice of reference a nullity if failing to identify all persons interested in the land – held claim not statute barred – 1973 Act s 16, Limitation Act 1980 s 9(1), Lands Tribunal Rules … Continue reading O’Donovan v Manchester (Ringway) Airport Plc: UTLC 26 Aug 2009
The dispute followed the grounding of a tanker the Ocean Victory. The ship was working outside of a safe port requirement in the charterparty agreement. The contract required the purchase of insurance against maritime war and protection and indemnity risks. The grounding occurred during a combination of severe weather events. Each of the two elements … Continue reading Gard Marine and Energy Ltd and Another v China National Chartering Company Ltd and Another: SC 10 May 2017
The claimant had been seriously injured in an accident during a swimming lesson. She sought to claim against the local authority, and now appealed against a finding that it was not responsible, having contracted out the provision of swimming lessons. She said that the duty of care was non-delegable. Held: Her appeal succeeded. For a … Continue reading Woodland v Essex County Council: SC 23 Oct 2013
Twins were conjoined (Siamese). Medically, both could not survive, and one was dependent upon the vital organs of the other. Doctors applied for permission to separate the twins which would be followed by the inevitable death of one of them. The parents, devout Roman Catholics, resisted. Held: The parents’ views were subject to the overriding … Continue reading In Re A (Minors) (Conjoined Twins: Medical Treatment); aka In re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation): CA 22 Sep 2000
The claimant had been abused as a child by foster parents with whom she had been placed by the respondent authority. The court was now asked, the Council not having been negligent, were they in any event liable having a non-delegable duty of care with accompanying vicarious liability? Held: The appeal succeeded (Lord Hughes dissenting). … Continue reading Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council: SC 18 Oct 2017
The court was asked as to the date of accrual of the cause of action where a losing party to an adjudication brought under Part II of the 1996 Act later begins proceedings to seek a final determination of the matters decided by the adjudicator with a view to recovering monies paid to the winning … Continue reading Jim Ennis Construction Ltd v Premier Asphalt Ltd: TCC 24 Jul 2009
Citations: [2014] EWCA Civ 1541 Links: Bailii Statutes: Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, Limitation Act 1980 10 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Limitation Updated: 28 July 2022; Ref: scu.539387
JE, wife of DE, who had been taken into residential care by the Local authority, said that the authority had infringed his Article 5 and 8 rights on transferring him between homes. The authority asserted that he did not have mental capacity. She asserted that his retention in care was an unlawful detention. Judges: Munby … Continue reading Re DE, JE v DE, Surrey County Council and EW: FD 29 Dec 2006
The claimant alleged that he had been defrauded and accused the appellant of involvement in the fraud. The Bank appealed against a finding that the claim against it was not time limited. Held: The appeal failed. The action was by a beneficiary under a trust and had been brought in respect of a fraudulent breach … Continue reading Central Bank of Nigeria v Williams: CA 3 Apr 2012
Cox J considered the circumstances required to justify the extension of time for limitation: ‘In my view the crucial question in cases such as these, when considering the effects of the passage of time generally and the Section 33 discretion, is whether it is still possible to have a fair trial of the issues on … Continue reading Khairule v North West Strategic Health Authority: QBD 4 Jul 2008
The claimants sought damages after the birth of their child with a severe hereditary disease which they said the defendant hospital had failed to diagnose after testing for that disease. The hospital sought a contribution from the company CSL who had carried out the test. The third party said that the claim was out of … Continue reading Farraj and Another v King’s Healthcare NHS Trust and Another: QBD 26 May 2006
The case was heard against the background of an armed conflict between Japan and China. The charterparty contract included a clause providing for cancellation ‘if war breaks out involving Japan’. Held: The court rejected an argument that the meaning of ‘war’, when found in a charterparty, was to depend on either the question whether war … Continue reading Kawasaki Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha of Kobe v Bantham Steamship Company Limited: CA 1939
The shipping company was insured against loss of business following Acts of war. It sought to claim after the attack on America in September 2001. Held: The policy had a limitation which applied ‘in the annual aggregate and in all’ which therefore prevented separate sums in respect of each ship exceeding this sum in total. … Continue reading If P and C Insurance Limited (Publ.) v Silversea Cruises Limited, Silver Cloud Shipping Company Sa, Silver Wind Shipping Company Sa, Silversea New Build One Limited, Silversea New Build Two Limited&Quot;the Silver Cloud&Quot;: CA 5 Jul 2004
Applications were made to amend pleadings and for consequential orders. The claimant sought damages of $4.3 billion alleging breach of trust. The claimant sought to add claims which the defendant said were out of time. Held: The proposed amendment was refused. ‘It is open to the Claimant to bring claims for breach of trust or … Continue reading Berezovsky v Abramovich: ComC 22 May 2008
The claimants appealed an order finding that the defendant had acquired their land by adverse possession. They said that the defendant had asserted in defence to possession proceedings that they were tenants, and that this contradicted an intent to deny the claimants’ title. Held: The appeal failed. A finding by the ECHR that a particular … Continue reading Ofulue and Another v Bossert: CA 29 Jan 2008
The plaintiff had issued a writ claiming damages for personal injuries caused by negligent driving more than three years after the accident, and now wanted to amend the writ by adding a claim for trespass to the person based on the same facts. The court asked whether the applicable limitation Act covered an allegation of … Continue reading Kruber v Grzesiak: 1963
The plaintiff, then a 16 year old girl slipped and fell whilst employed at the defendant’s factory. The limitation period expired on her 21st birthday. She commenced proceedings five and a half months after that date. The judge extended time under LA section 33, holding that he could only consider prejudice suffered by the defendant … Continue reading Donovan v Gwentoys Ltd: HL 1990
An order for specific performance had been refused in a disputed contract for carriage. The claimant argued that normal limitation periods should not be applied by analogy. Held: Because there was no corresponding legal remedy the remedy in equity was not ‘correspondent to the remedy at law’, and nor did ‘the suit in equity [correspond] … Continue reading P and O Nedlloyd Bv v Arab Metals Co and others: CA 13 Dec 2006
The claimant had been injured in a road traffic accident for which the defendant was responsible in negligence. The defendant was not insured, and so a claim was to be made against the MIB. The plaintiff issued proceedings just before the expiry of the period, but failed to give first the requisite formal notice to … Continue reading Horton v Sadler and Another: HL 14 Jun 2006
A lease had been granted with a break clause, which the tenant exercised. The Landlord said it had not complied with its obligations and was not free to exercise that clause. The clause had included the word ‘landlord’ where it should have read ‘tenant’. Held: The tenant’s appeal failed. The judge was correct to allow … Continue reading Littman and Another v Aspen Oil (Broking) Ltd: CA 19 Dec 2005
The claimant appealed against a refusal of judicial review of a decision of the Lands Tribunal. Held: A decision of the Lands Tribunal could only be judicially reviewed in exceptional cases where there was either a jurisdictional error or a procedural irregularity. The application had been correctly refused. ‘The question of whether certain work is … Continue reading Sinclair Gardens Investments (Kensington) Ltd, Regina (on the Application of) v The Lands Tribunal: CA 8 Nov 2005
The claimants sought to amend their particulars of claim to add a request for declarations with regard to a bill of lading and contract for carriage. Held: The application to amend was made more than six years after the cause of action accrued. It was in its nature a new claim. The additional possibility that … Continue reading P and O Nedloyd BV v Arab Metals Co and Others (‘The UB Tiger’): QBD 22 Jun 2005
The claimant sought damages for her rape by the defendant. After his conviction and having served his sentence, the defendant won substantial sums on the lottery. Held: The sums paid by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board were not paid by the defendant tortfeasor, but by the british taxpayer, and it would be contrary to notions … Continue reading A v Hoare: QBD 8 Jul 2008
The company sought repayment of excess advance corporation tax payments made under a mistake of law. The question was the extent of the effect of the ruling in Klienwort Benson, in particular whether it covered sums paid as taxation, and how the law of limitation was to be allowed for. Held: Money paid under a … Continue reading Inland Revenue and Another v Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Plc: CA 4 Feb 2005
In 2002 the SFO was investigating allegations that drug companies were selling generic drugs, including penicillin-based antibiotics and warfarin, to the National Health Service at artificially sustained prices. To further the investigation the SFO obtained search warrants and executed them. The company challenged the release of the documents recovered to other government departments. They had … Continue reading Regina (Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd) v Serious Fraud Office: CA 11 Nov 2004
The claimant’s husband died when his car skidded on hoar frost. She claimed the respondent was liable under the Act and at common law for failing to keep it safe. Held: The respondent had not assumed a general responsibility to all road users to ensure that all or any trunk roads would be salted in … Continue reading Jane Marianne Sandhar, John Stuart Murray v Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions: CA 5 Nov 2004
Parliament’s Approval if statute rights affected In a referendum, the people had voted to leave the European Union. That would require a notice to the Union under Article 50 TEU. The Secretary of State appealed against an order requiring Parliamentary approval before issuing the notice, he saying that the notice could be given under the … Continue reading Miller and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Exiting The European Union: SC 24 Jan 2017
The defendant appealed against a order finding it was liable for the fees claimed by its former solicitors. They had said that the claim for costs was barred by limitation. Held: The defendant’s appeal failed; a solicitor’s claim for his costs, billed but not yet fixed by assessment or agreement, fell within the phrase ‘debt … Continue reading Phillips and Co (A Firm) v Bath Housing Co-Operative Ltd: CA 11 Dec 2012
The claimant alleged that her solicitors had concealed from her the fact that they had entered a consent order which dismissed her claim for medical negligence. Held: The solicitor had failed to inform the client that her original claim against a doctor had been struck out although he was aware at the time that it … Continue reading Williams v Fanshaw Porter and Hazelhurst: CA 18 Feb 2004
In 2000, the claimant sought damages for sexual abuse from before 1951. The issue was as to whether the limitation law which applied was that as at the date of the incidents, or that which applied as at the date when he would be deemed uner the modern law to have acquired knowledge of the … Continue reading McDonnell v Congregation of Christian Brothers Trustees (Formerly Irish Christian Brothers) and others: HL 4 Dec 2003
The claimant was a mental patient under compulsory detention, and complained that he had been subjected to periods of seclusion. Held: The appeal succeeded. The hospital had failed to follow the appropriate Code of Practice. The Code was not obligatory, but following it would generally ensure that a patient’s rights were not infringed. It recognised … Continue reading Munjaz v Mersey Care National Health Service Trust And the Secretary of State for Health, the National Association for Mental Health (Mind) Respondent interested;: CA 16 Jul 2003
