Limitation periods compared across jurisdictions

What a limitation period measures

A limitation period is a time limit for starting a claim. It is a legal clock with three parts. A trigger moment, a length, and rules that pause, extend or move the start.

In England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 is split this way. Part I sets ordinary time limits for different classes of action. Part II deals with extension or exclusion of those limits ¹.

For anyone building a chronology, the trigger date is the entry that decides whether a claim is in time. The statutes usually tie it to the date the cause of action accrued ^{2,3 4,5}.

England and Wales

Section 2 says an action founded on tort shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued ².

Section 5 says an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued ³.

• Section 11 sets a special time limit for actions in respect of personal injuries ¹.
• Section 14 defines the date of knowledge for sections 11 to 12 ¹.
• Section 14A sets a special time limit for negligence actions where relevant facts are not known at the date of accrual ¹.
• Section 28 extends the period in case of disability ¹.
• Section 32 postpones the period in case of fraud, concealment or mistake ¹.
• Section 33 gives a discretionary power to exclude the time limit for personal injury or death actions ¹.

United States federal claims

Title 28, section 1658 of the US Code is headed Time limitations on the commencement of civil actions arising under Acts of Congress ⁴.

Subsection (a) says that, except as otherwise provided by law, a civil action arising under an Act of Congress enacted after the date of enactment of the section may not be commenced later than 4 years after the cause of action accrues ⁴.

Subsection (b) sets a different clock for private securities claims involving fraud, deceit, manipulation or contrivance. Such a claim may be brought not later than the earlier of 2 years after discovery of the facts constituting the violation or 5 years after the violation ⁴. This is an example of a two-trigger clock. One runs from discovery and one from the event.

Singapore and India

Singapore's Limitation Act 1959, in its 2020 Revised Edition in operation from 31 December 2021, describes itself as an Act regulating the limitation of actions and arbitrations ⁵. Section 6(1)(a) covers actions founded on a contract or on tort, with a six-year period from accrual ⁵.

India's Limitation Act, 1963 is Act 36 of 1963. It was enacted on 5 October 1963 and came into force on 1 January 1964. Its long title says it is to consolidate and amend the law for the limitation of suits ⁶. The periods for each type of suit sit in its Schedule ⁶.

Side by side

Reading a limitation clock in a chronology

• Record the trigger the statute names, such as accrual or discovery ^2,4.
• Record any fact that a Part II rule in England and Wales treats as relevant, such as disability, fraud, concealment or mistake ¹.
• Check whether a special rule applies before using a default period, as the US federal four-year rule applies except as otherwise provided by law ⁴.