When proceedings are "brought" for the purposes of the Limitation period

06/11/2006

The Court of Appeal has decided that proceedings are "brought" for the purposes of determining whether a claim has been issued within time pursuant to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, in accordance with Paragraph 5 of the Practice Directions to Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which provides that:

'5.1. Proceedings are started when the Court issues a claim for at the request of the claimant (see Rule 7.2) but where the claim form as issued was received in the court office on a date earlier than the date on which it was issued by the court, the claim is "brought" for the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980 and any other relevant statutes on that earlier date.
5.2 The date on which the claim form was received by the court will be recorded by a date stamp either on the claim form held on the court file or on the letter that accompanied the claim form when it was received by the court.
5.3 An enquiry as to the date on which the claim form was received by the court should be directed to a court officer.
5.4 Parties proposing to start a claim which is approaching the expiry of the limitation period should recognise the potential importance of establishing the date the claim form was received by the court and should themselves make arrangements to record the date.'

CPR 7.2 provides: '(1) Proceedings are started when the court issues a claim form at the request of the claimant. (2) A claim form is issued on the date entered on the form by the court.'

Accordingly, the Court held that the claimant was entitled to have the full period of limitation in which to bring the claim and overcame the court's failure to process it in time.

[i] Barnes v St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council [2006] EWCA Civ 1372

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