Litigation: The Rules of Time Bar

I, long ago, lost count of the number of clients who have contacted me over the years to make a claim or take legal action but were too late to do so. They fell foul of the many time-bar rules in Scots law. This body of regulations is a necessary evil, as it is unfair for a Defender to have to oppose a claim or court action involving an incident that has occurred well in the past. It has been argued that documents are often lost and witnesses have died or become untraceable over time, and accordingly time-limits have to be set.

Different time-bars apply to different types of cases, and there is no particular logic underlying these rules. In this regard, it is similar to the laws on the age of consent. Why can you get married at sixteen but cannot purchase alcohol until you are eighteen?

Most members of the public (and, indeed, some lawyers) are unaware of these rules, so here is a list of the principal ones:

TYPE OF CASE	TIME BAR
Claim for Damages involving a personal injury	Three years
Claim for Damages with no personal injury (eg damage to your car)	Five years
Payment of a debt	Five years
Application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority	Two years (or if in an abuse case, sometimes two years from when the matter was reported to the police)
Action under the Human Rights Act	One year from the date of the decision that you are challenging
Application to an Employment Tribunal	Three months from the date of dismissal
Claim for personal injury sustained at sea or in a plane	Two years

 

There are some exceptions/variations to these rules so it is important that, if you think you may have a claim, you seek legal advice as quickly as possible.

If you are a child, these time periods will run from your sixteenth birthday (or, if a criminal injuries claim, from your eighteenth birthday).

Where an individual is incapax, i.e. without the legal capacity to understand or determine their own affairs, the time-bar rules do not apply to them at all during the period of their incapacity.

If you are making a claim based on negligence, then it can be argued that the time-bar period runs from when you reasonably knew that you had a claim (which may or may not be the date on which the negligence itself occurred).

Bear in mind that if you do intend to make a claim, or raise a court action, you should contact your lawyer well before the time-bar date, so there is ample opportunity to prepare the case within the required time frame. Our litigation team will be happy to help.