NCJ Number
177582
Date Published
1998
Length
241 pages
Annotation
The Queensland Law Reform Commission (Australia) presents 18 recommendations for modification of Queensland's Limitation of Actions Act 1974.
Abstract
The Limitation of Actions Act 1974 sets time limits for bringing court proceedings. The length of the limitation period generally depends on the nature of the claim. Limitation legislation is intended to prevent a plaintiff from taking an unreasonable length of time to begin proceedings to enforce a right or rights claimed by the plaintiff. The imposition of limitation periods has been justified on a number of grounds, including fairness, certainty, and public policy. The major changes recommended by the Commission are that there should be a limitation period of general application, rather than the multiplicity of periods that currently exist; that the limitation period should not begin until the plaintiff knows (or ought to know) certain facts, rather than commencing at the date of accrual of the cause of action, as it does at present; that the discovery-based limitation period should be counter-balanced by an alternative limitation period, the expiration of which would statute-bar the action even if the discovery period had not expired; and that the existing judicial discretion to extend the limitation period should be expanded to apply to claims for damage other then personal injury. An appended comparative table shows how the existing law would be changed by the implementation of the Commission's recommendations.