Limitation Act 1963
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An Act to extend in certain cases the time-limit for bringing legal proceedings where damages are claimed which consist of or include damages or solatium in respect of personal injuries (including any disease or impairment of a person's physical or mental condition) or in respect of a person's death; to limit the time within which proceedings for contribution may be brought under section 6 of the Law Reform (Married Women and Tortfeasors) Act 1935 or section 3 (2) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1940; to make further provision as to the application of the Limitation (Enemies and War Prisoners) Act 1945 to Northern Ireland; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1963 c. 47 |
| Territorial extent |
|
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 July 1963 |
| Commencement | 31 July 1963 |
| Repealed | 1 May 1981 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends |
|
| Repealed by | |
| Relates to |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the no as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Limitation Act 1963 (c. 47) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amended the statute of limitations to allow actions in some cases where the injured party had not discovered the injury until after the standard date of expiration. The act was based on the report of the Davies Committee on Limitation of Actions in Cases of Personal Injury, created after the Court of Appeal decision in the case of Cartledge v Jopling, and the committee notably produced their final report before Cartledge had been heard in the House of Lords. The draft bill was presented to Parliament on 6 May 1963; it was given royal assent on 31 July and came into force on the same day.
The act allowed an injured party to bring a claim outside the normal statute of limitations period if he could show that he was not aware of the injuries himself until after the limitation period had expired and if he gained the permission of the court. After a series of problems emerged, including vagueness on a point even the House of Lords was unable to clarify and poor draftsmanship, the act was repealed bit by bit during the 1970s, with the Limitation Act 1980 scrapping the last remaining sections.