Limitation Act 1963
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| Citation | c.47 |
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| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 July 1963 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 Limitation Act 1975 Limitation Act 1980 |
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Status: Repealed
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The Limitation Act 1963 (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 the 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including vagueness on a point even the House of Lords was unable to clarify and poor draftsmanship, the Act was repealed bit by bit during the 1970s, with the Limitation Act 1980 scrapping the last remaining sections.
Before the passing of the 1963 Act, the only exceptions to the normal statute of limitations (three years after the events that caused the injury, as established by the Law Reform (Limitation of Actions, etc.) Act 1954) were if the claim was being brought for a case of mistake or fraud, in which case the statute of limitations was twelve months from when the claimant could reasonably have been expected to discover the fraud or mistake. In Cartledge v E. Jopling & Sons Ltd the claimant sued Jopling after he developed pneumoconiosis from working in the company's poorly ventilated steel mills. The injuries were sustained in October 1950 but they were not discovered until 1956, and as a result the injured party had no cause of action. Because the injuries had not been discovered until six years after they were caused, and the statute of limitations was three years after the injury itself, Cartledge was not legally allowed to bring a case.
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