The Law Of Limitation And Balance

The law of limitation strikes the appropriate balance between providing a complainant the opportunity to gain access to justice and enabling the respondent to defend a stale claim. Discuss. Having a law of limitation is to prevent someone from having to face dated charges for which defence may be difficult or impossible, as Lord Justice Griffiths said in Donovan v Gwentoys Ltd (1990), protect against a stale claim. Generally speaking after the time limit of a crime has passed, despite the evidence the case would be barred by statute, however, some notable exceptions do apply if the claimant is under disability, where the claimant is deceased or under the age of minority. Limitation periods commence on the date of the cause of action, the date at which there is evidence of wrongdoing, that is the earliest possible time a claim can be brought shown in Holy v Sir Robert Lloyd and Co Ltd & others (2011), the period varies depending on the type of claim. If the claimant is a minor then the period begins once the child reaches eighteen and Lord Denning in Pritam Kaur v S Russell and Sons Limited (1973) said where it falls on a weekend