There has been a recent flurry of decisions on limitation in the context of claims for sexual abuse.
Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, there is judicial discretion to disapply the limitation rules in personal injury claims. The judge should only exercise such discretion in favour of claimants if a fair trial is still possible: the judge will look at the reasons for the delay, the cogency of the evidence, and whether any detriment to the defendant prevents a fair trial.
In historical cases of sexual abuse, the courts have developed sophisticated mechanisms to assess the impact of delay. It is interesting to note that the courts will exercise their discretion even if the abuse took place a long time ago, provided there are good reasons for the delay and a fair trial is still possible. The strength of the claimant’s case (if limitation is set aside) is also a factor. The existence of a recent criminal trial may be helpful to claimants – but not necessarily and all of these cases are fact specific.
We summarise in table format the outcome of reported cases since 2015:
|
Case name |
Age at time of abuse | Delay since abuse | Delay since primary limitation expired | Recent criminal trial? | Discretion exercised? |
| RE v GE (2015)
|
6-14 | 30 to 38 years | 24 to 32 years | No | No at 1st instance
No on appeal
|
| Wilde v Coventry City Council (2017)
|
13-16 | 35 years | 30 years | No | No |
| Catholic Child Welfare & Others v CD (2018)
|
12 | 24 years | Yes | Yes at 1st instance
No on appeal
|
|
| Sarah Jane Young v John Anthony Downey (2017)
|
4
(not a case of sexual abuse) |
35 years | 15 years | Yes (trial aborted) | Yes |
| Murray v Devenish & other (2018)
|
14-16 | 39 to 40 years | 34 years | No | No |
|
LXA & BXL v Willcox (2018)
|
4-15 | 35 years &
40 years |
31 years &
32 years
|
Yes | Yes |
|
RSL v CM (2018)
|
7-14 | 16 years | 9 years | Yes | Yes |
| BXB v Watch Tower And Bible Tract Society Of Pennsylvania (2020)
|
28 | 27 years | 24 years | Yes | Yes |
| LB Haringey v FZO (2020)
|
14- 22 | 28 to 36 years | 25 to 30 years | Yes | Yes at 1st instance
Yes on appeal |
| DSN v Blackpool Football Club Limited (2020)
|
13 | 31 years | 22 years | No | Yes |
| EXE v Governors Of The Royal Navy School (2020)
|
14 | 26 years | 20 years | No | No |
| FXF V Ampleforth Abbey Trustees (2020)
|
4-5 | 48 years | 32 years | No | No |
Written by Geneviève Rich, associate at BLM
geneviève.rich@blmlaw.com
