Services / Civil and commercial litigation
Tort damages, and when the one-year clock starts
Tort claims run on a short clock measured from a point most people misread. It does not always run from the day of the incident, but from the day both things became known.
What counts as a tort
Section 420 of the Civil and Commercial Code provides that a person who wilfully or negligently and unlawfully injures another in life, body, health, liberty, property or any right commits a tort and must make compensation. What has to be established is therefore the act, the intent or negligence, the unlawfulness, and damage flowing from the act.
One year from what
The first paragraph of section 448 provides that a claim for damages arising from a tort is barred after one year from the day the injured person knew of the wrong and of the person liable to compensate, or after ten years from the day the act was done. The conjunction matters: both must be known before the year begins. Where the loss is known but not who caused it, the one-year period has not started, though the ten-year backstop runs from the act regardless.
Where the act is also a criminal offence
The second paragraph provides that where the claim arises from an act punishable under the criminal law and the criminal limitation period is longer, the longer period applies. A matter with both civil and criminal aspects may therefore allow considerably more than a year, and concluding that a claim is time-barred by reading only the first paragraph is premature.
What compensation covers
Compensation is not limited to money already spent; it extends to the loss shown to flow directly from the act. Gathering evidence of that loss is work for the first day rather than for the eve of filing. Receipts, photographs and a record of the damage made on the day carry far more weight than a later reconstruction.
PREPARE
What to bring
- A precise note of when and where it happened
- Photographs of the damage taken on the day
- Receipts for repairs, medical treatment and related costs
- The police daily record, if a report was made
- The names and contact details of anyone who saw it
QUESTIONS
Questions this raises
I only learnt who was responsible two years after the event. Can I still sue?
Under the first paragraph of section 448 the one-year period begins when the injured person knew both of the wrong and of the person liable. Both must be known. The ten-year backstop from the date of the act still applies. In practice when knowledge arose is a matter of evidence, so it is worth keeping a record of when the responsible party became known.
I filed a police report. Do I still need a civil claim?
A police report is a different thing from a civil claim for compensation, and it does not by itself stop the civil clock. A matter with a criminal aspect may benefit from the second paragraph of section 448 as to timing, but recovering damages still requires a civil claim.
LAW
The legislation
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 420 and 448
ENQUIRIES
