Limitation of Actions Consultation - Law Commission

action. 206
As in England and in other common law jurisdictions a tort actionable on
proof of damage, such as negligence, accrues when the plaintiff suffers damage,
rather than when the act or omission takes place.
10.71 Limitation periods in respect of defamation were amended by section 55 of the
Defamation Act 1992. The limitation period is now two years from the date on
which the cause of action accrued, 207
subject to the court’s discretion to grant leave
to a plaintiff to bring an action at any time within six years of the accrual of the
cause of action, where the court considers that the delay in bringing the action was
occasioned by mistake of fact or law. 208
(3) Personal Injury 209
10.72 In the case of any action in respect of “bodily injury” 210
the limitation period is two
years from the accrual of the cause of action, 211
or six years with the consent of the
defendant. 212
This provision is not limited to actions in tort but includes, for
example, actions based on breach of contract. 213
An application may be made to
the court for leave to bring an action at any time within six years of accrual of the
cause of action. The court may grant such leave (if it thinks it just to do so) where
it considers that the delay was occasioned by mistake of fact or law 214
or other
reasonable cause and that the defendant will not be materially prejudiced. 215
If the
recommendations of the New Zealand Law Commission were implemented, the
differences in the limitation rules between actions for personal injury and other
types of action would disappear, so that the limitation period for personal injury
actions would be three years from the relevant act or omission, or, if later, three
years from the date on which the plaintiff acquires the relevant knowledge. 216
206 Limitation Act 1950, s 4(1)(a).
207 Limitation Act 1950, s 4(6A). The cause of action for both libel and slander accrues on the
publication or speaking of the offending words since all defamation is now actionable in
New Zealand without proof of special damage: Defamation Act 1992, s 4.
208 Limitation Act 1950, s 4(6B).
209 Actions in common law for damages are barred where compensation is available under the
state no-fault accident compensation scheme: Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation
Insurance Act 1992, s 14(1). This applies to most accidents, although the scheme is less
comprehensive than before its reform in 1992, and the relevance of common law actions is
correspondingly greater.
210 The expression “bodily injury” is not defined in the Act but see, eg, Gabolinscy v Hamilton
City Corpn [1975] 1 NZLR 150 and Maxwell v North Canterbury Hospital Board [1977] 2
NZLR 118, in which it was held to extend to “inconvenience and worry” (Gabolinscy) and
“inconvenience” and “mental anxiety” (Maxwell) which in neither case amounted to a
recognisable psychiatric illness or was accompanied by physical injury.
211 See paras 10.73 - 10.77 below in relation to latent damage.
212 Limitation Act 1950, s 4(7), inserted by Limitation Amendment Act 1970.
213 Gabolinscy v Hamilton City Corpn [1975] 1 NZLR 150; Maxwell v North Canterbury Hospital
Board [1977] 2 NZLR 118.
214 Other than as to this provision.
215 Limitation Act 1950, s 4(7).
216 See para 10.68 above.
206