Often, people lose the right to contest good cases because they do not understand the principles of the statutes of limitation which puts a time limit on the period available to contest a case whether it is a land trespass matter or someone died from physical assault. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE examines the provisions of the law on statutes of limitation and prevailing circumstances where it is applicable
Statute of limitation is a legal provision of the law that has been described as a strict liability rule because it is strictly applied and ignorance of the provision is not an acceptable defence, neither is good faith acceptable as a defence; only exceptions created by the law can circumvent the rule. And this is the main reason people, especially those in the business world, should know the timelines for limitations on particular cases and ensure that they enforce their rights in good time.
In law, a statute of limitation are laws that provide a specific time frame within which an individual can initiate legal proceedings over any particular matter to enforce their rights and protect themselves from people that want to cheat them. It is part of mechanisms put in place to ensure that claims are promptly and diligently presented while the evidence in support of the claim or defence to the claims are available and the memories of any witnesses are still fresh.
Though statute of limitations varies for different matters, it does not apply to all crimes as some crimes like murder are not covered by any statute of limitations and an individual can be prosecuted at any time. However, specific criminal offences have statute of limitations attached to them and in such situations, if legal proceedings are initiated in order to prosecute the offender after the required time frame provided for a proper defence in such an action, it would be held that the matter is time-barred because the courts do not have jurisdiction over such matters any longer and it is common in civil matters.
Example of cases where the court can be statute-barred is an allegation of manslaughter; the provisions of Section 314 of the Criminal Code Act limits the time within which a person can be held liable for the death of another person to a year and one day from the day the alleged cause of the death occurred. So if two parties get into a physical brawl and one gets injured and is hospitalised for the period of a year and some months from the injuries sustained or effect of the brawl, then dies, the person who punched him will not be liable for his death because based on the provisions of the law, after a year and one day, the alleged assailant cannot be held liable for the death.
Also, if someone trespasses on the land belonging to another person and the owner doesn’t take action against the person in court within a stipulated period of time; 12 years in some jurisdictions, the land owner will no longer be able to do so afterwards and the trespasser now becomes the owner.
In essence, there are time limits that restrict when legal actions can be brought against a person or when a person can be prosecuted for a crime. And the reason for this is to ensure people don’t just file cases for the sake of getting attention or for frivolous reasons. Else, some people would file suit against their childhood enemies if there are no time limits.
According to legal practitioners, the law needs to put time limits on certain cases because it might otherwise become impracticable, cause unnecessary hardship and even lead to an abuse of court processes. Statutes of limitation operate on the basis of the Criminal Act Code, the Limitation Act and the Limitation Law, that applies in various states.
A legal practitioner, David Adamgbo, in an article entitled ‘The statute of limitations law in Nigeria said “it is advisable that in order for an individual seeking redress under the law not to lose his/her right of claim, such individuals must institute and seek timely legal action.
But as important as the statute of limitation is, it is not a common topic or application of law that the common man shows interest in and this is the reason many people may not realise that they are sleeping on their rights when they delay in enforcing them.
“In law, we say, equity aids the vigilant and not the indolent. You must know when the best time is to institute an action and in addition to that, you must know when an action that is “statute-barred” has been brought against you. This is when the limitation law serves as a shield because an action that is statute-barred would not be entertained by the court,” a legal practitioner said.
Limitation laws for civil actions
Limitation provisions in law are common in civil action and it covers myriad aspect of human living; contracts, properties and human interaction among others. The provisions cover bases like contractual breach
Breach of contract: This is the most common in the civil actions brought before the courts. An action for breach of contract can only be brought within six years after the occurrence of the breach irrespective of how much money was lost or the damages incurred. If an action is brought later than six, it would be deemed statute-barred.
Land recovery: Land recovery process must be commenced within 12 years otherwise the owner could potentially lose the land to a trespasser in a system called, adverse possession or squatter’s right.
Debt recovery: Any action to recover debt legally must be filed within six years from the date that the debt became due and payable.
Negligence: Negligence in any of its form; medical negligence, negligent misrepresentation of a lawyer or any other professional, or negligence that leads to destruction of property like bashing of another person’s car, has a timeline of three years after which it will no longer be actionable.
Action against public officers: If an individual has a case to file against a public officer for a civil wrong that he did in his capacity as an officer, it must be brought within three months, otherwise it will be statute-barred.
Slander: For allegations bordering on someone orally making a derogatory or false statement, you can only sue within three years within which the statement was made.
Limitation Laws for Criminal offences
Conventionally, there is no statute of limitation for criminal acts; however, the criminal code spells out timelines for the prosecution of certain offences.
Treason: This covers acts of betraying one’s country especially by attempting to kill or overthrow a sovereign authority or government; a suspect cannot be tried for treason or treasonable felony after two years of committing the act based on the provisions of Section 43 of the Criminal Code Act provides for this.
Sedition: This refers to the act of inciting people through one’s conduct or speech, to rebel against the government. The law provides for a period of six months within which a person can be tried for sedition.
Defilement: According to the provisions of Section 218 of the Criminal Code Act, on the offence of defilement of girls under the age of 13 and Section 221 for defilement of girls under 16 years of age, suspects can only be prosecuted within months after the commission of the offence. After two months, if the case does not commence, a person cannot be tried for committing the act of defilement.
Publication of obscene materials: This has a timeline of two years under Section 233D of the Criminal Code Act.
The calculation of period of limitation starts to run from the moment the wrongful act or crime takes place. And in cases of a continuing act, the limitation period starts to count from the moment the act ceased to occur or from a period which the victim/claimant ought reasonably to have commenced an action.
The moment you file an action in court against the other party or in the case of a crime, a charge is brought against a person; the limitation period ceases to run. It won’t matter if you filed an action just a day to the expiration of the permissible timeline, insofar as you’re still within the stipulated period.
Exceptions to limitations
And as it is common in all situations, there are circumstances where the rules on limitation will not apply. These cases cover instances where disabilities such as mental incapacity, infancy, confinement and incarceration apply.
Also, when the wrongful act of the other party is fraudulently concealed, where the action is struck out by the court and re-listed, statute of limitations will be exempted.
For cases of debt recovery, there is exemption where there is acknowledgment and part-payment of the debt sum and for filing an action against public officers, where a public officer fails to act in good faith or acts in abuse of office or maliciously.
In international law, based on the provisions of the Convention of the Non Applicability of Statutory Limitations and Article 29 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, war crimes genocide, and crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations; such crimes against humanity are not covered by any statute of limitations.
Legal claims limitation periods in Nigeria
There are different limitation periods for different claims. They include: Action based on any legal instrument under seal, especially when such legal instrument relates to an interest or charge on land, or the enforcement of an arbitration award where the arbitration agreement is under seal, or the judgment of a competent court of law, or the arrears of an annuity charged on an immovable property etc, must be commenced within a period of 12 years from the period when the cause of action arose or judgment was entered.
Action based upon simple contracts, recovery of debt and arrears of interest, including tortuous malfeasance which includes damages for negligence or breach of duty of care etc, must be commenced within a period of six years from the occurrence of the breach, injury or damage
Limitation periods for other matters include are 12 years to make any claim arising from a deceased person personal estate, two years to recover any damages from concurrent wrongdoers under any civil enactment and three months for any action against public officers.
Challenges to strict adherence
In law, where a statute provides for the institution of an action within a prescribed period, the action ought not to be instituted after the time prescribed by such statutes. Consequently, the action becomes statute-barred and a claimant who would have had a cause of action automatically loses the entitlement to enforce such rights by judicial process, because the right is considered extinguished by law.
Conventionally, Nigerian courts, including the Supreme Court, have upheld the provisions of statutes that limit the period within which an action may be filed. But the recent decisions of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in the cases of Akuma and Nkume have challenged this general rule by excluding employment-related disputes from the application of statutes of limitation.
These decisions are said to have substantial implications for the jurisprudence of limitation laws in Nigeria, raising concerns about the efficacy of limitation statutes in regulating the period within which legal actions may be filed.
However, as is customary, with every general there are exceptions and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in its decisions in a suit delineated NICN/LA/402/2018 between Lilian Nnenna Akumah v. First Bank of Nigeria Plc and a suit marked NICN/LA/553/2018, between Mr. Godson Ikechukwu Nkume v. First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, established a radical departure from the historic position of the law, by excluding the application of statutes of limitation to disputes emanating from employment relationships.
NICN is a court of first instance and its decisions are liable to be tested on appeal, with the leave of the court, to determine whether in view of the already existing judicial decisions of more superior courts of record, it will be set aside or in the alternative whether it would form part of a novel exception to the application of statutes of limitation.
In spite of this, the statutes of limitation continue to be a law with strict compliance and a legal part of the legal jurisprudence in Nigeria. This is because the application of limitation periods prevents potential defendants from being subject to unfair prosecution and ensures that a claimant is not guilty of delay.
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