Is there a Time Limit to Commence Legal Proceedings?

In general, there is a three-year time limit to start a medical negligence claim in Court.   Legal proceedings should be instituted before the expiry of three years from the date of the negligent act or omission.

For delayed diagnosis cases, the three-year time period begins from the moment when a claimant should have sufficient confidence to justify embarking on the preliminaries to start legal proceedings, such as submitting a claim to the doctor or hospital, taking legal and other advice and collecting evidence.

If the claimant is an infant, the three-year time period starts to run when he/she reaches the age of 18.  For mentally incapacitated persons, the three-year time period only starts to run when he/she recovers and ceases to be a mentally incapacitated person.

Despite the above time limits, it would be prudent to commence investigations early.  Careful analysis of the medical records and obtaining expert evidence often take a lot of time.   If investigations are not commenced in a timely manner, evidence may be lost, the witnesses’ memory may fade, and there may be inadequate time to obtain expert evidence.  The claim process may then become problematic.  Further, the courts are generally discontent with late investigations.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss your individual case.

This article provides general views only and must not be treated as a substitute for legal advice for individual cases.  Whilst care has been taken to ensure that details are correct, no responsibility can be taken for losses arising from reliance upon its contents.