THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephen Wilson KC, Dominique Gardiner and Lovelie Luxama, Wilson Wells
2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding In the absence of any specific legislation or rules in the Turks and Caicos Islands concerning third-party funding, there are no time limits within which a party to litigation should obtain third-party funding.
• Defamation or malicious falsehood – two years from the date the cause of action accrued (Section 6). • Simple contract or tort – six years from the date the cause of action accrued (Section 7). • Action on specialty – 12 years from the date the cause of action accrued (Section 11). • Claiming contribution – two years from the date the right accrued (Section 12). • Personal injury – three years from the date the cause of action accrued or the date of knowledge, if later (Section 13). • Recovery of land – 12 years from the date the action accrued (Section 18). • Recovery of rent – six years from the date the arrears became due (Section 31). • Recovery of money secured by charge – 12 years from the date the right to receive the money or the right to enforce the charge accrued (Section 32). • Recovery by a beneficiary of trust property or for a breach of trust – six years (Section 33). • Claims to the personal estate of a deceased per- son – 12 years from the date the right to receive the share or interest accrued (Section 34). • Claims for an account – the limitation period that is applicable to the claim forming the basis of the duty to account. • Enforcing a judgment – six years from the date the judgment became enforceable. Arrears of inter- est for a judgment debt cannot be recovered after the expiry of six years from the date the interest became due. • Recovery of an overpayment or claiming underpay- ment on remuneration – three years from the date of discovery of the payment/underpayment. There are special provisions for negligence actions (excluding personal injury claims) where facts relevant to the cause of action are not known at the time of accrual. In such cases, an action cannot be brought more than six years after the date the cause of action accrued, or three years from the earliest date when the plaintiff first had both the knowledge required for bringing an action for damages and a right to bring such an action. There is also an overriding limitation for negligence actions (not involving personal injury), which provides
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct
There are no rules requiring pre-action conduct such as the pre-action protocols found under the Civil Pro- cedure Rules in England and Wales. In the absence of a contractual obligation such as a requirement to seek resolution by discussion or informal mediation, there is no obligation on a party to take any steps prior to issuing proceedings and there is no obligation on a potential defendant to respond to any pre-litigation correspondence. However, it is usual in civil litigation to see correspondence between the disputing parties prior to the initiation of any court proceedings. In addi- tion, a plaintiff may be penalised in costs if they have not sent a letter before action prior to initiating pro- ceedings, and a defendant may be penalised if they do not set out – in pre-action correspondence – a valid defence that is later relied upon. The recent introduction of the Court-Connected Medi- ation Rules 2021 establishes a regime within which parties may apply to the courts for access to Court- Aided Mediation Services prior to issuing any claim. These new rules are discussed in further detail in 12.2 On 12 October 2021, the Limitation of Actions Act 2021 came into operation. Prior to its enactment, there was no single statute of limitations in force in the Turks and Caicos Islands, meaning that most civ- il/commercial causes of action justiciable before the Magistrate’s Court and/or Supreme Court were not susceptible to being time-barred. Parts II to V of the Limitation of Actions Act give the ordinary time limits for bringing actions of various classes, including for the following common causes of action. ADR Within the Legal System . 3.2 Statutes of Limitations
1126 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook