JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcus Pallot and Eleanor Davies, Carey Olsen
2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding Currently, there are no particular time limits in Jersey by which a party to a litigation must obtain third-party funding.
Jersey law assigns different prescription periods for different causes of action. There is no inherent princi- ple that allows the calculation of an appropriate period in any given situation. Instead, in any given case, it is necessary to identify the cause of action and whether Jersey law has recognised a prescription period in respect of that cause of action. If not, a period may be applied by analogy. If there is no recognised period or appropriate analogy, the court will apply a stand- ard prescription period of ten years (Re Esteem Set- tlement 002 JLR 52; Rockhampton Apartments Ltd v Gale 007 JLR 332). The recognised prescription periods for common causes of action in Jersey are as follows: • contract – ten years; • torts – three years; and • breach of trust – three years. Prescription starts to run as soon as the cause of action is complete. There is some potential uncertainty in Jersey as to whether the plaintiff must be aware of the cause of action before the prescriptive time period will start to run. However, case law indicates that the cause of action will be deemed to be complete for the purposes of prescription when the facts have occurred which give rise to the plaintiff’s claim for the relief sought (irrespective of the plaintiff’s awareness of them). However, if the plaintiff is unable to bring an action by reason of a factor or factors beyond their control (known as being under an empêchement ), this may suspend the commencement of the prescription peri- od. This will depend on the facts of the case and can include (but is not limited to) the plaintiff’s knowledge or ignorance and reasons for it. It is, however, reasonably clear that the prescription period will not be suspended in circumstances where a plaintiff is ignorant of the existence of their cause of action due to their own negligence.
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct
Prior to commencing any legal action in Jersey, potential litigants need to comply with the pre-action requirements stipulated in Practice Direction 17/01 (PD 17/01). PD 17/01 requires the following as pre- action steps. • A prospective plaintiff must issue a claim letter to a proposed defendant, which must include, amongst other things, a summary of the facts and legal basis of each claim being made. • A defendant must acknowledge receipt of the claim letter within 14 days of receipt, failing which the plaintiff may commence proceedings with no further need to comply with PD 17/01. • If the defendant wishes to provide a substantive response to the claim letter, it will have a further 14 days (or up to three months in complex cases) to do so. • If the defendant’s response contains a counter- claim or allegation of contributory negligence, the plaintiff must respond within 14 days (or within six weeks in complex cases). • The parties must thereafter consider the possibility of the dispute being resolved by ADR rather than court proceeding. • If no settlement is reached and proceedings com- mence, the court may take into account the extent to which each party took reasonable steps to com- ply with the requirements of PD 17/01. Failure to comply with PD 17/01 may lead to adverse cost orders being made against the party in question. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations There are no comprehensive statutes of limitations in Jersey. Instead, the law of limitation (known as pre- scription under Jersey law) is principally a matter of customary law and precedent.
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