BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
funding prior to issuing, but a funder may be prepared to provide funding at a later stage.
to avoid litigation, and should “normally include” the parties corresponding and conducting “gen- uine and reasonable negotiations with a view to settling the claim economically and without court proceedings”. The court may penalise a claimant in costs if a claim is commenced before allowing the defendant sufficient time to engage in pre-action correspondence. In addition, the court retains its general case management powers under the principles of the Overriding Objective to deal with cases fairly and efficiently, therefore there remains a general expectation on parties to act reasonably both before and during court proceedings to avoid unnecessary litigation and to minimise costs where possible. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The BVI Limitation Ordinance 1961 sets out the limitation periods for commencing particular claims. Limitation will be a complete defence. Key limitation periods are: • contract – six years from the date the cause of action accrued; and • tort – six years from the date the cause of action accrued. Specific limitation periods are set for other cat- egories of claim, and there are provisions for suspension or extension (eg, concealment or fraud). Specific advice should be sought where limitation may be an issue. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant A defendant domiciled in the BVI can be served with proceedings as of right.
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-action Conduct
In December 2023, a Practice Direction was issued putting in place a set of pre-action pro- tocols which apply to four categories of claims: • claims for a specified sum of money (defined as a claim for a sum of money that is ascer- tained or capable of being ascertained as a matter of arithmetic and is recoverable under a contract); • claims for motor vehicle accidents and per- sonal injury claims; • defamation claims; and • administrative claims (eg, judicial review claims). The pre-action protocols specify the steps that should be taken prior to issuing proceedings in each category of case, including pre-action letters and disclosure of documents. Where a pre-action protocol applies but has not been complied with, and non-compliance has led to the commencement of proceedings which may not otherwise have been commenced, or has led to costs being incurred in the proceedings that may not otherwise have been incurred, the court may make such orders for costs as it sees fit with a view to placing the party not at fault in no worse a position than they would have been in if the pre-action protocol had been complied with. In addition to the specific pre-action protocols, the Practice Direction introduces an express expectation in other categories of claim on par- ties to follow a reasonable procedure suitable to their particular circumstances, which is intended
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