JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcus Pallot, Eleanor Davies and Christopher Tan, Carey Olsen
3.2 Statutes of Limitations There are no comprehensive statutes of limi- tations in Jersey. Instead, the law of limitation (known as prescription under Jersey law) is prin- cipally a matter of customary law and precedent. Jersey law assigns different prescription periods for different causes of action. There is no inherent principle that allows the calculation of an appro- priate period in any given situation. Instead, in any given case, it is necessary to identify the cause of action and whether Jersey law has rec- ognised 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 Settlement 2002 JLR 52; Rockhampton Apart- ments Ltd v Gale 2007 JLR 332). The recognised prescription periods for com- mon 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 peri- od 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 rea- son of a factor or factors beyond their control (known as being under an empêchement ), this
may suspend the commencement of the pre- scription period. 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 pre- scription period will not be suspended in cir- cumstances where a plaintiff is ignorant of the existence of their cause of action due to their own negligence. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant The Royal Court’s jurisdiction is territorial and is limited to those found within Jersey unless it gives permission to serve out of the jurisdiction. An application to serve out of the jurisdiction is made under the Service of Process Rules 2019 (the Service Rules). As a general rule, the court will only allow the plaintiff to serve proceedings on that defendant if it is satisfied that one of the grounds specified in the schedule to the Ser- vice Rules applies, and that Jersey is the proper place in which to bring the claim. The court must also be satisfied that the proceedings raise a serious issue to be tried, and that the plaintiff believes that the claim has a reasonable pros- pect of success. 3.4 Initial Complaint There are two types of proceedings in Jersey: an action, and proceedings by way of represen- tation. There are three types of originating pro- cess used to commence the different types of proceedings. Summons A summons is the initial document which may be used to commence an action. It is intended to be used only in simple matters (eg, a simple debt
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