5.3 - Limitation Periods Flashcards
Describe how limitation periods can be used in the defence of a claim in Quebec
Civil Code Limitation Periods
-the Civil Code provides for extensions to the claimant to apply for additional damages when their physical condition cannot be determined with sufficient precision at the time of judgement
CCQ Article 1615:
»The court, in awarding damages for bodily injury, may, for a period of not more than three years, reserve the right of the creditor to apply for additional damages, if the course of his physical condition cannot be determined with sufficient precision at the time of the judgement»
Limitation - Children
-special rules apply to children: prescription starts to run once a minor comes of age
-the child is also entitled to sue their representative or the person entrusted with their custody
-for example, a child who suffered brain damage at birth, can, once an adult, sue their parent or tutor for the acts of a negligent obstetrician. This is similar to common law jurisdictions
CCQ Article 2905:
»Prescription does not run against a child yet unborn.
Nor does it run against a minor or person of full age under curatorship or tutorship with respect to remedies they may have against their representative or against the person entrusted with their custody, or with respect to remedies they may have against any person for bodily injury resulting from an act which could constitute a criminal offence»
Limitation-Accident
-generally, a plaintiff has three years from the accident to file a suit as stated in CCQ Article 2925
-if damages appear gradually, the limitation period starts from the day the damage first appeared
-there is, however, an extinctive limit of 10 years, meaning the three-year period cannot extend for more than 10 years from the accident date
CCQ Article 2921:
»Extinctive prescription is a means of extinguishing a right owing to its non-use or of pleading a peremptory exception to an action»
CCQ Article 2922:
»The period for extinctive prescription is 10 years, except as otherwise determined by law»
CCQ Article 2925:
»An action to enforce a personal right or movable real right is prescribed by three years, if the prescriptive period is not otherwise determined»
CCQ Articles 2926:
»Where the right of action arises from moral, bodily or material injury appearing progressively or tardily, the period runs from the day the injury appears for the first time»
Limitation - Libel
-libel actions must be brought within the year in which the defamed person learned of the defamation
CCQ Article 2929:
»An action for defamation is prescribed by one year from the day on which the defamed person learned of the defamation»
