Western Australian Current Acts

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LIMITATION ACT 1935 - SECT 38

38 .         Limitation of time for commencing other actions and suits

        (1)         Subject to the preceding sections of this Act and as hereinafter provided, actions, suits, or other proceedings as herein set out shall and may be commenced within the time herein expressed after the cause of such actions, suits, or other proceedings respectively: —

            (a)               (i)         Actions for penalties, damages, or sums given by any enactment to the party grieved;

                  (ii)         Actions for slander, when the words are actionable per se:

                2 years.

            (b)         Actions for trespass to the person, menace, assault, battery, wounding, or imprisonment:

                4 years.

            (c)               (i)         Actions of debt upon any award where the submission is not by specialty;

                  (ii)         Actions of account or for not accounting, and suits for such accounts, as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors and servants;

                  (iii)         Actions of account other than such accounts as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors or servants;

                  (iv)         Actions in the nature of actions for trespass quare clausum fregit , trespass to goods, detinue, or trover;

                  (v)         All other actions founded on any simple contract, including a contract implied in law;

                  (vi)         All other actions founded on tort;

                  (vii)         All other actions in the nature of actions on the case:

                6 years.

            (d)         Actions of debt for rent upon a covenant in an indenture of demise:

                12 years.

            (e)               (i)         Subject to sections 4 and 32, and to paragraph (d) of this subsection, actions of covenant or of debt upon any bond or other specialty; and

                  (ii)         actions in the nature of actions of debt or scire facias upon any recognisance:

                20 years.

                Provided that, subject to the first proviso to section 34, no arrears of interest in respect of any sum of money, whether payable under a covenant or otherwise, or any damages in respect of such arrears, shall be recovered by any action, suit, or other proceeding, but within 6 years next after the same respectively became due, or next after an acknowledgment of the same in writing has been given to the person entitled thereto, or his agent, signed by the person chargeable or his agent duly authorised.

        (2)         In actions or suits falling within paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (1)(c) no claim in respect of a matter which arose more than 6 years before the commencement of such action or suit shall be free from the restriction imposed by such subsection by reason only of some other matter of claim comprised in the same account having arisen within 6 years before the commencement of such action or suit.

        (3)         In this section the word actions means such actions as are in the nature of actions at common law, but in reference to this section contained in the succeeding sections of this Act, the word “action” shall be construed as including “actions” or “actions and suits” or “actions, suits, and other proceedings” where any of such meanings is necessary in order to give a complete reference to the matters set out in subsection (1).

        (4)         This section shall not apply to any action, suit, or other proceeding the time for commencing which is limited by the preceding sections of this Act.



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