When is the deadline for limitation - action in contract or tort, including personal injury?
The catalogue records a 3 years period from The date on which the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or to a person through whom the plaintiff claims. This draft page remains free only until its source, worked example and limits are reviewed.
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Calculation basis and source
- Period
- 3 years
- Trigger
- The date on which the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or to a person through whom the plaintiff claims
- Counting
- The encoded calculator method must be independently documented before publication.
- Rollovers and holidays
- Holiday, closure and order treatment must be independently documented before publication.
This route remains in preparation until a pinpoint official source is recorded.
- A court may extend under Limitation Act 1981 (NT) s 44(1), but only if satisfied of one of the two gateways in s 44(3)(b): either material facts were not ascertained until within 12 months before expiry (or after expiry) and the action was instituted within 12 months after ascertainment; or the failure resulted from the defendant's representations or conduct and was reasonable. In addition the court must be satisfied that "in all the circumstances of the case, it is just to grant the extension of time". Section 44 does not apply to defamation (s 44(3)(aa)) or to criminal proceedings (s 44(3)(a)). Section 44(7) extends the power to personal injury and Compensation (Fatal Injuries) Act claims even where the period expired before the application. Running is also suspended during disability (s 36) and restarted by written acknowledgment or part payment (s 41).
- CRITICAL NT DIVERGENCE: the Northern Territory has NOT adopted a separate discoverability-based personal injury regime. Personal injury claims run on the ordinary 3-year tort period from accrual under s 12(1)(b), not from a date of discoverability, and there is no long-stop of the kind found in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Do not carry over another state's personal injury rules. There is no limitation period at all for personal injury from a dust disease (s 12(2)(a)) or for child abuse actions (s 5A). Where an extension is sought, the originating process must be endorsed with a statement to that effect (s 44(4)). Computation is governed by Interpretation Act 1978 (NT) s 28, not SCR r 3.01.