LEGAL

ARIANE OWEN

Lawyer Tindall Gask Bentley

LEGAL

Limitation dates: know your limits!

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, my name is Ariane Owen, and I have recently joined the Criminal and Disciplinary team at Tindall Gask Bentley's Perth office. I have 10 years' experience in the law, and I am looking forward to working with the WA Police Force and the WA Police Union in assisting you with any matters that may arise.

… there are certain bodies who do not have the power to extend deadlines, particularly statutory bodies such as the Police Appeals Board, meaning that all rights are lost if the deadlines are missed.

When dealing with Courts, tribunals and statutory bodies it is very important that you adhere to the various limitation requirements of those entities. If you miss deadlines or limitation dates, you may lose your rights or face significant consequences as a result.

Whilst there are certain circumstances in which Courts or tribunals may be willing to extend the dates by which you are required to file documents, this is not necessarily a given, and the application to extend dates can be time consuming and costly.

However, there are certain bodies who do not have the power to extend deadlines, particularly statutory bodies such as the Police Appeals Board, meaning that all rights are lost if the deadlines are missed. Accordingly, you should always try to meet limitation deadlines to avoid losing your rights or the unnecessary headache of trying to extend them.

The below examples set out what the deadline/time limitations are for each area of law. • Civil matters: If you are the plaintiff: It is very important to understand that most civil claims are subject to a limitation period of six (6) years. For the most part, and subject only to circumstances of fraud concealing the claim, this time limit is strictly applied, and your claim cannot be pursued once six years has passed. Accordingly, you must ensure that any writ is filed before the expiry of the limitation period. If you are the defendant: Being the defendant in a matter, you will be served with a writ of summons.

You must file a Memorandum of

Appearance within 10 days of receipt of the writ (or other time period prescribed in the writ).

Failure to lodge your Memorandum of Appearance with the appropriate

Court/Tribunal, may mean that judgment can be entered against you, without giving you to opportunity to defend the claim. • Personal Injury Claims: Unlike other civil claims, if you have a personal injury claim or a dependency claim (i.e. if you are a dependent of a person who is killed), your claim must be brought within three (3) years of the date of the incident. • Criminal Injuries Compensation

/ Motor Vehicle Accident claims:

If you think you have a claim for

Criminal Injuries Compensation or have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, your claim must be brought before the Court/

Tribunal within three (3) years from the date of the incident.

There are certain circumstances in which this deadline can be extended, however, a very good explanation will need to be provided as to why this deadline was not met. Importantly, lack of knowledge that you were able to bring a claim is not an excuse. • Medical Retirement: If you are Medically Retired from the

WA Police Force, and you receive notice of either (a) your degree of permanent impairment; or (b) your amount of compensation, you will have 28 days to lodge a dispute.

This date may be extended if there is good reason, but this is within the discretion of the Tribunal. • Statutory boards / Tribunals:

Statutory boards or Tribunals are created by statute, which means they only have the powers which are set out in the relevant legislation which creates the body. Any power to extend deadlines must be expressly set out in the statute, otherwise the board or Tribunal does not have the power to extend deadlines, even if they want to. As such, if you need to lodge documents to a board or Tribunal (such as the Police Appeals Board), strict adherence to the tight timeframes is imperative.

If you are involved in any civil or criminal matter, or suspect that you may be involved or have a claim, it is in your best interests to seek legal advice as soon as possible, so that no relevant deadlines or time limitations are missed.