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Midnight deadline cases
There is a long standing rule that, for the purposes of calculating limitation, the date on which the cause of action accrues is ignored. In Matthew v Sedman [2019] EWCA Civ 475, the Court of Appeal (Underhill and Irwin LJJ) considered how that rule applies where a cause of action accrues on the stroke of midnight, eg because the defendant’s alleged breach consists of a failure to take some action that must be done by the end of a particular day.
The claimant argued that, in a “midnight deadline” case, the cause of action does not accrue until after midnight and thus (however shortly) into the day following midnight. Accordingly, it said, that day must be excluded for limited purposes.
The Court of Appeal rejected that argument, finding that where a cause of action accrues at midnight, the following day is counted for the purposes of calculating limitation. Therefore, in the present case where the defendant trustees’ alleged breach was a failure to claim under a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement by the deadline of 2 June 2011, the last day for issuing the claim form was Friday 2 June 2017. The claim form was in fact issued the following Monday and so was out of time.
https://hsfnotes.com/litigation/2019...or-the-unwary/
There is a long standing rule that, for the purposes of calculating limitation, the date on which the cause of action accrues is ignored. In Matthew v Sedman [2019] EWCA Civ 475, the Court of Appeal (Underhill and Irwin LJJ) considered how that rule applies where a cause of action accrues on the stroke of midnight, eg because the defendant’s alleged breach consists of a failure to take some action that must be done by the end of a particular day.
The claimant argued that, in a “midnight deadline” case, the cause of action does not accrue until after midnight and thus (however shortly) into the day following midnight. Accordingly, it said, that day must be excluded for limited purposes.
The Court of Appeal rejected that argument, finding that where a cause of action accrues at midnight, the following day is counted for the purposes of calculating limitation. Therefore, in the present case where the defendant trustees’ alleged breach was a failure to claim under a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement by the deadline of 2 June 2011, the last day for issuing the claim form was Friday 2 June 2017. The claim form was in fact issued the following Monday and so was out of time.
https://hsfnotes.com/litigation/2019...or-the-unwary/
