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Statute of Limitation: Which elements suspend limitation period?
In the Statute of Limitation report created by the LNI Dispute Resolution Group we consider the question ‘which elements suspend limitation period?’
The report discusses the Statute of Limitation rules applicable in the various jurisdictions of its members. providing a high-level comparison of the Statute of Limitation (prescription) rules applicable in a number of jurisdictions around the world and considers some key questions.
You can read the full report here: LNI Statute of Limitation Report
Which elements suspend limitation period?
The suspension of the prescription implies that once the cause of suspension has disappeared, the period of limitation will start running again where it had stopped.
Several countries allow for different causes of suspension of the limitation period, which are then mainly defined by law, sometimes completed by other situations admitted by case law: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Serbia and Switzerland.
Other jurisdictions appear to be more restrictive and allow a suspension only in limited cases:
- Brazil: very few possibilities of suspension and mostly related to family law.
- Germany: only in case serious negotiations take place between parties.
- Sweden: only under very special circumstances.
In England & Wales, there are no legal grounds for suspension, but the parties can agree on a standstill agreement.
Finally, some countries exclude, as a general rule, suspensions of the statute of limitations (with minor exceptions): India, Spain and Turkey.
For more details, please refer to the Country Reports in the full report:
Statute of limitation: A multi-jurisdiction comparative study
The report which outlines the main trends and variations on the statute of limitation also includes country reports from the members in the LNI Dispute Resolution Group in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, England and Wales, France, Germany, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.
Specific queries should be addressed to the relevant LNI Members in the respective jurisdictions.
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