The government’s announcement that it will implement the recommendation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) to remove the three-year primary limitation period for claims arising from child sexual abuse has been welcomed by abuse survivors. Once legislation is passed, there will be no time limit for civil claims. A defendant will still be able to secure a stay of proceedings if it can satisfy the court that a fair trial is impossible—but the burden of persuading the court will rest on the defendant.
This is a long overdue change. As claimant lawyers argued in evidence to IICSA, limitation has been a significant obstacle to civil justice for those who suffered non-recent child abuse. The gap in time between the abuse of a child, and the child’s disclosure of that abuse—which frequently occurs when the child is well into adulthood—can often be several decades. Claims are often brought many years after the alleged abuse. The reasons for this are well known: victims
