Janna Purdie considers how courts deal with the addition/substitution of parties after the expiry of limitation periods
Limitation periods to add/substitute parties
The court, in considering whether to grant an application to substitute parties after the expiry of the limitation period, sets out when CPR 17.4 and CPR 19.5 apply. The court also sets out the basis on which it exercised its discretion when considering whether or not to grant the applications.
Facts of the case
A flooding incident occurred at a treatment works causing damage to an electricity substation owned by Manweb. The court heard two applications by the claimants in two consolidated proceedings to amend claim forms and statements of case. In both cases, the limitation period had expired. The applications were for the addition/substitution of parties under CPR 17.4 or CPR 19.5. The applicants maintained that they had been genuinely mistaken about the name of the original parties. In each claim, the intended parties were identified in the statements of case as being the owner/occupier of the treatment works and the main contractor of works being undertaken.
The court in hearing the applications considered:
