Commentary on Sections Section 1 – Removal of three year limitation period in certain actions
5.Under the existing law (see section 17 of the 1973 Act), a pursuer who wishes to raise a personal injury action for damages must generally do so within three years of the date on which the injuries were sustained or, where the act or omission to which the injuries were attributable was a continuing one, the later of three years from that date or from the date on which the act or omission ceased. The three year period will, though, run from a later date where the pursuer only later became aware of certain facts. It will then run from the date of knowledge or from the date that, in the opinion of the court, it would have been reasonably practicable for the pursuer to have become aware of those facts. These facts are that the injuries were sufficiently serious to justify bringing an action of damages; that those injuries were attributable to an act or omission; and that the defender is a person to whom the act or omission is attributable (or the employer or principal of such a person). Under section 17(3) of the 1973 Act, in computing the limitation period, the court must disregard any time during which the person who sustained the injuries was under legal disability by reason of nonage (that is, under 16: see the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991, section 1(2)) or unsoundness of mind.