Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 30 JULY 2014

Supreme Court Clarifies Time Bar Law

The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 provides that certain obligations are extinguished after a five year period where no relevant claim is made.

United KingdomLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Supreme Court has today issued their decision in the case David T Morrison & Co Limited v ICL Plastics Limited & others [2014] UKSC 48. A fuller summary of the decision can be found here.

Background

In May 2004 a serious explosion occurred at the factory premises of the appellants ("ICL") in Glasgow, causing the substantial collapse of the building. Nine people were killed and others were seriously injured. The shop owned by the respondent ("Morrison"), which was adjacent to ICL's premises, suffered extensive damage.

In August 2009 Morrison raised an action for damages in the Court of Session. ICL admitted that it had had a liability to Morrison but argued that its obligation to do so was extinguished as it was raised more than five years after the date when it could have raised its claim. The case has ended up in the Supreme Court.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from