Did a man who was allegedly abused before September 1964 have a
right to bring an action against the order that ran the school?
The case
DK v The Marist Brothers and another [2016] CSOH 54
The issue
A recent case from the Court of Session provides some
interesting comments on the interplay of prescription (which
extinguishes a claim) and limitation (which operates a procedural
bar on a claim proceeding). There are also some interesting
views on what constitutes a continuing act of abuse.
The allegations
In the early 1960s, DK attended St Columba's, a school run
by the Marist Brothers in Largs, Scotland. Born in October
1955, he said that he had attended the school between the ages of 7
and 9. During that time, he alleged that he was both
physically and sexually abused by a Brother Germanus on a number of
occasions.
