23rd August 2019

Parliament passed the Limitation (Amendment) Act 2018 [Act A1566] (“LAA 2018”) on 4^th April 2018 to amend the Limitation Act 1953 (“LA 1953”) by, amongst others, insert the new Section 6A which will be in force on 1^st September 2019.

EXISTING LAWS

Prior to the insertion of section 6A, section 6 of LA 1953 provides amongst others, that actions founded on contract or tort, shall not be brought after the expiration of six years form the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

SECTION 6A

The insertion of section 6A through the amendment sought to extend the period of limitation under section 6 LA 1953 up to 15 years in certain circumstances.

The debates in Parliament for this particular amendment disclosed that one of the principle aims of this amendment is the extension of limitation period for latent defects in construction matters. According to the Deputy Minister presenting the 2^nd and 3^rd Reading of the amending act, the amendments were proposed based on the following main principles (in its original language as per the Parliament Hansard):-

“(a) Peruntukan yang membolehkan had masa dilanjutkan sehingga tiga tahun selepas plaintif mengetahui berlakunya kerosakan pendam bagi kes kecuaian sekiranya kerosakan tersebut tidak diketahui  semasa date of accrual;

(b) peruntukan yang menghalang mana-mana pihak dalam memulakan tindakan mahkamah melebihi tempoh 15 tahun daripada tarikh klausa tindakan terakru;

(c) peruntukan berkenaan dengan pelanjutan had masa bagi seseorang yang tidak berkeupayaan untuk membawa apa-apa tindakan sebelum tamat tempoh tiga tahun daripada tarikh dia terhenti menjadi hilang upaya atau meninggal dunia mengikut mana-mana yang berlaku dahulu; dan

(d) peruntukan yang mengecualikan kes yang melibatkan maklumat yang disembunyikan secara fraud daripada kerosakan pendam yang melibatkan fraud.”

In summary, section 6A of LA 1953 will have the following effect:-

(a) extension of limitation period in cases of negligence, not involving personal injury;

(b) the “starting date” to compute limitation is the earliest date on which the plaintiff had both the knowledge required to bring an action for damages and knowledge of the right to bring such action;

(c) action shall be taken within three (3) years from such starting date; and

(d) action must be brought before the expiration of fifteen years from the date on which the cause of action accrued;

ILLUSTRATION

For clarity, section 6A (2) and (3) provided the following illustrations:-

a) C bought a house from D on 2000. In 2010, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved into the house. C has three years from 2010 to file an action in court against D for damages.