Removing limitation periods in sexual abuse claims

For quite a while there has been a call for the removal of limitation periods for sexual abuse claims in England and Wales. Australian states began to make this change in 2015 and Scotland followed in 2017. In England and Wales, matters appeared to have reached a tipping point in October 2022, when the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) recommended this change. However, it is not until a further three years have passed, and the government has changed, that this change appears about to become a reality in England and Wales. 

The government’s communications have described this change as “removing the three-year limitation period” and instead “the burden of proof [will] fall on Defendants to show a fair trial is not possible”. 

Primary legislation is needed to make this change. Such is the congestion in the government’s legislative programme that rather than have its own Act of Parliament, the key sections are tucked away in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is fast become a portmanteau bill covering many different areas. The Bill was first published in spring 2025 and is currently tied up in committee in the House of Lords, but is expected to pass in 2026. The relevant provisions should come into force soon after the Bill passes.

Currently the law on limitation in sexual abuse cases is set out in the Limitation Act 1980. This act provides for a 3-year limitation period for all personal injury claims for claimants over 18 years old. Section 82 of the Crime and Policing Bill sets out two new sections to be inserted into the Limitation Act 1980, becoming sections 11ZA and 11ZB. 

• Section 11ZA removes the current 3-year limitation period for sexual abuse claims.
• Section 11ZB provides that, nevertheless, a sexual abuse claim must be dismissed if either:
  • “It is not possible for a fair hearing to take place”: or
  • There would be “substantial prejudice to the Defendant” and “the Court is satisfied that it would not be equitable to allow the action to proceed”.

Undoubtedly this change will tilt the balance in the favour of claimants to some degree. However, there are still significant challenges for claimants and some limited reassurance for potential defendants. For a some time now defendants have needed to present proof about how the passage of time has made it more difficult to gather evidence, and that requirement will not change because of the reforms. 

Further, the questions for the court as whether it would “be possible to have a fair trial”, and whether it would be “equitable for the action to proceed” are similar tests that already exist in the Limitation Act 1980 and the following case law. It is expected that this should mean that the Court’s approach to sexual abuse limitation issues will be similar under the new provisions to what we are familiar with already. 

However, there are aspects of this proposed change that cause an eyebrow or two to be raised:

• This change in limitation applies to claims for sexual abuse only. Many such claims feature a broader range of allegations, to include physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. That distinction seems difficult to justify. The factors that make it difficult for sexual abuse claims to be brought – shame, embarrassment, stigma – can apply to all sorts of abuse claims. Such claims may have different limitation regimes covering different parts of the same claim. 
• Section 11ZA says that the limitation period is removed for claims in “negligence, nuisance or breach of duty”. The reference to nuisance is odd. Very few sexual abuse claims are based in nuisance. It is also odd that the section does not refer to claims for assault, which is the legal basis for many sexual abuse claims. Is this a simple drafting error, or is this deliberate? 
• When the Limitation Act 1980 came into force on 13 November 1980 it did not have retrospective effect. Prior to that, the Limitation Act 1963 applied. This also provided for a 3-year limitation period for sexual abuse claims. Section 82 of the Crime and Policing Bill inserts new provisions into the Limitation Act 1980. There is no reference to the 1963 act. Therefore it seems that the limitation period for claims arising prior to November 1980 will not be covered by this change.  

We will be watching the progress of the Crime and Policing Bill through the final stages of the legislative process closely. Of course, it is possible that further changes could be made but, one way or another, it seems that this long-awaited change is close at hand.