Justice Seeks Feedback on Changes to Modernize Legislation

The legal community, professional associations and other interested Nova Scotians are being asked for their input on proposed changes to the Limitation of Actions Act.

The act sets out the time allowed to bring a claim to court.

"The proposed changes will help us modernize the act and make it simpler and clearer," said Justice Minister Ross Landry. "They also bring us more in line with other provinces. Some already have more modern legislation and others are considering changes to existing laws."

The current act has different limitation periods -- the amount of time allowed to bring a claim to court -- for different kinds of actions. For example, a claim for assault must be brought within one year after the cause of action arose (from when the situation or set of facts is sufficient to entitle a person to bring a claim in court), while a motor vehicle claim must be brought within three years.

The most significant change is to replace the various existing limitation periods with two standard periods: two years from when the claim is discovered or 15 years from the event the claim is based on.

"The proposed changes are significant and we want input from our interested Nova Scotians," said Mr. Landry. "We need help to ensure we have a modern limitations system."

A draft of the proposed act, discussion paper and other information can be found online at www.gov.ns.ca/just/consultation.

Interested parties are invited to review the documents and provide feedback, electronically or in writing, by July 24.

Questions and feedback may be sent by e-mail to legfeedback@gov.ns.ca, by phoning 902-424-3296, or by mail to LAA Reform Project, Department of Justice, 5151 Terminal Rd., P.O. Box 7, Halifax, B3J 2L6.