1985 No. 754 (N.I. 5)The Foreign Limitation Periods (Northern Ireland) Order 198515th May 1985<Emphasis>Title and commencement</Emphasis>11This Order may be cited as the Foreign Limitation Periods (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.2This Order shall come into operation on the expiration of three months from the date on which it is made.<Emphasis>Interpretation</Emphasis>21The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.2In this Order “the Statute of Limitations” means the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 19893Subject to paragraph (5), references in this Order to the law of any country (including Northern Ireland) relating to limitation shall, in relation to any matter, be construed as references to so much of the relevant law of that country as (in any manner) makes provision with respect to a limitation period applicable to the brining of proceedings in respect of that matter in the courts of that country and shall include—areferences to so much of that law as relates to, and to the effect of, the application, extension, reduction or interruption of that period; andba reference, where under that law there is no limitation period which is so applicable, to the rule that such proceedings may be brought within an indefinite period.4In paragraph (3) “relevant law”, in relation to any country, means the procedural and substantive law applicable, apart from any rules of private international law, by the courts of that country.5References in this Order to the law of Northern Ireland relating to limitation shall not include the rules by virtue of which a court may, in the exercise of any discretion, refuse equitable relief on the grounds of acquiescence or otherwise; but, in applying those rules to a case in relation to which the law of any country outside Northern Ireland is applicable by virtue of Article (3)(1)(a) (not being a law that provides for a limitation period that has expired), a court in Northern Ireland shall have regard, in particular, to the provisions of the law that is so applicable.6References in this Order to the Crown shall be construed in accordance with section 4(2) of the Statute of Limitations (which provides, amongst other things, for references to the Crown to include references to government departments and their officers).<Emphasis>Application of foreign limitation law</Emphasis>31Subject to the following provisions of this Order, where in any action or proceedings in a court in Northern Ireland the law of any other country falls (in accordance with rules of private international law applicable by any such court) to be taken into account in the determination of any matter—athe law of that other country relating to limitation shall apply in respect of that matter for the purposes of the action or proceedings , subject to Article 3A ; andbexcept where that matter falls within paragraph (2), the law of Northern Ireland relating to limitation shall not so apply.2A matter falls within this paragraph if it is a matter in the determination of which both the law of Northern Ireland and the law of some other country fall to be taken into account.3The law of Northern Ireland shall determine for the purposes of any law applicable by virtue of paragraph (1)(a) whether, and the time at which, proceedings have been commenced in respect of any matter; and accordingly Article 73 of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (new claims in pending proceedings) shall apply in relation to time limits applicable by virtue of paragraph (1)(a) as it applies in relation to time limits under the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.4A court in Northern Ireland, in exercising in pursuance of paragraph (1)(a) any discretion conferred by the law of any other country, shall so far as practicable exercise that discretion in the manner in which it is exercised in comparable cases by the courts of that other country.5In this Article “law”, in relation to any country, shall not include rules of private international law applicable by the courts of that country, or in the case of Northern Ireland, this Order.<Emphasis><Addition ChangeId="key-2f5f58565407fd2312ad32257fb55c36-1634303578628" CommentaryRef="key-2f5f58565407fd2312ad32257fb55c36">Overseas armed forces actions: restriction of foreign limitation law</Addition></Emphasis>3A1Paragraph (3) applies where—athe law of another country relating to limitation applies by reason of Article 3(1)(a) in respect of a matter for the purposes of an overseas armed forces tort action, andbthe commencement condition applies in relation to that action,and in this Article the law relating to limitation that applies for the purposes of that action is referred to as “the relevant foreign limitation law”.2The commencement condition applies in relation to an overseas armed forces tort action if the action commenced on a date which is after the end of the period of 6 years beginning with—athe date on which any limitation period specified in the relevant foreign limitation law began to run, orbwhere the relevant foreign limitation law has the effect that the action may be commenced within an indefinite period, the first date on which the action could have been commenced.3The relevant foreign limitation law is to be treated as providing the defendant with a complete defence to the action so far as relating to the matter (where that would not otherwise be the case).4An “overseas armed forces tort action” means an action—awhich is an overseas armed forces action as defined in Article 50(1B) of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, andbwhich (under the law of the other country that falls to be taken into account) corresponds to—ian action to which Article 7 of that Order applies (personal injuries),iian action in respect of false imprisonment, oriiian action under the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (death).5In the application of paragraph (2) to an action in respect of which—ain accordance with the relevant foreign limitation law, a limitation period specified in that law has been suspended or interrupted for a period by reason of a person's lacking legal capacity or being under a disability, orbin accordance with the relevant foreign limitation law, a period during which a person lacks legal capacity or is under a disability has been disregarded in computing a limitation period specified in that law,the reference to the period of 6 years is to be treated as a reference to the period of 6 years plus the period of suspension or interruption or (as the case may be) the period that was so disregarded.6In the application of paragraph (2) to an action in respect of which a limitation period specified in the relevant foreign limitation law has been suspended in accordance with section 1(1) of the Limitation (Enemies and War Prisoners) Act 1945, the reference to the period of 6 years is to be treated as a reference to the period of 6 years plus—athe period during which the limitation period was suspended, andbany extra period after the suspension ended during which the action could have been brought only because of an extension provided for by section 1(1) of that Act.<Emphasis>Exceptions to Article 3</Emphasis>41In any case in which the application of Article 3 would to any extent conflict (whether under paragraph (2) or otherwise) with public policy, that Article shall not apply to the extent that its application would so conflict.2The application of Article 3 in relation to any action or proceedings shall conflict with public policy to the extent that its application would cause undue hardship to a person who is, or might be made, a party to the action or proceedings.3Where, under a law applicable by virtue of Article 3(1)(a) for the purposes of any action or proceedings, a limitation period is or may be extended or interrupted in respect of the absence of a party to the action or proceedings from any specified jurisdiction or country, so much of that law as provides for the extension or interruption shall be disregarded for those purposes.4In the Limitation (Enemies and War Prisoners) Act 1945 (which in relation to cases involving enemy aliens and war prisoners extends certain limitation periods), in section 5 (meaning of expression “statute of limitation” in the application of the Act to Northern Ireland), after the word “means” there shall be inserted “
(a)
” and after the words “required to be brought” there shall be added the wordsand—bin a case to which Article 3(1) of the Foreign Limitation Periods (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 applies, so much of the law of any country outside Northern Ireland as applies by virtue of that Order;
.<Emphasis>Foreign judgements on limitation points</Emphasis>5Where a court in any country outside Northern Ireland has determined any matter wholly or partly by reference to the law of that or any other country (including Northern Ireland) relating to limitation, then, for the purposes of the law relating to the effect to be given in Northern Ireland to that determination, that court shall, to the extent that it has so determined the matter, be deemed to have determined it on its merits.<Addition ChangeId="key-88f1f69de70535b188dae743d5ee50bd-1706524681643" CommentaryRef="key-88f1f69de70535b188dae743d5ee50bd">Actions relating to the Northern Ireland Troubles</Addition>5AThis Order has effect subject to section 43 of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.Art. 6 rep. by 1989 NI 11
<Emphasis>Application to the Crown</Emphasis>7This Order applies in relation to any action or proceedings by or against the Crown as it applies in relation to actions and proceedings to which the Crown is not a party.<Emphasis>Transitional provisions</Emphasis>81Nothing in this Order shall affect any action, proceedings or arbitration commenced in Northern Ireland before the commencement of this Order.2Nothing in this Order shall apply in relation to any matter if the limitation period which, apart from this Order, would have been applied in respect of that matter in Northern Ireland expired before the commencement of this Order.3Article 3A (overseas armed forces actions: restriction of foreign limitation law) applies to an action commenced in Northern Ireland on or after the date on which that Article comes into force, whenever the events to which the action relates took place.<Addition ChangeId="d30p286" CommentaryRef="c2108538">Disapplication where </Addition><Addition ChangeId="d30p286" CommentaryRef="c2108538"><Substitution ChangeId="d30p291" CommentaryRef="c2135199">the law applicable to limitation is determined by other instruments</Substitution></Addition>91Where in proceedings in Northern Ireland the law of a country other than Northern Ireland falls to be taken into account in the determination of any matter by virtue of any choice of law rule contained in the Rome I Regulation the Rome II Regulation, Article 2 (3), (4) and (5) and Articles 3 , 3A and 4 above shall not apply in respect of that matter.1AIn paragraph (1) the “Rome I Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to contractual obligations as that Regulation has effect as assimilated direct legislation (including that Regulation as applied by regulation 5 of the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2009), unless the proceedings are ones in respect of which Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 has effect by virtue of Article 66 of the EU withdrawal agreement, in which case it means that Regulation as it has effect by virtue of that Article.2In paragraph (1) the “Rome II Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations as that Regulation has effect as assimilated direct legislation (including that Regulation as applied by regulation 6 of the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008), unless the proceedings are ones in respect of which Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 has effect by virtue of Article 66 of the EU withdrawal agreement, in which case it means that Regulation as it has effect by virtue of that Article.