Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Subject to the
preceding sections of this Act and as hereinafter provided, actions, suits, or
other proceedings as herein set out shall and may be commenced within the time
herein expressed after the cause of such actions, suits, or other proceedings
respectively: —
(a)
(i) Actions for penalties,
damages, or sums given by any enactment to the party grieved;
(ii)
Actions for slander, when the words are actionable per
se:
2 years.
(b)
Actions for trespass to the person, menace, assault, battery, wounding, or
imprisonment:
4 years.
(c)
(i) Actions of debt upon any
award where the submission is not by specialty;
(ii)
Actions of account or for not accounting, and suits for
such accounts, as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant and
merchant, their factors and servants;
(iii)
Actions of account other than such accounts as concern
the trade of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors or
servants;
(iv)
Actions in the nature of actions for trespass quare
clausum fregit , trespass to goods, detinue, or trover;
(v)
All other actions founded on any simple contract,
including a contract implied in law;
(vi)
All other actions founded on tort;
(vii)
All other actions in the nature of actions on the case:
6 years.
(d)
Actions of debt for rent upon a covenant in an indenture of demise:
12 years.
(e)
(i) Subject to
sections 4 and 32, and to paragraph (d) of this subsection, actions
of covenant or of debt upon any bond or other specialty; and
(ii)
actions in the nature of actions of debt or scire facias
upon any recognisance:
20 years.
Provided that, subject
to the first proviso to section 34, no arrears of interest in respect of
any sum of money, whether payable under a covenant or otherwise, or any
damages in respect of such arrears, shall be recovered by any action, suit, or
other proceeding, but within 6 years next after the same respectively
became due, or next after an acknowledgment of the same in writing has been
given to the person entitled thereto, or his agent, signed by the person
chargeable or his agent duly authorised.
(2) In actions or
suits falling within paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (1)(c)
no claim in respect of a matter which arose more than 6 years before the
commencement of such action or suit shall be free from the restriction imposed
by such subsection by reason only of some other matter of claim comprised in
the same account having arisen within 6 years before the commencement of
such action or suit.
(3) In this section
the word actions means such actions as are in the nature of actions at common
law, but in reference to this section contained in the succeeding sections of
this Act, the word “action” shall be construed as including
“actions” or “actions and suits” or “actions,
suits, and other proceedings” where any of such meanings is necessary in
order to give a complete reference to the matters set out in
subsection (1).
(4) This section shall
not apply to any action, suit, or other proceeding the time for commencing
which is limited by the preceding sections of this Act.