The provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect subject to the provisions of Part 2 of this Act, which provide for the extension of the periods of limitation in the case of disability, acknowledgment, part payment, fraud, and mistake.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act or in subpart 3 of Part 2 of the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Act 2005, the following actions shall not be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued, that is to say,—

An action for an account shall not be brought in respect of any matter which arose more than 6 years before the commencement of the action.

An action upon a deed shall not be brought after the expiration of 12 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued:

An action shall not be brought upon any judgment which has been obtained subsequent to the commencement of this Act after the expiration of 12 years from the date on which the judgment became enforceable or on any judgment which has been obtained before the commencement of this Act after the expiration of 20 years from the date on which the judgment became enforceable; and no arrears of interest in respect of any judgment debt shall be recovered after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the interest became due.

An action to recover any penalty or forfeiture, or sum by way of penalty or forfeiture, recoverable by virtue of any enactment shall not be brought after the expiration of 2 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued:

An action to have any will of which probate has been granted, or in respect of which letters of administration with the will annexed have been granted, declared or adjudicated to be invalid on the ground of want of testamentary capacity in the testator or on the ground of undue influence shall not be brought after the expiration of 12 years from the date of the granting of the probate or letters of administration.

Subject to subsection (6B) of this section, a defamation action shall not be brought after the expiration of 2 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.

Notwithstanding anything in subsection (6A) of this section, any person may apply to the Court, after notice to the intended defendant, for leave to bring a defamation action at any time within 6 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued; and the Court may, if it thinks it just to do so, grant leave accordingly, subject to such conditions (if any) as it thinks it just to impose, where it considers that the delay in bringing the action was occasioned by mistake of fact or mistake of any matter of law (other than the provisions of subsection (6A) of this section), or by any other reasonable cause.

An action in respect of the bodily injury to any person shall not be brought after the expiration of 2 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued unless the action is brought with the consent of the intended defendant before the expiration of 6 years from that date:

Subject to the provisions of section 76 of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952, subsection (1) of this section shall apply to an action to recover seamen’s wages, but save as aforesaid this section shall not apply to any cause of action within the Admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court which is enforceable in rem.

This section shall not apply to any claim for specific performance of a contract or for an injunction or for other equitable relief, except in so far as any provision thereof may be applied by the Court by analogy in like manner as the corresponding enactment repealed or amended by this Act, or ceasing to have effect by virtue of this Act, has heretofore been applied.

Where any cause of action in respect of the conversion or wrongful detention of a chattel has accrued to any person and, before he recovers possession of the chattel, a further conversion or wrongful detention takes place, no action shall be brought in respect of the further conversion or detention after the expiration of 6 years from the accrual of the cause of action in respect of the original conversion or detention.

Where any such cause of action has accrued to any person and the period prescribed for bringing that action and for bringing any action in respect of such a further conversion or wrongful detention as aforesaid expires without his having commenced action to recover possession of the chattel, the title of that person to the chattel shall be extinguished.

Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of subsection (1) of section 26of the Sale of Goods Act 1908.

Subject to subsections (1A) and (2) of this section, nothing in this Act shall apply to any land that is Maori customary land within the meaning of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, but subject to section 7A of this Act,—

This Act shall be subject to the Land Transfer Act 1952, the Land Act 1948, section 344 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, and section 51 of the Public Works Act 1981, so far as it is inconsistent with anything contained in those enactments.

Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of Her Majesty to any minerals (including uranium, petroleum, and coal).

No action shall be brought by the Crown to recover any land after the expiration of 60 years from the date on which the right of action accrued to the Crown or to some person through whom the Crown claims.

No action shall be brought by any other person to recover any land after the expiration of 12 years from the date on which the right of action accrued to him or to some person through whom he claims:

No action to which this Act applies by virtue of subsection (1A)(a) of section 6 of this Act shall be brought after the expiration of 12 years from the date on which the right of action accrued to the person bringing the action or to some other person through whom the person bringing the action claims.

No action to which this Act applies by virtue of subsection (1A)(b) of section 6 of this Act shall be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that, in relation to an action to which this Act applies by virtue of subsection (1A) of section 6 of this Act, the date on which the right of action or cause of action accrued shall be the date on which the wrong occurred, whether before or after the commencement of this section, and not the date of the repeal of section 155 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 or of any other provision of that Act.

In relation to any action to which this Act applies by virtue of subsection (1A)(a) of section 6 of this Act, subsections (1) and (3) of this section have effect in the place of section 7 (2) of this Act.

In relation to an action to which this Act applies by virtue of subsection (1A)(b) of section 6 of this Act, subsections (2) and (3) of this section have effect in the place of section 4(1)(a) of this Act to the extent that section 4(1)(a) of this Act applies to actions founded on tort.

Where any provision of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 or of any other Act confers on the Maori Land Court or the Maori Appellate Court jurisdiction to investigate and ascertain title to Maori customary land or to determine whether any parcel of land has the status of Maori customary land, nothing in section 6(1A) of this Act or in subsections (1) to (5) of this section shall limit or otherwise affect the jurisdiction so conferred.

Where the person bringing an action to recover land, or some person through whom he claims, has been in possession thereof, and has while entitled thereto been dispossessed or discontinued his possession, the right of action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of the dispossession or discontinuance.

Where any person brings an action to recover any land of a deceased person, whether under a will or on intestacy, and the deceased person was on the date of his death in possession of the land or, in the case of a rentcharge created by will or taking effect upon his death, in possession of the land charged, and was the last person entitled to the land to be in possession thereof, the right of action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of his death.

Where any person brings an action to recover land, being an estate or interest in possession assured otherwise than by will to him, or to some person through whom he claims, by a person who, at the date when the assurance took effect, was in possession of the land or, in the case of a rentcharge created by the assurance, in possession of the land charged, and no person has been in possession of the land by virtue of the assurance, the right of action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date when the assurance took effect.

Subject as hereafter in this section provided, the right of action to recover any land shall, in a case where the estate or interest claimed was an estate or interest in reversion or remainder or any other future estate or interest and no person has taken possession of the land by virtue of the estate or interest claimed, be deemed to have accrued on the date on which the estate or interest fell into possession by the determination of the preceding estate or interest or otherwise.

If the person entitled to the preceding estate or interest was not in possession of the land on the date of the determination thereof, no action shall be brought by the person entitled to the succeeding estate or interest—

The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply where the preceding estate or interest is a leasehold interest other than one which is determinable with life or lives or with the cesser of a determinable life interest.

The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to any estate or interest which falls into possession on the determination of an entailed interest and which might have been barred by the person entitled to the entailed interest.

No person shall bring an action to recover any estate or interest in land under an assurance taking effect after the right of action to recover the land had accrued to the person by whom the assurance was made or some person through whom he claimed or some person entitled to a preceding estate or interest, unless the action is brought within the period during which the person by whom the assurance was made could have brought such an action.

Where any person is entitled to any estate or interest in land in possession and, while so entitled, is also entitled to any future estate or interest in that land, and his right to recover the estate or interest in possession is barred under this Act, no action shall be brought by that person, or by any person claiming through him, in respect of the future estate or interest, unless in the meantime possession of the land has been recovered by a person entitled to an intermediate estate or interest.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall apply to equitable interests in land, including interests in the proceeds of the sale of land held upon trust for sale, in like manner as they apply to legal estates, and accordingly a right of action to recover the land shall, for the purposes of this Act but not otherwise, be deemed to accrue to a person entitled in possession to such an equitable interest in the like manner and circumstances and on the same date as it would accrue if his interest were a legal estate in the land.

Where any land is held by any trustee (including a trustee who is also tenant for life) upon trust, including a trust for sale, and the period prescribed by this Act for the bringing of an action to recover the land by the trustee has expired, the estate of the trustee shall not be extinguished if and so long as the right of action to recover the land of any person entitled to a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale either has not accrued or has not been barred by this Act, but if and when every such right of action has been so barred the estate of the trustee shall be extinguished.

Where any settled land is vested in a tenant for life or a person having the statutory powers of a tenant for life or any land is held upon trust, including a trust for sale, an action to recover the land may be brought by the tenant for life or person having the powers of a tenant for life or trustees on behalf of any person entitled to a beneficial interest in possession in the land or in the proceeds of sale whose right of action has not been barred by this Act, notwithstanding that the right of action of the tenant for life or person having the powers of a tenant for life or trustees would, apart from this provision, have been barred by this Act.

Where any settled land or any land held on trust for sale is in the possession of a person entitled to a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale, not being a person solely and absolutely entitled thereto, no right of action to recover the land shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to accrue during such possession to any person in whom the land is vested as tenant for life, person having the powers of a tenant for life, or trustee, or to any person entitled to a beneficial interest in the land or the proceeds of sale.

A right of action to recover land by virtue of a forfeiture or breach of condition shall be deemed to have accrued on the date on which the forfeiture was incurred or the condition broken:

A tenancy at will or a tenancy determinable at the will of either of the parties by one month’s notice in writing shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration of a period of one year from the commencement thereof, unless it has previously been determined, and accordingly the right of action of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy shall be deemed to have accrued on the date on which it is determined or deemed to be determined as aforesaid:

A tenancy from year to year or other period without a lease in writing (but not a tenancy to which the last preceding subsection applies) shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration of the first year or other period, and accordingly the right of action of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy shall be deemed to have accrued at the date of such determination:

Where any person is in possession of land by virtue of a lease in writing by which a rent at a rate of not less than $2 a year is reserved, and the rent is received by some person wrongfully claiming to be entitled to the land in reversion immediately expectant on the determination of the lease, and no rent is subsequently received by the person rightfully so entitled, the right of action of the last-mentioned person to recover the land shall be deemed to have accrued at the date when the rent was first received by the person wrongfully claiming as aforesaid and not at the date of the determination of the lease.

Subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall not apply to any tenancy at will or lease granted by the Crown.

No right of action to recover land shall be deemed to accrue unless the land is in the possession of some person in whose favour the period of limitation can run (hereafter in this section referred to as adverse possession), and, where under the foregoing provisions of this Act any such right of action is deemed to accrue on a certain date and no person is in adverse possession on that date, the right of action shall not be deemed to accrue unless and until adverse possession is taken of the land.

Where a right of action to recover land has accrued, and thereafter, before the right is barred, the land ceases to be in adverse possession, the right of action shall no longer be deemed to have accrued and no fresh right of action shall be deemed to accrue unless and until the land is again taken into adverse possession.

For the purposes of this section,—

For the purposes of this section, 1 or more joint tenants or tenants in common of any land can take (and shall be deemed at all times before the commencement of the Land Transfer Amendment Act 1995 to have been able to take) adverse possession of the land as against the other tenant or tenants.

For the purposes of any claim for a sum of money by way of contribution or indemnity, however the right to contribution or indemnity arises, the cause of action in respect of the claim shall be deemed to have accrued at the first point of time when everything has happened which would have to be proved to enable judgment to be obtained for a sum of money in respect of the claim.

Where a person entitled in remainder to an entailed interest in any land has made an assurance thereof which fails to bar the issue in tail or the estates and interests taking effect on the determination of the entailed interest, or fails to bar the last-mentioned estates and interests only, and any person takes possession of the land by virtue of the assurance, and that person or any other person whatsoever (other than a person entitled to possession by virtue of the settlement) is in possession of the land for a period of 12 years from the commencement of the time at which the assurance, if it had then been executed by the person entitled to the entailed interest, would have operated, without the consent of any other person, to bar the issue in tail and such estates and interests as aforesaid, then, at the expiration of that period, the assurance shall operate, and be deemed always to have operated, to bar the issue in tail and those estates and interests.

This section applies to a mortgage of land—

After the mortgage has become one to which this section applies, no action to redeem the land of which the mortgagee has been so in possession may be brought by, or by a person claiming through, the mortgagor.

This section overrides anything to the contrary in section 97 of the Property Law Act 2007 or in any other enactment.

For the purposes of this Act, no person shall be deemed to have been in possession of any land by reason only of having made a formal entry thereon, and no continual or other claim upon or near any land shall preserve any right of action to recover the land.

Subject to the provisions of section 10 of this Act, at the expiration of the period prescribed by this Act for any person to bring an action to recover land (including a redemption action) the title of that person to the land shall be extinguished.

No action shall be brought to recover arrears of rent or damages in respect thereof, after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the arrears became due.

No action shall be brought to recover any principal sum of money secured by a mortgage or other charge on property, whether real or personal, or to recover proceeds of the sale of land (not being the proceeds of the sale of land held upon trust for sale), after the expiration of 12 years from the date when the right to receive the money accrued.

The right to receive any principal sum of money secured by a mortgage or other charge shall not be deemed to accrue so long as the property subject to the mortgage or charge comprises any future interest or any life insurance policy which has not matured or been determined.

No action to recover arrears of interest payable in respect of any sum of money secured by a mortgage or other charge or payable in respect of proceeds of the sale of land, or to recover damages in respect of such arrears, shall be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the interest became due:

This section shall not apply to any mortgage or charge on a ship.

No period of limitation prescribed by this Act shall apply to an action by a beneficiary under a trust, being an action—

Subject as aforesaid, an action by a beneficiary to recover trust property or in respect of any breach of trust, not being an action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other provision of this Act, shall not be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the right of action accrued:

No beneficiary as against whom there would be a good defence under this Act shall derive any greater or other benefit from a judgment or order obtained by any other beneficiary than he could have obtained if he had brought the action and this Act had been pleaded in defence.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of the last preceding section, no action in respect of any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or to any share or interest in such estate, whether under a will or on intestacy, shall be brought after the expiration of 12 years from the date when the right to receive the share or interest accrued, and no action to recover arrears of interest in respect of any legacy, or damages in respect of such arrears, shall be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the interest became due.

Section 23B applies to an action based on an act or omission before 1 January 2011 and to which this Act applied immediately before its repeal by section 57 of the Limitation Act 2010 so long as that action is neither—

Sections 23B to 23D also apply, in accordance with section 29, to arbitrations.

No action to which this section applies may be brought after the last to end of the following periods:

That period of limitation applies to the action in addition to every other period of limitation that applies to the action.

This section is, in accordance with section 3, subject to Part 2, which provides for the extension of that period of limitation in the case of disability, acknowledgment, part payment, fraud, and mistake.

This section applies to an action—

Subsection (1)(a) applies to an action in respect of abuse of the plaintiff (A) when he or she was under a disability because he or she was an infant, and that is wholly or partly sexual abuse of A by any 1 or more persons, or is wholly non-sexual abuse of A by 1 or more persons who are or include—

Abuse, in the expressions “sexual abuse” and “non-sexual abuse” in subsection (2), means physical abuse, psychological abuse, or a combination of both.

Subsection (1)(a) also applies to an action in respect of a personal injury—

Personal injury, in subsection (4), means any physical, mental, or physical and mental injury (even if it causes the death), of the plaintiff.

The court may, if it thinks it just to do so on an application made to it for the purpose, order that relief may be granted in respect of the action as if the longstop period of limitation in section 23B does not apply to it.

The application for the order may be made before or after the court has decided whether the defendant has established that the longstop period of limitation in section 23B applies to the action.

In determining whether to make an order under section 23C, the court must take into account—

If, on the date when any right of action accrued for which a period of limitation is prescribed by or may be prescribed under this Act the person to whom it accrued was under a disability,—

notwithstanding that, in any case to which either of the foregoing paragraphs of this section applies, the period of limitation has expired:

If a right of action to recover land has accrued, and the person in possession of the land acknowledges the title of the person to whom the right of action has accrued, the right is deemed to have accrued on, and not before, the date of the acknowledgment.

The last preceding subsection shall apply to a right of action to recover land accrued to a person entitled to an estate or interest taking effect on the determination of an entailed interest against whom time is running under section 15 of this Act, and on the making of the acknowledgment that section shall cease to apply to the land.

Where a mortgagee is by virtue of the mortgage in possession of any mortgaged land which is not subject to the Land Transfer Act 1952, and either receives any sum in respect of the principal or interest of the mortgage debt or acknowledges the title of the mortgagor, or his equity of redemption, an action to redeem the land in his possession may be brought at any time before the expiration of 12 years from the date of the payment or acknowledgment.

Where any right of action has accrued to recover any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim, or any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or to any share or interest therein, and the person liable or accountable therefor acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect thereof, the right shall be deemed to have accrued on and not before the date of the acknowledgment or the last payment:

Every such acknowledgment as aforesaid shall be in writing and signed by the person making the acknowledgment.

Any such acknowledgment or payment as aforesaid may be made by the agent of the person by whom it is required to be made under the last preceding section, and shall be made to the person, or to an agent of the person, whose title or claim is being acknowledged or, as the case may be, in respect of whose claim the payment is being made.

An acknowledgment of the title to any land or mortgaged personalty by any person in possession thereof shall bind all other persons in possession during the ensuing period of limitation.

A payment in respect of a mortgage debt by the mortgagor or any person in possession of the mortgaged property shall, so far as any right of the mortgagee to recover the property is concerned, bind all other persons in possession of the mortgaged property during the ensuing period of limitation.

Where 2 or more mortgagees are by virtue of the mortgage in possession of the mortgaged land, an acknowledgment of the mortgagor’s title or of his equity of redemption by one of the mortgagees shall bind only him and his successors and shall not bind any other mortgagee or his successors, and, where the mortgagee by whom the acknowledgment is given is entitled to a part of the mortgaged land and not to any ascertained part of the mortgage debt, the mortgagor shall be entitled to redeem that part of the land on payment, with interest, of the part of the mortgage debt which bears the same proportion to the whole of the debt as the value of the part of the land bears to the whole of the mortgaged land.

Where there are 2 or more mortgagors, and the title or right to redemption of one of the mortgagors is acknowledged as aforesaid, the acknowledgment shall be deemed to have been made to all the mortgagors.

An acknowledgment of any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim shall bind the acknowledgor and his successors but not any other person:

A payment made in respect of any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim shall bind all persons liable in respect thereof:

An acknowledgment by one of several personal representatives of any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person, or to any share or interest therein, or a payment by one of several personal representatives in respect of any such claim shall bind the estate of the deceased person.

In this section the expression successor in relation to any mortgagee or person liable in respect of any debt or claim means his personal representatives and any other person on whom the rights under the mortgage or, as the case may be, the liability in respect of the debt or claim devolve, whether on death or bankruptcy or the disposition of property or the determination of a limited estate or interest in settled property or otherwise.

Where, in the case of any action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Act, either—

the period of limitation shall not begin to run until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud or the mistake, as the case may be, or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it:

In this Part of this Act,—

This Part of this Act applies to the Commonwealth of Australia or any State or Territory of Australia, the United Kingdom, and to any country to which this Part of this Act is declared to apply by an Order in Council made under subsection (2) of this section.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, declare that this Part of this Act applies to a country specified in the order.

In the case of a country that is responsible for the international relations of a territory, an Order in Council under subsection (2) of this section may apply to the country and all or some of those territories.

Where the substantive law of a country to which this Part of this Act applies is to be applied in proceedings before a New Zealand Court or in an arbitration, the limitation law of that country is part of the substantive law of that country and must be applied accordingly.

If, in any case to which subsection (1) of this section applies, a New Zealand Court or an arbitrator exercises a discretion under the limitation law of another country, that discretion, so far as practicable, must be exercised in the manner in which it is exercised in that other country.

This Act and any other enactment relating to the limitation of actions shall apply to arbitrations as they apply to actions.

For the purposes of this Act and of any such enactment, an arbitration shall be treated as being commenced in the same manner as provided in Article 21 of Schedule 1 to the Arbitration Act 1996.

Where the High Court orders that an award be set aside, the Court may further order that the period between the commencement of the arbitration and the date of the order of the Court shall be excluded in computing the time prescribed by this Act or any such enactment for the commencement of proceedings (including arbitration) with respect to the dispute referred.

This section applies to an arbitration under an Act as well as to an arbitration under an arbitration agreement.

For the purposes of this Act, any claim by way of set-off or counterclaim shall be deemed to be a separate action and to have been commenced on the same date as the action in which the set-off or counterclaim is pleaded.

Nothing in this Act shall affect any equitable jurisdiction to refuse relief on the ground of acquiescence or otherwise.

Save as in this Act otherwise expressly provided and without prejudice to the provisions of section 33 thereof, this Act shall apply to proceedings by or against the Crown in like manner as it applies to proceedings between subjects:

This Act shall not apply to any action or arbitration for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other enactment, or to any action or arbitration to which the Crown is a party and for which, if it were between subjects, a period of limitation would be prescribed by any other enactment.

Any reference in any enactment to any of the enactments specified in Schedule 1 to this Act or to any provision of any such enactment shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding provision of this Act.

Nothing in this Act shall—

The enactments specified in Schedule 1 to this Act shall at the commencement of this Act cease to have effect in New Zealand.

The enactments specified in Schedule 2 to this Act are hereby amended in the manner indicated in that Schedule.