LIMITATION ACT 1953

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 254 LIMITATION ACT 1953 As at 1 September 2019 2 LIMITATION ACT 1953 First enacted … … … 1953 (F.M. Ordinance No. 4 of 1953) … … 1981 (Act 254 w.e.f. 19 November 1981) Latest amendment made by Act A1566 which came into operation on … … … 1 September 2019 Revised … … PREVIOUS REPRINT First Reprint … … … … 2000 Second Reprint … … … … 2006 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 254 LIMITATION ACT 1953 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I Section 1. Short title and application 2. Interpretation 3. Saving for other limitation enactments 4. Limitation not to operate as a bar unless specially pleaded PART II 5. Part II to be subject to provisions of Part III ACTIONS OF CONTRACT AND TORT AND CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS 6. Limitation of actions of contract and tort and certain other actions 6A. Limitation of actions to claim damages for negligence not involving personal injuries 7. Limitation in case of successive conversions and extinction of title of owner of converted goods Limitation of certain actions in respect of revenue matters 8. ACTIONS TO RECOVER LAND AND RENT 9. Limitation of actions to recover land 10. Accrual of right of claim in case of present interests in land 11. Accrual of right of action in case of future interests in land 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 254 Section 12. Provisions in case of settled land and land held on trust 13. Accrual of right of action in certain tenancies 14. Accrual of right of action in case of forfeiture or breach of condition 15. Right of action not to accrue or continue unless there is adverse possession 16. Limitation of redemption actions 17. No right of action to be preserved by formal entry or continual claim 18. Right of person out of possession extinguished 19. Administrator’s claim to date back to death 20. Limitation of actions to recover rent ACTIONS TO RECOVER MONEY SECURED BY MORTGAGE OR CHARGE OR TO RECOVER PROCEEDS OF THE SALE OF LAND 21. Limitation of actions to recover money secured by a mortgage or charge or to recover proceeds of the sale of land ACTIONS IN RESPECT OF TRUST PROPERTY OR THE PERSONAL ESTATE OF DECEASED PERSONS 22. Limitation of actions in respect of trust property 23. Limitation of actions claiming personal estate of a deceased person PART III 24. Extension of limitation period in case of disability 24A. Extension of limitation period under section 6A in case of disability 25. Extension of limitation period where debtor administers estate of his creditor 26. Fresh accrual of action on acknowledgment or part payment 27. Formal provisions as to acknowledgments and part payments 28. Effect of acknowledgment or part payment on persons other than the maker or recipient 29. Postponement of limitation period in case of fraud or mistake Limitation PART IV Section 30. Application of Act and other limitation enactments to arbitrations 31. Provisions as to set-off or counterclaim 32. Acquiescence 33. Application to the Government 34. Provisions as to actions already barred and pending actions 35. Repeal 36. (Omitted) SCHEDULE 5 7 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 254 LIMITATION ACT 1953 An Act to provide for the limitation of actions and arbitrations. [19 February 1953] PART I Short title and application 1. (1) (2) This Act may be cited as the Limitation Act 1953. This Act shall apply to Peninsular Malaysia only. Interpretation 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “action” includes a suit or any other proceeding in a court of law; “land” includes things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth, rent charges and any legal or equitable estate or interest in land including an interest in the proceeds of sale of land held upon trust for sale but save as aforesaid does not include any right of way, easement, servitude, profit over or in respect of land, or right in the nature of an easement, servitude or profit over or in respect of land, or any other incorporeal hereditament; “personal estate” and “personal property” do not include land or chattels real; 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 254 “rent” includes a rent charge and a rent service; “rent charge” means any annuity or periodical sum of money charged upon or payable out of land except a rent service or interest on the mortgage or charge of land or a rent payable to the State in respect of the grant or lease or alienation of State land; “trust” and “trustee” have the same meanings respectively as in the Trustee Act 1949 [Act 208]; “Peninsular Malaysia” has the meaning assigned thereto in section 3 of the Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967 [Act 388], and includes the Federal Territory. (2) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed to be under a disability while he is an infant or of unsound mind. (3) A person shall be deemed to claim through another person, if he became entitled by, through, under, or by the act of that other person to the right claimed: Provided that a person becoming entitled to any estate or interest by virtue of a special power of appointment shall not be deemed to claim through the appointor. (4) References in this Act to a right of action to recover land shall include references to a right to enter into possession of the land or in the case of rent charges any right to distrain for arrears of rent and references to the bringing of such an action shall include references to the making of such an entry or distraint. (5) References in this Act to the possession of land shall, in the case of rent charges, be construed as references to the receipt of the rent, and references to the date of dispossession or discontinuance of possession of land shall, in the case of rent charges, be construed as references to the date of the last receipt of rent. (6) In Part III of this Act references to a right of action shall include references to a cause of action and to a right to receive money secured Limitation 9 by a mortgage or charge on any property or to recover proceeds of the sale of land, and to a right to receive a share or interest in the personal estate of a deceased person and references to the date of the accrual of a right of action shall— (a) in the case of an action for an account, be construed as references to the date on which the matter arose in respect of which an account is claimed; (b) in the case of an action upon a judgment, be construed as references to the date on which the judgment became enforceable; (c) in the case of an action to recover arrears of rent or interest, or damages in respect thereof, be construed as references to the date on which the rent or interest became due. Saving for other limitation enactments 3. This Act shall not apply to any action or arbitration for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other written law or to any action or arbitration to which the Government or the Government of any State is a party and for which if it were between subjects a period of limitation would have been prescribed by any other written law. Limitation not to operate as a bar unless specially pleaded 4. Nothing in this Act shall operate as a bar to an action unless this Act has been expressly pleaded as a defence thereto in any case where under any written law relating to civil procedure for the time being in force such a defence is required to be so pleaded. PART II Part II to be subject to provisions of Part III 5. This Part shall have effect subject to Part III of this Act. 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 254 ACTIONS OF CONTRACT AND TORT AND CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS Limitation of actions of contract and tort and certain other actions 6. (1) Save as hereinafter provided the following actions shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued, that is to say— (a) actions founded on a contract or on tort; (b) actions to enforce a recognisance; (c) actions to enforce an award; (d) actions to recover any sum recoverable by virtue of any written law other than a penalty or forfeiture or of a sum by way of penalty or forfeiture. (2) An action for an account shall not be brought in respect of any matter which arose more than six years before the commencement of the action. (3) An action upon any judgment shall not be brought after the expiration of twelve 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 six years from the date on which the interest became due. (4) An action to recover any penalty or forfeiture or sum by way of penalty or forfeiture recoverable by virtue of any written law shall not be brought after the expiration of one year from the date on which the cause of action accrued: Provided that for the purpose of this subsection the expression “penalty” shall not include a fine to which a person is liable on conviction for a criminal offence. (5) Nothing in this section shall apply to— Limitation 11 (a) any cause of action within the Admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court which is enforceable in rem other than an action to recover the wages of seamen, or (b) any action to recover money secured by any mortgage of or charge on land or personal property. (6) Subject to sections 22 and 32 of this Act the provisions of this section shall apply (if necessary by analogy) to all claims for specific performance of a contract or for an injunction or for other equitable relief whether the same be founded upon any contract or tort or upon any trust or other ground in equity. Limitation of actions to claim damages for negligence not involving personal injuries 6A. (1) Notwithstanding subsection 6(1), this section shall apply to any action for damages for negligence not involving personal injuries, where the starting date for calculating the period of limitation under subsection (2) falls after the date on which the cause of action accrued. (2) An action to which this section applies shall not be brought after the expiration of three years from the starting date if the period of three years expires later than the period of limitation prescribed in subsection 6(1). ILLUSTRATIONS (a) C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2010, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved into the house. C has three years from 2010 to file an action in court against D for damages. (b) C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2006, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved into the house. C has three years from 2006 to file an action in court against D for damages. 12 Laws of Malaysia ACT 254 (c) C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2005, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved into the house. C has three years from 2005 to file an action in court against D for damages. (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), no action shall be brought after the expiration of fifteen years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. ILLUSTRATION C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2017, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2001, one year after C moved into the house. C cannot commence an action because he has already exceeded the fifteenyear limitation period. (4) For the purposes of this section— (a) “starting date” means the earliest date on which the plaintiff or any person in whom the cause of action was vested before him first had both the knowledge required for bringing an action for damages in respect of the relevant dama