Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
Over the past four years, the English courts have applied the Limitation Act 1980’s discoverability provisions in a variety of legal contexts. The jurisprudence has clarified the relevant principles and illuminated five tests that guide the commencement of limitation under the discoverability doctrine. The courts have strived for coherence in applying these tests. Nevertheless, inconsistencies persist. In actions for restitution of taxes paid under a mistake of law, claimants continue to enjoy comparatively generous limitation treatment. This anomaly can be corrected through aligning the interpretation of limitation on tax restitution cases more closely with other contexts subject to the doctrine of discoverability.

Beswick, Samuel, The Limitation Doctrine of Discoverability (August 6, 2024), Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, pp 130-157, 2025.