Discretion not formulaic

Raggett v Society of Jesus Trust 1929 For Roman Catholic Purposes and another [2010] EWCA Civ 1002, 27 August

The claimant sought damages for personal injury, loss and damage consequent upon sexual abuse and assaults committed on him by a teacher at a school he had attended during the 1970s. The judge held firstly that the abuse had taken place. Next she held, applying the requisite test for knowledge for the purposes of s14 of the Limitation Act 1980, that the claim became time barred in 1979. The judge then held that she was satisfied that it would be equitable to allow the action to proceed, under s33 of the Act because to the extent that there was any prejudice in relation to the issue of causation, it was likely to operate to the detriment of the claimant, since he had the burden of proving his loss. The defendants appealed contending that the judge erred in making findings that the abuse had occurred before determining whether it was appropriate to exercise of her discretion under s33 to extend the time limit and had applied the wrong principle in determining whether the defendants had suffered prejudice in relation to the issue of causation.