Many people think they can go to court whenever they’ve been wronged. But in Ghana, the law sets deadlines. If you miss them, even the strongest case won’t be heard. The Limitation Act, 1972 (NRCD 54), is like the law’s countdown clock; once time runs out, so does your right to sue.
This listicle highlights ten (10) types of legal claims and the time limits that apply to each of them.
- Defamation (Slander) and Seduction – You Have 2 Years
If someone says something false about you that hurts your reputation, like calling you a thief in public or spreading harmful gossip, that’s called slander. It’s different from libel, which is when the lies are written or published. You can take legal action for slander because it damages your good name.
The law also covers seduction, so, if, as a case in point, someone tricks your underage daughter or ward into a sexual relationship using lies or false promises, you can sue for the emotional and social harm it causes.
But here’s the catch: You only have two years from the day it happened to take legal action. If you wait too long, even if the damage was serious, the law won’t let you sue.
- Personal Injury Caused by Another’s Negligence – 3 Years
This covers situations like car crashes, unsafe work environments, or accidents in public places. If someone’s carelessness leads to your injury, you can sue but you have three years from the day the accident happened to do so.
Even if your injuries are life-altering, the court may refuse to hear your case once that three-year window closes.
- Death Caused By Someone’s Fault – 3 Years From Death
If someone dies because of another person’s negligence, such as in a road accident, a medical error or a collapsed building, their family can sue for compensation under the Civil Liability Act. The death does not have to happen immediately. It is enough if the negligence eventually led to the person’s death. However, the law requires that the claim be filed within three years of the death.
Also, the law sets two important limits. First, the family must bring the claim within three years from the date of death. Second, and crucially, the right to sue only exists if the deceased still had a valid legal claim at the time they died. So if the person had already lost their right to sue, for example, by waiting too long before taking legal action while alive, then their family cannot sue after their death either. The clock starts at death, but only if the legal right was still alive at that point.
- Tort (Other Than Injury or Death) – 6 Years
Tort is a legal term for wrongful acts. If someone damages your property, pollutes your land, causes a nuisance, trespasses into your space, or interferes with your rights (but not your body or life), the law entitles you to sue. However, you have six years to bring the claim from the day the harm occurred. Delay beyond that, and your case may be legally dead.
- Breach of Contract or Money Owed – 6 Years
This includes any agreement, written or spoken, where someone fails to keep their promise. Whether it’s a loan that hasn’t been repaid or a supplier who didn’t deliver as agreed, the law gives you six years from the breach to sue.
The same time limit applies if it’s a quasi-contract, like when someone receives a benefit unfairly and the law implies an obligation to pay.
- Rent or Annuity Arrears – 6 Years
If you’re a landlord and a tenant hasn’t paid rent, or if you’re owed regular payments like an annuity, you can sue to recover the money. But you only have six years from the date the arrears became due. After that, you lose the right to claim them in court, even if the person still hasn’t paid.
- Recovery of Land – 12 Years
Let’s say someone takes over your land unlawfully and starts treating it as theirs. You might think you can always fight to get it back. Not quite.
Ghana’s law says you have twelve years from the time they took possession to sue and recover your land. If you wait too long, not only can you no longer sue, you actually lose title to the land. That person’s illegal occupation becomes lawful in the eyes of the law. It’s called adverse possession.
And if the person leaves and someone else takes over, the clock resets. But again, the new twelve-year period begins the moment someone else enters possession.
- Claiming Proceeds From Sale of Land – 12 Years
Suppose a piece of land is sold, perhaps a family property or land held in trust and you are entitled to a share of the proceeds. If the person responsible for distributing the money fails to give you what is due, the law gives you the right to sue and recover your portion.
But that right does not last forever. Under the Limitation Act, you must take legal action within twelve years from the date the money became payable to you. If you let the twelve years pass without suing, the law treats the claim as expired. At that point, the courts will not assist you, even if your entitlement is clear and undisputed.
- Mortgage Claims and Redemption – You Have 12 Years
A mortgage lender must act within twelve years to claim possession of land or to sell it if the borrower defaults. If the lender does nothing for twelve years, they lose both the land and the right to collect the loan.
Similarly, a borrower who wants to redeem the property must also act within twelve years. If the lender has held the land for that long, the borrower cannot redeem it.
- Demanding a Proper Account or Financial Records – 6 Years
Where someone holds money or property on your behalf, like a trustee, agent, or estate manager and you are entitled to an accounting, you must make your demand within six years of when the issue arose. If you wait too long, the law treats your right as expired.
When Time Doesn’t Run, or Can be Reset
The Limitation Act also recognises that life is complicated. There are a few situations where the time limit either pauses or restarts. Here’s how those work.
- Disability: If the Person is a Child or Mentally Unfit
When a child is wronged, or a person is mentally incapable at the time the harm occurred, the law pauses the countdown. The time only begins to run when the person turns eighteen, recovers, or dies, whichever happens first. This protects those who cannot reasonably act for themselves.
- If the Claim was Hidden by Fraud or Mistake
Sometimes people don’t discover they’ve been wronged because the other party hid the truth, by lying, concealing documents, or making a mistake that wasn’t obvious. In such cases, the law delays the start of the limitation period until the fraud or mistake is discovered, or could reasonably have been discovered. This rule prevents dishonest people from benefiting by hiding their wrongdoing.
- Acceptance: If the Wrongdoer Still Admits Your Claim
If the person who owes you money or property writes and signs a letter acknowledging the debt, it resets the limitation clock. From that day, you get a new time period to sue. However, the acknowledgement must be in writing and signed. Thus, even if the original time limit for suing has passed, such an acknowledgment revives the debt and gives you a new period to sue starting from the date of the acknowledgment. However, this revival applies only to the person who made the acknowledgment. It will not bind someone who later inherits their obligations under a trust or settlement that was created before the acknowledgment was made.
Final Word
The Limitation Act doesn’t ask whether you’re right. It asks whether you’re late. If you’ve been wronged, don’t sit on it. Speak to a lawyer early, even if you’re not sure you want to sue. Time might not be on your side later.
Because in law, when it comes to enforcing your rights, waiting too long is the same as doing nothing at all.
