Libya - Time Bars

Legal briefing on Time bars

Time bars under contract of carriage in contract and in tort for both personal injury and latent damage claims are governed by the Libyan civil law as follows;

Statutory time bars in contract for personal injury and latent damage claims

The time bar limit for any liability to be accrued due to contract will be subject to 15 years time unless it is subject to a special provision as per execution laws. For example, (bill of lading or charter party) cargo claims will be subject to one-year time bar limit as per the provisions of Libyan maritime law before taking any legal action.

Statutory time bars in tort for personal injury and latent damage claims

According to article 175 in the Libyan civil act, time bar for any vicarious liability will be subject to 3 years time, commenced from the date the injured person becoming aware of the injury and who had committed and liable for it or the date the negligent act occurred and also who had committed it and liable for it before taking any legal action.

Any claim arises from criminal act, the time bar period for any connected or related civil claim wont become time bar if the criminal case still exists and not considered time bar yet.

However, in general, the time bar of such cases will not exceed 15 years from the date of the occurrence in case the incident is not being aware of and who committed it.

Time bars under contract of carriageJurisdiction

Contract claims for (personal injury & latent damage)	Within 15 years time limit of the breach of the contract, unless there is an exception, which is subject to special provision as per execution laws before taking any legal action
Tortious claims for (personal injury & latent damage)	Within 3 years time limit of negligent act or omission with claimant’s knowledge of the incident and who committed it and liable for it or 15 years time limit of the negligent act or omission before taking legal action