‘Watershed moment’ as three-year time limit on child rape claims scrapped in England and Wales Under current rules, civil child sexual abuse cases must be brought within three years of turning 18.
Under current rules, civil child sexual abuse claims must be brought within three years of turning 18, unless the victim can prove a fair trial can proceed despite the time lapse.
Under reforms hailed by campaigners as a “watershed moment”, ministers said civil claims will no longer have to be brought within three years of a child abuse survivor’s 18th birthday.
Apologies will also be made easier to pursue, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said, as it announced implementation of two more of the 20 recommendations from the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
IICSA also heard that in many child sexual abuse cases, an apology by an institution such as a school or hospital trust was usually desired but rarely given, blocking victims’ path to closure.
