How Long Do You Have to Sue?
The general time limit for bringing an ordinary civil claim, such as a contract or a debt. Shorter or longer limits apply to many kinds of claim.
Greece20 years
This is the general rule for ordinary civil claims. Different periods apply to personal injury, property, family, employment and consumer claims, and the time can start from different events. A lawyer must check the exact limit for a case.
Read this first
These charts show a single number for each country, from our own knowledge: the year something first happened, or the time the law sets for it. Where a rule differs by region, by type of case or by group of people, the note says so. Rules are reformed from time to time, so check the current law. It is general information, not legal advice.
The same numbers, as a table
| Country | Years | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 5 | |
| Australia | 6 | Six years in most states; personal injury is usually shorter. |
| Belgium | 10 | |
| Brazil | 10 | |
| Canada | 2 | The basic limit in Ontario; each province sets its own. |
| China | 3 | |
| Denmark | 3 | |
| Finland | 3 | |
| France | 5 | |
| Germany | 3 | The regular period, running from the end of the year in which the claimant knew of the claim. |
| Greece | 20 | |
| India | 3 | |
| Ireland | 6 | |
| Israel | 7 | |
| Italy | 10 | |
| Japan | 5 | |
| Kenya | 6 | |
| New Zealand | 6 | |
| Norway | 3 | |
| Poland | 6 | |
| Portugal | 20 | |
| Russia | 3 | |
| Singapore | 6 | |
| South Africa | 3 | |
| South Korea | 10 | |
| Spain | 5 | |
| Sweden | 10 | |
| Switzerland | 10 | |
| Turkey | 10 | |
| United Kingdom | 6 | Six years for a simple contract in England and Wales, three for personal injury. |
| United States | 3 to 6 | Varies by state and by type of claim, usually between three and six years. |
Read further
Take it further
Status, visas, work authorisation and removal.
US bar exam, SQE, NCA, QLA, FE-1, AIBE and more, each one-time and lifetime.
A whole chapter of black-letter law on one printable page. Free sample.
Support this free tool
This guide is free, and it takes a lot of careful work to build and keep up to date. If it helped you, you can leave a small contribution. No account is needed, and nothing is sold to you.
A one-time card payment through Stripe. It is a contribution, not a purchase, and it is not tax-deductible.
Use this on your own site
Teachers, bloggers, journalists and researchers are welcome to use the map and the data, free, with a link back to this page. The data is licensed under CC BY 4.0: reuse it, even commercially, if you credit us. More about the licence.
Embed the map
<iframe src="https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/embed/chart-how-long-do-you-have-to-sue" title="How Long Do You Have to Sue?, TheLawToKnow" width="100%" height="560" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
Download the data
The table as a CSV file (opens in Excel and Google Sheets)
Credit line
<a href="https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/how-long-it-takes/how-long-do-you-have-to-sue">How Long Do You Have to Sue?</a>, TheLawToKnow
More charts
Cite this page
TheLawToKnow Tools. How Long Do You Have to Sue?. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/how-long-it-takes/how-long-do-you-have-to-sue.
