STOP PRESS: This Practice Note is being updated to take account of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. Section 96 of the Act, which removes the limitation period for claims arising from child sexual abuse, comes into force on 29 June 2026 pursuant to section 255 of the Act.Proposed reform of limitation in child abuse claimsThe Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), published in October 2022, recommended reform of the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980) in order to remove the three-year limitation period for personal injury claims brought by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.On 5 February 2025 the government issued a press release announcing that the three-year time limit for such claims would be removed and, in accordance with the IICSA recommendation, the burden would be on the defendant to ‘show a fair trial cannot proceed if they intend to block one’. The press release states that ‘all cases brought will proceed