ABSTRACT
A writ is issued when it is sealed with the official court stamp at the registry.9
Normally, at least three copies are sealed (more where there are multiple defendants). The registry retains one and the other two are sent to the plaintiff. The date of issue is important because it affects the calculation of time for the expiry of the writ. It is also important in that the relevant limitation period for bringing an action must not have expired before the date of issue of the writ. In most Caribbean jurisdictions, a writ is initially valid for 12 months,10 but its validity can be extended by obtaining an order for renewal from the court.11 In personal injuries claims, notice of the proceedings must be served on the defendant’s insurers within seven days of the issue of the writ.
In Sands v Baillou,12 Gonsalves-Sabola J, in the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, emphasised that renewal of a writ is not granted as a matter of course. The plaintiff must show ‘good reason to justify the exercise of the discretion to renew’. It was not a good reason for allowing a renewal that the parties had been negotiating for a settlement. A similar approach was taken in another Bahamian case, Williams v StubbsRahming,13 where in an action for damages for personal injuries both the validity of the writ and the limitation period had expired. Thorne J (Ag), following Battersby v AngloAmerican Oil Co Ltd,14 held that ‘the court would not exercise its discretion in favour of renewing a writ if the effect of doing so would be to deprive a defendant of a right of limitation which had already accrued’.
