Ten-year limitation period for bodily injury

Under general law, a civil liability action is time-barred five years from the day the holder of the right knew the facts enabling them to act. For bodily injury, the law adopted a more protective rule: the action is time-barred ten years from the date of consolidation of the initial or worsened injury. The starting point therefore does not run as long as the victim's condition is not stabilized, which can take years, and a new period opens in case of deterioration. The period is extended to twenty years for harm caused by torture, acts of barbarity or sexual violence and assault committed against a minor. This rule applies to the action against the liable party and to the direct action against its insurer, and it is independent of the two-year limitation governing relations between the insured and their own insurer. For liability insurers, it lengthens the time during which a bodily injury claim can be made.