The Court held that enforcement proceedings under Chapter 19 of the UCPR, including applications for enforcement hearings and enforcement hearing summonses, are not an 'action' or 'proceeding in any court of law' within s 10(4) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), and therefore the 12-year limitation period does not bar such proceedings. The Court treated Tonkin v Johnson as binding authority for the proposition that the historic distinction between the right to sue on a judgment (subject to limitation) and the right to issue execution under it (governed by procedural rules such as r 799 UCPR) remains operative under the current UCPR regime. The Court also held that s 35(3) of the Limitations Act cannot be relied upon to extend the 12-year limitation period for an action on a judgment, as s 10(4) runs from the date the judgment became enforceable rather than from when a cause of action accrued.
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