PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

Dribble said:
Try not to overthink it mate. FFP is as blatantly bent as that. It was created merely to stop City, & any future City's from challenging the European elite.

What illustrates this even more is if I wanted to refurbish my business premises, & send all the staff out for training & take on a plethora of Apprentices, it's perfectly fine to use my rich Gran's money.

However, if I wanted to entice top industry professionals to work for my business, but use my rich Gran's money to do it, that's considered against the industry rules. Why? Because the industry's ruling body doesn't think it fair I should be able to challenge the elite, because I've got a minted Gran. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠⊙⁠_⁠ʖ⁠⊙⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

In the real world, if I had a rich Gran willing to bankroll me, that just my good fortune, but in European football they want to bring back capital punishment for breaking their private members club rules. \0/
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Gilf ?
 
Dribble said:
[The issue of limitation is] not quite so straightforward. Looking at UK Law, extending the statute of limitations is based on the severity of the case, & judges have discretion over the merits.

. . .
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I wouldn't normally resurrect a post this far back in a thread, but this is a crucial issue in terms of how the allegations against City will be disposed of. It's important to ensure that the thread correctly states the lagal position because most users of this forum won't have first-hand knowledge of the relevant matters and rely on what others with ostensibly greater knowledge have posted. In view of this, I'd be grateful if you could cite a source for your unyielding statement above.

My own view of the situation has always been somewhat different. I believe that the PL's allegations are subject to a six-year limitation period from the cause of action (section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980). However, where a claim is based on matters allegedly entailing fraud or concealment on the part of a defendant, the six-year period runs not from the cause of action but from when the claimant discovers the fraud or concealment.

This is because the PL Rules are expressly stated to be subject to English law and they operate as a contract between each individual member club and the other member clubs as well as between each individual member club and the PL itself. Thus, the nature of the proceedings between the PL and Manchester City is such that they're subject to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, the statute that governs prescriptive periods for bringing legal actions across a range of civil-law matters in England and Wales (not the whole UK).

The provisions of the 1980 Act that are relevant to contractual affairs between the PL and MCFC are sections 5 and 32, referred to above. In addition, section 8 of the 1980 Act stipulates a 12-year limitation period for certain contracts but has no relevance to City's case.

The 1980 Act and other pieces of legislation do provide that a court has the right to disapply the limitation period in specific categories of cases. Examples are cases involving personal injury and defamation (both by virtue of specific provisions of the 1980 Act itself), claims against public authorities based on human rights considerations (by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998) and equal pay or discrimination-based claims (by virtue of the Equalities Act 2010). There are various others, too.

I'm aware of - and can find - nothing, however, that creates such a discretion in a case such as City's. If I'm missing something obvious, please enlighten me.
 
petrusha said:
I wouldn't normally resurrect a post this far back in a thread, but this is a crucial issue in terms of how the allegations against City will be disposed of. It's important to ensure that the thread correctly states the lagal position because most users of this forum won't have first-hand knowledge of the relevant matters and rely on what others with ostensibly greater knowledge have posted. In view of this, I'd be grateful if you could cite a source for your unyielding statement above.

My own view of the situation has always been somewhat different. I believe that the PL's allegations are subject to a six-year limitation period from the cause of action (section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980). However, where a claim is based on matters allegedly entailing fraud or concealment on the part of a defendant, the six-year period runs not from the cause of action but from when the claimant discovers the fraud or concealment.

This is because the PL Rules are expressly stated to be subject to English law and they operate as a contract between each individual member club and the other member clubs as well as between each individual member club and the PL itself. Thus, the nature of the proceedings between the PL and Manchester City is such that they're subject to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, the statute that governs prescriptive periods for bringing legal actions across a range of civil-law matters in England and Wales (not the whole UK).

The provisions of the 1980 Act that are relevant to contractual affairs between the PL and MCFC are sections 5 and 32, referred to above. In addition, section 8 of the 1980 Act stipulates a 12-year limitation period for certain contracts but has no relevance to City's case.

The 1980 Act and other pieces of legislation do provide that a court has the right to disapply the limitation period in specific categories of cases. Examples are cases involving personal injury and defamation (both by virtue of specific provisions of the 1980 Act itself), claims against public authorities based on human rights considerations (by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998) and equal pay or discrimination-based claims (by virtue of the Equalities Act 2010). There are various others, too.

I'm aware of - and can find - nothing, however, that creates such a discretion in a case such as City's. If I'm missing something obvious, please enlighten me.
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You've just answered your own question. What I read of the Statute of limitations, it isn't specific to a particular crime, but to the severity of it. EG: You knowingly claimed benefits you weren't entitled to, or you pulled off a Bernie Madoff level Pyramid scam.

If you wrong claimed a few hundred quid 20 years ago, I doubt the courts would bother. But if it were a Madoff level charge, going back 30 years, judges have the discretion to set aside the limitations Act.

Essentially, what City are accused of isn't even illegal in UK Law, only in the PL's rules which they state are governed by UK Law.

So by definition, if the criminal statute of limitations of 6 months was applied to our charge, we'd have no case to answer.

If the Civil statute of limitations was applied, the PL's got 6 years.

The only way any of extending either any further is if a court deemed the charges to be serious enough to warrant a hearing at the crown court, where there isn't a statute of limitations because of the deemed severity of the crime or civil case.

I read a few detailed pieces on the Government's website & various scholarly legal publications which I'll post later. I'm just getting sorted for the match, so hipefully this is OK for now.

Screenshot_20231230_141902_Chrome.jpg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_limitations#:~:text=Unlike%20many%20countries%2C%20the%20United,the%20Magistrates'%20Courts%20Act%201980.
 
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