statute of limitations

A statute setting a time limit on legal action in certain cases.

Law that fixes the time within which parties must take judicial action to enforce rights or else be thereafter barred from enforcing them. The statute of limitations during which the IRS may assess an additional tax or collect a tax or the taxpayer can file an amended return is generally three years from the due date of the return or its filing or, if later, two years from the date the taxes were paid. The period can be extended by agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS. It is also extended for material omissions, and the statute does not apply if a required return is not filed or is fraudulent.

A specified statutory period after which a claimant is barred from enforcing his claim by suit.
Example: Abel bought a Limited Partnership interest in a real estate transaction. The Syndicator failed to mention in the Prospectus that the land is in a flood-prone area. Abel discovers the fact and sues 4 years later but is barred from collecting under the statute of limitations.

A statute that sets a time limit within which legal action on certain causes of action must be brought.

For more information on statute of limitations, visit Britannica.com.

A statute specifying the period of time within which legal action must be brought for alleged damage or injury. The lengths of the periods vary from state to state and depend upon the type of legal action. The period commences to run under some statutes of limitations upon the accrual of a legal claim, but in others only upon the time of discovery of the act resulting in the alleged damage or injury.

Statutes of Limitations are laws passed by legislatures that set an amount of time following certain events, after which legal proceedings involving those events may not begin. Statutes of limitations relate to both civil causes of action and criminal prosecutions. A civil statute of limitations may stipulate that the time period begins with the occurrence of an injury or with its discovery. For example, the law may permit an injured party in a car accident only a certain amount of time in which to begin court proceedings against the other party. Statutes of limitation exist for a variety of reasons, but primarily because, as time passes, papers may be destroyed, witnesses may die, or the conditions of a transaction may be forgotten. With the passage of time, it often becomes impractical to attempt to recover damages or to prosecute a crime. Due to statutes of limitations, certain violations of the law, because they are said to have become "stale," are never addressed in court. For some crimes, including homicide, there are no statutes of limitation. A number of states have also begun to abolish time limits for bringing criminal charges in cases involving the alleged sexual abuse of children.

Bibliography

Engel, Monroe. Statutes of Limitations. New York: Knopf, 1988.

A type of federal or state law that restricts the time within which legal proceedings may be brought.

Statutes of limitations, which date back to early Roman law, are a fundamental part of European and U.S. law. These statutes, which apply to both civil and criminal actions, are designed to prevent fraudulent and stale claims from arising after all evidence has been lost or after the facts have become obscure through the passage of time or the defective memory, death, or disappearance of witnesses.

The statute of limitations is a defense that is ordinarily asserted by the defendant to defeat an action brought against him after the appropriate time has elapsed. Therefore, the defendant must plead the defense before the court upon answering the plaintiff's complaint. If the defendant does not do so, he is regarded as having waived the defense and will not be permitted to use it in any subsequent proceedings.

Statutes of limitations are enacted by the legislature, which may either extend or reduce the time limits, subject to certain restrictions. A court cannot extend the time period unless the statute provides such authority. With respect to civil lawsuits, a statute must afford a reasonable period in which an action can be brought. A statute of limitations is unconstitutional if it immediately curtails an existing remedy or provides so little time that it deprives an individual of a reasonable opportunity to start her lawsuit. Depending upon the state statute, the parties themselves may either shorten or extend the prescribed time period by agreement, such as a provision in a contract.

Criminal Actions

A majority of states have a statute of limitations for all crimes except murder. Once the statute has expired, the court lacks jurisdiction to try or punish a defendant.

Criminal statutes of limitations apply to different crimes on the basis of their general classification as either felonies or misdemeanors. Generally, the time limit starts to run on the date the offense was committed, not from the time the crime was discovered or the accused was identified. The running of the statute may be suspended for any period the accused is absent from the state or, in certain states, while any other indictment for the same crime is pending. This suspension occurs so that the state will be able to obtain a new indictment in the event the first one is declared invalid.

Civil Actions

In determining which statute of limitations will control in a civil action, the type of cause of action that the claim will be pursued under is critical. States establish different deadlines depending on whether the cause of action involves a contract, personal injury, libel, fraud, or other claim.

Once the cause of action is determined, the date of the injury must be fixed. A cause of action ordinarily arises when the party has a right to apply to the proper court for relief. Some states, for example, require a person to bring a lawsuit for breach of contract within six years from the date the contract was breached. The action cannot be started until the contract has actually been violated, even though serious disagreements between the parties might have occurred earlier. Conversely, the time limit within which to bring an action for fraud does not begin until the fraud has been discovered.

A court cannot force a defendant to use a statute of limitations defense, but it is usually in the person's best legal interests to do so. Nevertheless, defendants do sometimes waive the defense. The defense may be waived by an agreement of the parties to the controversy, provided that the agreement is supported by adequate consideration. For example, a debtor's agreement to waive the statute of limitations in exchange for a creditor's agreement not to sue is valuable consideration that prevents the debtor from using the defense.

A defendant may be unable to use the limitations defense due to her agreement, conduct, or representations. To be estopped, or prevented, from using this defense, a defendant need not have signed a written statement, unless required by statute. The defendant must, however, have done something that amounted to an affirmative inducement to the plaintiff to delay bringing the action. Statements that only attempt to discourage a person from bringing a suit or mere negotiations looking toward an amicable settlement will not estop a defendant from invoking the statute of limitations.

Tolling the Statute

Statutes of limitations are designed to aid defendants. A plaintiff, however, can prevent the dismissal of his action for untimeliness by seeking to toll the statute. When the statute is tolled, the running of the time period is suspended until some event specified by law takes place. Tolling provisions benefit a plaintiff by extending the time within which he is permitted to bring suit.

Various events or circumstances will toll a statute of limitations. It is tolled when one of the parties is under a legal disability — the lack of legal capacity to do an act — at the time the cause of action accrues. A child or a person with a mental illness is regarded as being incapable of initiating a legal action on her own behalf. Therefore, the time limit will be tolled until some fixed time after the disability has been removed. For example, once a child reaches the age of majority, the counting of time will be resumed. A personal disability that postpones the operation of the statute against an individual may be asserted only by that individual. If a party is under more than one disability, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until all the disabilities are removed. Once the statute begins to run, it will not be suspended by the subsequent disability of any of the parties unless specified by statute.

The unexcused failure to start an action within the statutory period bars the action. Mere ignorance of the existence of a cause of action generally does not toll the statute of limitations, particularly when the facts could have been learned by inquiry or diligence. In cases where a cause of action has been fraudulently concealed, the statute of limitations is tolled until the action is, or could have been, discovered through the exercise of due diligence. Ordinarily, silence or failure to disclose the existence of a cause of action does not toll the statute. The absence of the plaintiff or defendant from the jurisdiction does not suspend the running of the statute of limitations, unless the statute so provides.

The statute of limitations for a debt or obligation may be tolled by either an unconditional promise to pay the debt or an acknowledgement of the debt. The time limitation on bringing a lawsuit to enforce payment of the debt is suspended until the time for payment established under the promise or acknowledgment has arrived. Upon that due date, the period of limitations will start again.

The law which limits the time after an event during which a court action related to a claim for damages arising out of the event can be initiated.

Any law that places a time restriction during which a lawsuit must be brought to court or a crime must be prosecuted.

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

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A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated. In civil law systems, similar provisions are usually part of the civil code or criminal code and are often known collectively as "periods of prescription" or "prescriptive periods."

Contents 1 Applications 2 Expiration 3 Prescription 4 Exclusions 4.1 Fraud Upon the Court 4.2 Crimes against humanity 5 See also

Applications

A common law legal system might have a statute limiting the time for prosecution of crimes called misdemeanors to two years after the offense occurred. In that statute, if a person is discovered to have committed a misdemeanor three years ago, the time has expired for the prosecution of the misdemeanor. Or a contract can only be sued upon for breach of performance from six years after the contracted performance became due.

Canada has a criminal-limitations period only for summary (less serious) offenses. The period is six months from the date of the offense which includes thefts under $5000. Thus, for instance, a Canadian can be charged with an "indecent act" only within six months of the time of offense, unless both the Crown and the defense agree. In the case of indictable (more serious) offenses, for example if a hypothetical assailant committed sexual assault, the assailant could be charged any time in the future.

A crime (in the case of a criminal prosecution) or a cause of action (in a civil lawsuit) is said to have accrued when the event beginning its time limitation occurs. Sometimes this is the event itself that is the subject of the suit or prosecution (such as a crime or personal injury), but it may also be an event such as the discovery of a condition one wishes to redress, such as discovering a defect in a manufactured good, or in the case of controversial "repressed memory" cases where someone discovers memories of childhood sexual abuse long afterwards.

An idea closely related, but not identical, to the statute of limitations is a statute of repose. A statute of repose limits the time within which an action may be brought and is not related to the accrual of any cause of action; the injury need not have occurred, much less have been discovered. Unlike an ordinary statute of limitations which begins running upon accrual of the claim, the period contained in a statute of repose begins when a specific event occurs, regardless of whether a cause of action has accrued or whether any injury has resulted. This often applies to buildings and properties, and limits the time during which an action may lie based upon defects or hazards connected to the construction of the building or premises. An example of this would be that if a person is electrocuted by a wiring defect incorporated into a structure in, say, 1990, a state law may allow his heirs to sue only before 1997 in the case of an open (patent) defect, or before 2000 in the case of a hidden defect. Statutes of repose can also apply to manufactured goods. Manufacturers contend they are necessary to avoid unfairness and encourage consumers to maintain their property. Consumer groups argue that statutes of repose on consumer goods provide a disincentive for manufacturers to build durable products and to notify consumers of product defects as the manufacturers become aware of them. Consumer groups also argue that such statutes of repose disproportionately affect poorer people, since they are more likely to own older goods.

Expiration

Once the statute of limitations on a case runs out, if a party raises it as a defense and that defense is accepted, any further litigation is foreclosed. Most jurisdictions provide that limitations are tolled under certain circumstances. Tolling will prevent the time for filing suit from running while the condition exists. Examples of such circumstances are if the aggrieved party (plaintiff) is a minor, or the defendant has filed a bankruptcy proceeding. In those instances, in most jurisdictions, the running of limitations is tolled until the circumstance (i.e. the injured party reaches majority in the former or the bankruptcy proceeding is concluded in the latter) no longer exists.

There may be a number of factors which will affect the tolling of a statute of limitations. In many cases, the discovery of the harm (as in a medical malpractice claim where the fact or the impact of the doctor's mistake is not immediately apparent) starts the statute running. In some jurisdictions the action is said to have not accrued until the harm is discovered, while in others the action accrues when the malpractice occurs, but an action to redress the harm is tolled until the injured party discovers the harm. An action to redress a tort committed against a minor is generally tolled in most cases until the child reaches the age of majority. A ten-year-old who is injured in a car accident might therefore be able to bring suit one, two or three years after he turns 18.

It may also be inequitable to allow a defendant to use the defense of the running of the limitations period, such as the case of an individual in the position of authority over someone else who intimidates the victim into never reporting the wrongdoing, or where one is led to believe that the other party has agreed to suspend the limitations period during good faith settlement negotiations or due to a fraudulent misrepresentation.

Generally speaking, in the case of private, civil matters the limitations period may be shortened or lengthened by agreement of the parties. However, under standard agreement with the Court of Law, you are to be let free, and limitations for you will cease to exist. Under the Uniform Commercial Code the parties to a contract for sale of goods may reduce the limitations period to not less than one year but may not extend it.

While such limitations periods generally are issues of law, limitations periods known as laches may apply in situations of equity (i.e., a judge will not issue an injunction if the party requesting the injunction waited too long to ask for it), such periods are not clearly defined and are subject to broad judicial discretion.

For US military cases, the Uniform Code of Military Justice states that all charges except for those facing general court martial (where a death sentence could be involved) have a five year statute of limitation. This statute changes once charges have been prepared against the service member. In all supposed UCMJ violations except for those headed for general court martial, should the charges be dropped, there is a six month window in which the charges can be reinstated. If those six months have passed and the charges have not been reinstated, the statutes of limitation have run out.

Prescription

In civil law countries, almost all lawsuits must be started within a legally determined period, called prescription.

For criminal cases, this means that the public prosecutor must prosecute within some time limit. The time limit varies from country to country, and increases with seriousness of the alleged crime. The 'clock' can be stopped (suspension) or even restarted (interruption) by certain legal events.

If a criminal is on the run, he can be convicted in absence, in order to prevent prescription, or the time limit does not elapse during that time.

The prescription must not be confused with the need to prosecute within "a reasonable delay", an obligation imposed by the European Court of Human Rights. Whether the delay is reasonable or not, will depend on the complexity of the trial and the attitude of the suspect.

Exclusions

Fraud Upon the Court

In the U.S., when a lawyer or law firm fraudulently presents facts to Court in a matter, the act is a crime deemed so severe and fundamentally opposed to the operation of justice that it is not subject to any statute of limitation.

Crimes against humanity

By way of custom of international law, crimes against humanity are usually not subject to statute of limitations, nor to prescription.

See also

• Adverse possession
• Equitable tolling
• Laches
• Limitation Act 1980 (England and Wales)
• Statute of repose
• Tort reform

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