Talk:Statute of limitations

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[edit] Purpose?

I'm a little surprised that there's no clarification of the purpose of such a legal mechanism. Obviously in the case of misdemeanors or lesser crimes (like say public nudity), there's really no point in prosecution after 20 years. However, what I have difficulty understanding is how there can be statutes of limitations for things like armed robbery, and an explanation or clarification of the purpose behind a statute of limitations would probably shed insight. I can understand that a crime after a certain amount of time does not bear the same weight (especially in light of those that may have been affected), but should this then not be determined at the time of attempted prosecution? As a kind of agreement between the prosecution and defense, where both can agree that after 60 years, prosecuting an 80 year old bank robber wouldn't serve the public interest.

Could we possibly get some etymology/history of its inception along with possibly some calrification/explanation of its intended purpose? 66.175.212.30 (talk) 18:08, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

i'm no authority, but I was told that the idea is that someone has suffered enough by livving in terror of being caught for, say, 8 years. That that's punishment enough. It would be a miscarriage of justice to make someon live in fear of being caught for something they did thirty years ago -- in fact, this might be more punishment than if they had served six months thirty years ago! So, I was told: it's because dreading being caught is also a kind of punishment and the law considers it such. (However, it was a layperson who told me this.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.2 (talk) 00:08, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
also: I just checked by googlling "purpose of statute of limitations", whose second result (http://www.deadlyroads.com/statute-of-limitations.shtml) is a nice read. the google summary for the search result read "he primary purpose of a statute of limitations is to insure against the inevitable prejudice and injustice to a defendant that a delay in prosecution ..." but I'm readin gthe case I just linked for you now. It's interesting and informative. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.2 (talk) 00:12, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Table of what statutes of limitations ARE

I saw a table once that listed how long the statute of limitations are in each jurisdiction, and I would love for something like that to be in Wikipedia. The limitation is at issue in a recent case in Chicago, USA. Downtown dan seattle 09:35, 29 July 2006


[edit] Criminal template

Why is this criminal templated? Surely limitation periods apply to many kinds of proceeding? Francis Davey 17:23, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

They certainly do. And when they expire, they expire forever. There's no retroactive proceedings {the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases an anomaly, and even then there were certain time requirements for victim accusations and filings), not much to be done by law enforcement once the statute of limitations has been reached and passed in a criminal matter. If a person is still hounded about past allegations or suppositions, then civil redress is available to him or her. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.212.159.63 (talk) 13:12, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Canadian limit

The Canadian limit is 6 months for summary convictions, not 10 years. I changed that tad oversight.

[edit] Real estate claims and laches

For property ownership title defects, is there ever any equivalent to a statue of limitations type of abandonment of ownership beyone which claims against the title cannot be made?-anon. - Yes, it is called the "doctrine of laches," which mainly stands for the proposition that if you wait too long to assert title and your delay results in another being harmed by your claim to title, then you may not be allowed to make your claim.-anon.

Prof. Schweizer of CSU Fresno has linked to this page from http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~haralds/LAWS.htm -- make sure it stays up to snuff!  :-) --LMS

Is there a way to make this page less US-centric? Something like a statute of limitations exists in almost all legal systems. Also, one could talk about the history of the term (wasn't there once an English act called the Statute of Limitations, from which this term originates?) -- SJK

Yes, and in England and Wales we don't use the term "Statute of Limitations" because our limitation periods are contained in the Limitation Act 1980. I would prefer an article called "Limitation Periods" but that might be to POV for me. At the moment reading the article makes my skin creep, it is so POV. Francis Davey 21:09, 26 August 2005 (UTC)
I have seen judges use the phrase "statute of limitations" (e.g. in Haward v Fawcetts (a firm) [2006] UKHL 9) to refer to limation legislation in general, which you might want to do for considering the laws of various countries on the topic. People do sometimes use "statute of limitations" as if it is the name of a particular statute, but that's probably a misunderstanding or maybe an Americanism.--204.155.226.2 16:37, 11 July 2006 (UTC) Sophie
I agree, I would like to see the page take on a more international tone. I will leave that to the experts though. I recently read that China has a 20-year statute of limitations on any crime that can be punished by death; I'm not sure though how much detailed information should be included on the general statute of limitations page. At any rate, it would be good to have at least some variety.
Additionally, I would like to see the Philosophies section expanded to be a little more comprehensive and include arguments both for and against them. I don't have the expertise to do this, but I think it would improve the page. Nisaba Gray 23:00, 14 February 2006 (UTC)Nisaba Gray

Is there an information source from which one can research to discover what the "statute of limitation" or "limitation of action" is in a particular state for a given situation? JVP

Yes. In common law systems all such rules will be statutory since there is no common law notion of limitation (laches being equitable) -- leaving aside certain rules in claims of right and novel disseisin and so on. You therefore have to find the relevant rule. We could build a table up here. Francis Davey 21:09, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

Can anyone volunteer a legal opinion on how a statute of limitations works in the case of government regulations. If an agency has a regulation in effect, and if the law creating the agency provides that each day of continuous violation of an agency regulation constitutes a separate offense, can a statute of limitation ever cut off the ability of an agency to enforce its regulation against a continuously existing violation?

Is there any case law that substantiates the assertion that it is "unequitable to allow a defendant to use the defense of the running of the limitations period... where one is lead to believe that the other party has agreed to suspend the limitations period during a good faith settlement negotiation"? please email me at bobbywilson54@hotmail.com

Just a minor comment. The opening line reads "A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system setting forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may begin." But the opening line for Statute states "A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published." So on this topic page we use "statute" to mean "precedent" or "case law", and on the Statute page, it specifically entails a government's statutes as being "written... by its legislative authority". I found this misleading. Sure it's possible the word has multiple meanings, but wouldn't it be more appropriate and informative to not use the word statute which is already part of the topic, and instead use "precedent" or "case law"? --Michael McGranahan, 2005-03-31 09:42 PST.

As far as I can see the chronological table of statutes has no act with the title "statute of limitations", so this must have been a popular name not a short title or collective title. Whether it was used in the past in England I do not know, though I think it is likely, it is not a term that is used now and, as you say, it is sloppy unless a statute is really called "statute of limitations" using whatever system you use for entitling statutes in your jurisdiction.
The earliest example of such a statute I can find is 3 Edw. 1 c. 39 listed in the chronological tables as "Limitation of Prescription Act, 1275", vulgo "The Statute of Westminster the First". Francis Davey 21:09, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Accrual of cause of action

In English law the limitation period doesn't necessarily start when the cause of action accrues - e.g. for latent damage caused by a breach of contract, the cause of action accrues when the breach occurs but the limitation period does not start to run until the claimant knows about the damage. The fact that in those circumstances the limitation period starts later than normal does not change the date when the cause of action accrues. (see Limitation Act 1980 s14A). I don't know whether the terms are the same in US law but I suspect the writer has defined accrual of a cause of action in a slightly sloppy way. --204.155.226.2 16:30, 11 July 2006 (UTC)Sophie


[edit] Statute of Repose

This section was crap with no actual definition of a statute of repose. I added the definition from 54 C.J.S. Limitations of Actions § 4, at 20-21 (1987). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.166.2.100 (talk) 22:57, 1 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Canadian limitations

The Ontario Limitations Act 2002 establishes a limitations period for sexual assault, which to the best of my knowledge is an indictable offence (felony), so I took out the assertion about only summary offences having limitations. If I'm wrong, feel free to change it back. I'll be doing further research. John FitzGerald 23:48, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Okay, there's a summary version of sexual assault. i reverted until i can establish wha's limited and what's not. John FitzGerald

I was wrong, it appears. However, the limitations period appears to vary by offence by province. I'll make sure of the facts before changing the text this time, though. John FitzGerald fdsadfdsfdsf ÂÂ

[edit] statute of limitations

Are there any limitations on time in which a creditor can sue for an uncollected debt? ie, an account is 5 years old and the debt remains uncollected.

In the US, for example, the period of limitations is set by state statutes, debtor-creditor relations being a state law matter. One important exception is government-issued or -guaranteed student loans: the SoL has been abolished for those. Ellsworth 01:02, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Real estate claims and laches

[edit] Clarity

In the section

An example of this would be that if a person is electrocuted by a wiring defect incorporated into a structure in, say, 1990 . . .

does this refer to a situation in which the person is electrocuted in 1990, or that the defect was incorporated into the structure in 1990? This should be clearer. -Branddobbe 02:26, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] probation

is there a statue of limitatations on violation of probation? that occured in 1980, by leaving the state where probation was given? state california,offence felenoy reckless driving reduced to reckless driving in 1979.

[edit] "False Memory" Syndrome...

or in the case of controversial false memory syndrome cases where someone discovers memories of childhood sexual abuse during therapy long afterwards.

I don't see how the truth or falsehood of the "memory" in question is relevant to the time limit on bringing action. This looks to me like an editorial comment on the validity of repressed/recovered memory. It doesn't matter if the memory is valid, or a false/distorted memory resulting from poor psychological treatment -- that issue is decided during the legal proceedings; the statue of limitations is used to determine if proceedings can even begin. Kutulu 22:16, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I believe the idea is that the statute of limitations is to prevent starting cases and wasting peoples' time and the state's money in situations where the evidence is very dubious. Even though once a case is started, they decide the validity of the evidence, one of the purposes of the statute of limitations is to prevent cases which might involve false memory from even starting, and therefore the comment is relevant (although it might require a citation). Pulsemeat 01:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
The unreliability of witness's and victim's accounts after long periods is probably one of the reasons why there is a statute of limitations. However, after this edit the article says that, if legal proceedings in a sexual abuse case must start before X years have passed since the sexual abuse was discovered. And the time of discovery can be the moment the victim remembers the abuse. I find that hard to believe. Johan Lont 07:46, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

It's also a self-contradictory sentence - if the memories are false they can't be discovered and also aren't memories.

I've replaced the false memory wording with the term "repressed memory" which is more neutral. The repressed memory article can do the job of presenting arguments for and against the legitimacy of such memories. DopefishJustin 19:58, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Primary Inventor needs answers & some serious legal help. (I'll share the movie rights, too!)

I'm an American (primary) inventor, who has been failed by our system. I'm told by some, that there may be a statute of limitations barring me from taking ultimate actions against a few infringers who have blantantly infringed, (and a lot worse). [SEE: www.perfectagrip.com (Infringers beware)]

My legal dilemma (with no cure) is killing me.

Despite the fact I have both, a fantastic product line & an unmatched vision... It is impossible to find any honest representation, who will not be bought off by those who have made considerable revenue selling my idea (without a patent) at my expense, and as a result [they] have the required "deep pockets" critical to attracting any attorney. I have an extremely strong case against several. I have been told many different conflicting opinions.

Can I eventually prevail, should I happen to find this mythical honest attorney? Is there any limitation period if we can prove gross legal malpractice, and/or fraud were to blame? ((When will the rights of inventors EVER be protected??))

Please, feel free to respond to me via email at: agpgi@yahoo.com

Thank you, - A.G. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.111.161.50 (talk) 23:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Britain?

Does the concept of a statute of limitations exist in Britain (specifically, England) as far as criminal law is concerned? Growing up in England, I always thought it an American concept when I read about it in books. 86.132.137.80 01:42, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New York

The part saying that the New York SOL is three years is flat-out wrong. First of all, there are many different time limitations applicable to various causes of action. If the "default rule" is what this reference was getting at, a six-year limitations period applies "where not otherwise provided for." CPLR 213.

[edit] Clarification

It discusses the ability of statues of limitations on civil lawsuits. What happens to any property that the person may have stolen or acquired illegally. Scenario

Person A 13 years ago stole a painting from Museum X. The statue of limitations is 8 years on larceny. It is found out that person A still has the painting in his posession. Can Museum X still get their painting back from person A. This would be something similar to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum stolen Remprant' case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.91.129.150 (talk) 00:01, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Does every law have a statute of limitation.

Does every law written have a statute of limitation imposed with it, or only those that do have a statute of limitations written with it carry one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.91.129.150 (talk) 00:05, 17 April 2008 (UTC)