The Puzzling Purposes of Statutes of Limitation
Pacific Law Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3 (1997).
62 Pages Posted: 14 Nov 1997 Last revised: 21 May 2018
Date Written: 1997
Abstract
Although statutes of limitation are an important feature of virtually every country's legal system, the policies upon which limitation of actions is based have rarely been the object of serious study. A limitation system is the product of the interplay between two competing sets of policies: those supporting the extinguishment of untimely claims, and those encouraging the resolution of all claims on their substantive merits. In this article, the authors identify seven policies favoring limitation of actions and two policies disfavoring limitation of actions, and analyze whether and to what extent each of those policies is served by a typical limitation system in the United States.
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