statute of limitations

noun phrase

: a statute assigning a certain time after which rights cannot be enforced by legal action or offenses cannot be punished

Examples of statute of limitations in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although the statute of limitations prevented charges from being brought against them for materials before 1988, there was enough from after that year to bring criminal charges. —Hank Sanders, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025

The statute of limitations for filing an obstruction of justice charge ends on the two-year anniversary of the crash, on Sept. 4, 2024. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025

That ruling is currently on appeal at the Nevada Supreme Court, and in case it does not get overturned, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, says his office filed the new charges in a different venue before the statute of limitations expires. —Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 17 Dec. 2024

Police are far more likely to be convicted of manslaughter than murder in on-duty killings, and the statute of limitations for the lesser crime had expired or nearly run out on three of the four shootings Middleton was set to review by the time he was hired in June 2021. —James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

statute of limitations

1

a

: a statute establishing a period of time from the accrual of a cause of action (as upon the occurrence or discovery of an injury) within which a right of action must be exercised compare laches, statute of repose

b

: a criminal statute establishing the period of time within which an offense can be punished after its commission

2

: a period of time established by a statute of limitations for commencing an action or prosecution

3

: an affirmative defense that the statute of limitations has expired