Calculating the Statute of Limitations?

[Laudenum]

A brief legal question.

I was just thinking of this today - how is the statue of limitations normally calculated - for instance, is a year taken as being 365 days?

Or is it done from May 31st 2007 to May 31st 2012?

If the latter, are leap years ever accounted for, and what about Feb 29th?

[lawbuff]

I am assuming ALL states have statutory construction laws, such as this one from my state OR such what are known as "Time Computation" provisions.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp1.14

[Northern Piper]

In Canada, it's a 12 month period, not a number of days. Leap years don't affect the calculation.

The federal Interpretation Act (http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-i-21/latest/rsc-1985-c-i-21.html#sec37subsec1) provision is a typical example; the provinces also have similar provisions:

Construction of “year”

37. (1) The expression “year” means any period of twelve consecutive months, except that a reference

(a) to a “calendar year” means a period of twelve consecutive months commencing on January 1;

(b) to a “financial year” or “fiscal year” means, in relation to money provided by Parliament, or the Consolidated Revenue Fund, or the accounts, taxes or finances of Canada, the period beginning on April 1 in one calendar year and ending on March 31 in the next calendar year; and

(c) by number to a Dominical year means the period of twelve consecutive months commencing on January 1 of that Dominical year.

[Boyo Jim]

WTF is a Dominical year?

[Northern Piper]

It's a form of perpetual calendar, of ecclesiastical origin. See the wiki article on "Dominical Letter." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominical_letter) Its value is that you can easily determine the day of the week that a particular date will fall upon.

[Senegoid]

[fun answer, not a real answer]Just to be safe, I think you should stay in hiding for a week extra or so, just to be sure.

There was an episode of the 1950's-era Superman (George Reeves) TV show that focused on this. A fugitive had entombed himself into a crypt, along with all the provisions he might need to live comfortably for some number of years. Everyone knew he was there, but the crypt was built of some super-material that nobody could bust open. (He had a vial of some kind of super-acid to burn through it when he was ready to come out.) The plan was to stay there until some statute of limitations ran out. Superman tried to break in to get him, but failed.

So the authorities just tricked him. They cranked up the voltage of the electricity serving the crypt (one would think, then, that they could just have shut off the electricity altogether) thus causing his clock to run a little fast, whereupon he thought the time was up when he still had a day to go. So he came out a day early and got taken away, and everybody else lived happily ever after.

So don't play the game of trying to cut it as close as you can. :D
[/fun answer, not a real answer]

[barbitu8]

[fun answer, not a real answer]Just to be safe, I think you should stay in hiding for a week extra or so, just to be sure.

There was an episode of the 1950's-era Superman (George Reeves) TV show that focused on this. A fugitive had entombed himself into a crypt, along with all the provisions he might need to live comfortably for some number of years. Everyone knew he was there, but the crypt was built of some super-material that nobody could bust open. (He had a vial of some kind of super-acid to burn through it when he was ready to come out.) The plan was to stay there until some statute of limitations ran out. Superman tried to break in to get him, but failed.

So the authorities just tricked him. They cranked up the voltage of the electricity serving the crypt (one would think, then, that they could just have shut off the electricity altogether) thus causing his clock to run a little fast, whereupon he thought the time was up when he still had a day to go. So he came out a day early and got taken away, and everybody else lived happily ever after.

So don't play the game of trying to cut it as close as you can. :D
[/fun answer, not a real answer]
The S/L can be tolled upon certain circumstances. This appears to be one of those circumstances.

[lawbuff]

I remember that episode, but if I remember right, the time frame was 7 years to declare a person legally dead, and that was the legal issue.

The Attorney filing it would be in trouble and the Petition to delare the person in hiding legally dead would have been Vacated/Void.

They knew who the person was, so a warrant would have been issued in real life, which would toll any SOL.