Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
  
  That law pertaining to the period of time within which certain actions must be brought to court. The law is intended to protect the vigilant against stale claims by requiring the prompt assertion of claims; thus an action must be brought (i.e., the complaint filed) within a specified time of the occurrence of the cause of action. After the time period expires, the claim is said to be "outlawed" and may not be enforced in court. The theory behind the statute of limitations is that there must be some end to the possibility of litigation. It is said that stale witnesses and stale records produce little truth and result in accidental justice, if any.
  
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