Statute of Repose Law & Legal Definition
A statute of repose provides a date upon which the action no longer exists, whether it has accrued by that date or not; it entirely cuts off an injured person's right of action even before it accrues. It is a stricter deadline than a statute of limitations because it may not be tolled by fraud, discovery of injury, etc. A statute of repose is neither an avoidance nor a defense to a cause of action because the cause of action does not exist once the period of duration is passed. While a statute of limitation allows a party to avoid suit, a statute of limitations does not affect the validity of the claim; however, once the period of duration under a statute of repose is expired, there is no suit to avoid, because the statute of repose extinguishes the cause of action, and failure to plead the statue of repose as an affirmative defense could not resurrect a cause of action that no longer exists. A statute of repose bars an action after a specified period of time has run from the occurrence of some event other than the injury which gave rise to the claim.
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