Relates to the statute of limitations for civil actions related to certain sexual offenses committed against a person eighteen years of age or older, revives such actions otherwise barred by the existing statute of limitations and grants trial preference to such actions; directs the chief administrator of the courts to promulgate rules for the timely adjudication of certain revived actions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
66--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BROOKS, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS,
GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KAPLAN, KENNEDY, KRUEGER, LIU,
MAY, MYRIE, RAMOS, REICHLIN-MELNICK, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA,
SKOUFIS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed
to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary -- recommitted to the
Committee on Judiciary in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee
on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
statute of limitations for civil actions related to certain sexual
offenses committed against a person eighteen years of age or older,
reviving such actions otherwise barred by the existing statute of
limitations and granting trial preference to such actions; and to
amend the judiciary law, in relation to directing the chief adminis-
trator of the courts to promulgate rules for the timely adjudication
of certain revived actions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
2 section 214-j to read as follows:
3 § 214-j. Certain sexual offense actions. Notwithstanding any provision
4 of law which imposes a period of limitation to the contrary and the
5 provisions of any other law pertaining to the filing of a notice of
6 claim or a notice of intention to file a claim as a condition precedent
7 to commencement of an action or special proceeding, every civil claim or
8 cause of action brought against any party alleging intentional or negli-
9 gent acts or omissions by a person for physical, psychological, or other
10 injury or condition suffered as a result of conduct which would consti-
11 tute a sexual offense as defined in article one hundred thirty of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00387-02-2
S. 66--A 2
1 penal law committed against such person who was eighteen years of age or
2 older, or incest as defined in section 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal law
3 committed against such person who was eighteen years of age or older,
4 which is barred as of the effective date of this section because the
5 applicable period of limitation has expired, and/or the plaintiff previ-
6 ously failed to file a notice of claim or a notice of intention to file
7 a claim, is hereby revived, and action thereon may be commenced not
8 earlier than six months after, and not later than one year and six
9 months after the effective date of this section. In any such claim or
10 action, dismissal of a previous action, ordered before the effective
11 date of this section, on grounds that such previous action was time
12 barred, and/or for failure of a party to file a notice of claim or a
13 notice of intention to file a claim, shall not be grounds for dismissal
14 of a revival action pursuant to this section.
15 § 2. Paragraph 7 of subdivision (a) of rule 3403 of the civil practice
16 law and rules, as added by chapter 11 of the laws of 2019, is amended to
17 read as follows:
18 7. any action which has been revived pursuant to section two hundred
19 fourteen-g or two hundred fourteen-j of this chapter.
20 § 3. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 219-e to
21 read as follows:
22 § 219-e. Rules reviving certain actions; sexual offenses. The chief
23 administrator of the courts shall promulgate rules for the timely adju-
24 dication of revived actions brought pursuant to section two hundred
25 fourteen-j of the civil practice law and rules.
26 § 4. The provisions of this act shall be severable, and if any clause,
27 sentence, paragraph, subdivision or part of this act shall be adjudged
28 by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment
29 shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall
30 be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdi-
31 vision or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which
32 such judgment shall have been rendered.
33 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
34 section three of this act shall take effect three months after this act
35 shall have become a law.
