Limitations on filing cases

George’s fourteen year-old met with an accident last fall and suffered serious injuries. The medical bills ran into the thousands and George, who was a carpenter, was running from pillar to post to find the cash. Young Michael fought against the odds for four years but unfortunately, finally succumbed to his injuries.

The aggrieved father then filed a case of negligence against the driver of the vehicle. However, the case could not proceed as the time for filing the suit had exceeded the wrongful death statute of limitations of the state. However unfortunate this may seem, it is the law and there are good reasons for having such limitations in place.

The Need

Courts decide cases based on evidences brought before it. This may seem heartless, especially after having heard George’s story but the fact is that courts cannot afford to be seen to judge cases based on the emotional state of affairs of the litigant. History has shown that as time passes, some evidence may deteriorate, or could be fudged to distort the truth. As such, the court cannot term such evidences as “reliable” and judgments based on the same would result in serious miscarriage of justice.

There is another aspect to these laws as well. Courts have to ensure that justice is done to all parties and the accused too has to be looked upon as a human being. In this case, there have been many arguments that frivolous litigations could be filed against persons with botched evidences. Moreover, the accused may have reformed or have suffered enough guilt that to punish him further would not be fair.

Filing for wrongful death

The state of Georgia has quite a few limitations depending on the case in focus. For example, if it is a case that has something to do with personal injury and wrongful death statute of limitations, the state declares a period of two years. Property damage on the other hand has a period of four years. A special case is considered for minors who have been involved in car accidents. For them, the statute of limitations provides a term until they attain the age of 18 years.

This period changes with state. There is a statute for limiting the period within which one ought to file a case for almost every case too. To know more, it would be best to consult a practicing lawyer who deals with these cases.