> Here in the land of the free, it turns out a company only has to honor its contractual obligations for a little while.
Eceryone everywhere appears to hate statuses of limitations, but they exist for a reason, namely that after some time society needs to move on. It may be disappointing, or even cruel, for the victims, but we can't keep litigating the past forever.
Espescially so in the "land of the free" which is the land of lawyers and lawsuits.
> we can't keep litigating the past forever
It's worth pointing out this reasoning is usually considered self-evident. I've rarely seen anyone doing any kind of deepdive into a practical reason for this.
This doesn't really seem like a valid reason & I suspect is misdirection.
If this were the case, litigating these instances would simply end quickly due to lack of evidence. There would be no cause for such a statute in such cases.
It is a valid reason. I'm involved in a title dispute on land in the Philippines. The most recent ruling from the Supreme Court was made in 1991 on a case originally filed in 1903.
Worse, the ruling required voluntary action from all title holders on an island, which of course was not taken.
At this point, all of the original litigants and judges are dead, and many of the descendants involved in 1991 are dead too. Every generation that passes expands the number of people who have a stake through inheritance.
In this case it's not as simple as a statute of limitations because land ultimately has to be titled, but these are some of the types of issues you run into if you don't have a time limit on things. People die. Papers get lost or destroyed. Organizations disband or get sold.
It's just better not to allow the complexity to overwhelm the legal system.
bambax · · focus · HN ↗
Eceryone everywhere appears to hate statuses of limitations, but they exist for a reason, namely that after some time society needs to move on. It may be disappointing, or even cruel, for the victims, but we can't keep litigating the past forever.
Espescially so in the "land of the free" which is the land of lawyers and lawsuits.
lucideer · · focus · HN ↗
It's worth pointing out this reasoning is usually considered self-evident. I've rarely seen anyone doing any kind of deepdive into a practical reason for this.
pinkgolem · · focus · HN ↗
People are not expected to hold onto there documents forever, humans forget.. and change
Figuring out what happened 3 years ago is hard, figuring out what happened 30 years ago is near impossible & often wrong
lucideer · · focus · HN ↗
If this were the case, litigating these instances would simply end quickly due to lack of evidence. There would be no cause for such a statute in such cases.
zhivota · · focus · HN ↗
Worse, the ruling required voluntary action from all title holders on an island, which of course was not taken.
At this point, all of the original litigants and judges are dead, and many of the descendants involved in 1991 are dead too. Every generation that passes expands the number of people who have a stake through inheritance.
In this case it's not as simple as a statute of limitations because land ultimately has to be titled, but these are some of the types of issues you run into if you don't have a time limit on things. People die. Papers get lost or destroyed. Organizations disband or get sold.
It's just better not to allow the complexity to overwhelm the legal system.