Bill > HB519

This bill extends the time limit, known as the statute of limitations, for filing certain civil lawsuits related to human rights abuses. Specifically, it increases the filing deadline from one year to ten years for actions like assault, battery, false imprisonment, wrongful death, and claims for benefits under an insurance policy, provided these actions arise from conduct that is considered a "Federal Offense" (such as torture, genocide, war crimes, extrajudicial killings, forced labor, human trafficking, or sex trafficking, as defined by federal law) or a "Crime Against Humanity" (which includes acts like murder, extermination, enslavement, forced deportation, imprisonment, severe sexual violence, persecution of groups, forced disappearance, or similar acts causing great suffering or serious injury). The bill also allows for a ten-year statute of limitations for actions concerning the taking of property in violation of international law, under specific conditions related to the property's location or ownership. Importantly, this extended ten-year period applies retroactively to any such cause of action that arose on or after October 1, 2006, and the bill includes a provision that makes its different parts independently valid, meaning if one part is found invalid, the rest will still stand.