SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 1609

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: DECEMBER 16, 1996

 

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1609.

      N.J.S.A.2A:61B-1 sets forth the procedures to be followed in civil actions for injury or illness based on sexual abuse. In T.S.R.v. J.C., 288 N.J.Super. 48 (App. Div. 1996), the Appellate Division suggested that the language of 2A:61B-1 was unclear with regard to whether issues concerning the tolling of the statute of limitations in civil actions involving sexual abuse should be decided by the court or by a jury. Noting that under present New Jersey law, questions concerning the tolling of statute of limitations were normally determined by the court in a pretrial hearing, the Appellate Division in T.S.R.interpreted N.J.S.2A:61B-1 to require a similar procedure in actions involving sexual abuse. In order to codify the Appellate Division decision in T.S.R., this bill would delete the language from 2A:61B-1 which seems to suggest that a jury should decide "tolling" questions in cases alleging sexual abuse.