A statute of limitations sets the outside time limit for beginning a criminal prosecution or civil action. The New York booklet defines it in exactly those terms. The concept belongs to procedure and timing, not to the merits of the underlying claim.
This term matters because legal rights can be strong and still be lost if they are asserted too late. That is why the phrase appears often in judgments, litigation vocabulary, and procedural discussions. It also makes a natural contrast with the statute of frauds, which deals with writing requirements rather than time limits.
Why it matters: Readers often remember both terms only vaguely and mix them up. The clean distinction is this: the statute of frauds asks whether writing is required; the statute of limitations asks whether the claim was brought in time.
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