In computing the time within which an action must be brought to trial pursuant to this article, there shall be excluded the time during which any of the following conditions existed:
§ 583.340.Exclusions When Computing Time
Title 8. Of the Trial and Judgment In Civil Actions · Chapter 1.5. Dismissal for Delay in Prosecution · Article 3. Mandatory Time for Bringing Action to Trial or New Trial · Enacted 1705 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 583.340 excludes from the five-year trial deadline any time the court's jurisdiction to try the action was suspended, any time prosecution or trial of the action was stayed or enjoined, and any other time bringing the action to trial was impossible, impracticable, or futile.
Full Text of § 583.340
(a) The jurisdiction of the court to try the action was suspended.
(b) Prosecution or trial of the action was stayed or enjoined.
(c) Bringing the action to trial, for any other reason, was impossible, impracticable, or futile.
Plain-English Summary
Not every delay counts against the plaintiff's five years. This section excludes time from the calculation when the court's jurisdiction to try the case was suspended — for example, during certain appeals or proceedings that strip the trial court of authority to act — and when the action's prosecution or trial was stayed or enjoined, whether by another court or by operation of law.
The third category is broader: any other period when bringing the action to trial was impossible, impracticable, or futile also gets excluded. Unlike the parallel exclusion for the three-year service deadline in § 583.240(d), this catch-all for the five-year trial deadline doesn't carry an express "beyond the plaintiff's control" qualifier, which has made it the subject of significant litigation over exactly how far it reaches in any given case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of delay are excluded from the five-year trial deadline?
Time when the court's jurisdiction to try the action was suspended, time when prosecution or trial was stayed or enjoined, and any other time when bringing the action to trial was impossible, impracticable, or futile.
Is this the same standard used for the three-year service deadline?
It's similar but not identical — § 583.240 for the service deadline expressly excludes a plaintiff's own failure to discover facts from the impossible-impracticable-futile category, while this section's text doesn't include that same qualifying language.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1705, Sec. 5.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: tolling five year rule californiaimpossible impracticable futile trial deadline california