§ 215.Actions to be commenced within one year: against sheriff, coroner or constable; for escape of prisoner; for assault, battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, libel or slander; for violation of right of privacy; for penalty given to informer; on arbitration award.
Article 2. Limitations of Time · Last amended 2024 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 215 sets a one-year deadline for a list of specific claims, including assault, battery, false imprisonment, defamation, and malicious prosecution, with extensions when a related criminal case is pending and a longer two-year period for domestic violence injuries.
The following actions shall be commenced within one year:
1. an action against a sheriff, coroner or constable, upon a liability incurred by him by doing an act in his official capacity or by omission of an official duty, except the non-payment of money collected upon an execution;
2. an action against an officer for the escape of a prisoner arrested or imprisoned by virtue of a civil mandate;
3. an action to recover damages for assault, battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, libel, slander, false words causing special damages, or a violation of the right of privacy under section fifty-one of the civil rights law;
4. an action to enforce a penalty or forfeiture created by statute and given wholly or partly to any person who will prosecute; if the action is not commenced within the year by a private person, it may be commenced on behalf of the state, within three years after the commission of the offense, by the attorney-general or the district attorney of the county where the offense was committed; and 5. an action upon an arbitration award.
6. An action to recover any overcharge of interest or to enforce a penalty for such overcharge.
7. an action by a tenant pursuant to subdivision three of section two hundred twenty-three-b of the real property law. 8.
(a)Whenever it is shown that a criminal action against the same defendant has been commenced with respect to the event or occurrence from which a claim governed by this section arises, the plaintiff shall have at least one year from the termination of the criminal action as defined in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law in which to commence the civil action, notwithstanding that the time in which to commence such action has already expired or has less than a year remaining.
(b)Whenever it is shown that a criminal action against the same defendant has been commenced with respect to the event or occurrence from which a claim governed by this section arises, and such criminal action is for rape in the first degree as defined in section 130.35 of the penal law, or a crime formerly defined in section 130.50 of the penal law, or aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree as defined in section 130.70 of the penal law, or course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree as defined in section 130.75 of the penal law, the plaintiff shall have at least five years from the termination of the criminal action as defined in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law in which to commence the civil action, notwithstanding that the time in which to commence such action has already expired or has less than a year remaining. 9. Notwithstanding the opening paragraph of this section, an action that may be brought to recover damages for injury arising from domestic violence, as defined in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services law, shall be commenced within two years. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to modify any time limitation contained in section two hundred fourteen of this article or subdivision eight of this section.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 215 gathers a group of claims that share a one-year deadline. It covers a sheriff, coroner, or constable's liability for an official act or omission, other than the nonpayment of money collected on an execution, which falls under CPLR 214 instead; an action against an officer for the escape of a prisoner held on civil process; the core cluster of intentional torts — assault, battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, libel, slander, false words causing special damages, and violation of the right of privacy under Civil Rights Law section 51; enforcement of a statutory penalty or forfeiture brought by a private informer, extended to three years if the state pursues it instead; enforcement of an arbitration award; claims for an overcharge of interest; and a tenant's retaliation claim under Real Property Law section 223-b(3).
Subdivision 8 addresses what happens when a related criminal prosecution is pending over the same event: the civil plaintiff gets at least one year from the end of that criminal case to sue, even if the ordinary one-year period has already expired or has little time left. That floor extends to five years where the criminal case involves certain first-degree rape, aggravated sexual abuse, or course-of-sexual-conduct-against-a-child charges.
Subdivision 9 sets its own two-year period, rather than one, for a claim to recover damages for injury arising from domestic violence — without disturbing either the ordinary personal-injury period in CPLR 214 or subdivision 8's extension tied to a pending criminal case.
CPLR 215 functions as the intentional-tort counterpart to CPLR 214's negligence-based three-year period. The shorter one-year window reflects that harm from these torts is usually apparent right away, unlike the delayed-discovery problems that malpractice and toxic-exposure claims present elsewhere in Article 2. It works alongside CPLR 213-b, 213-c, and 214-g, each of which displaces this section's one-year default with a longer period for crime victims and sexual-offense survivors, and alongside CPLR 208's tolling rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to sue for assault or battery in New York?
One year generally, under CPLR 215(3), subject to a longer period if a related criminal prosecution is pending.
What is the deadline to sue for defamation, libel, or slander in New York?
One year, under the same subdivision that covers assault, battery, and related torts.
Does a pending criminal case change my deadline to sue civilly?
Yes. Subdivision 8 gives the plaintiff at least one year from the criminal case's end, even if the ordinary period already expired, and at least five years where the criminal case involves certain serious sex offenses.
What's the statute of limitations for a domestic violence injury claim in New York?
Two years, under subdivision 9, rather than the one-year default the rest of the section sets for similar intentional torts.
Is there a one-year deadline to enforce an arbitration award?
Yes. CPLR 215(5) sets a one-year period for an action upon an arbitration award.
Does the one-year deadline apply to a retaliatory eviction claim against a landlord?
Yes. A tenant's claim under Real Property Law section 223-b(3) falls under this same one-year period.
Advisory Committee Notes
Paragraph 1 with one substantive change, is derived from subd 1 of CPA § 51. The liability of a constable was formerly governed by a three-year period. CPA § 49(2). It is not clear why an action against a sheriff or coroner should be barred in one year, while an action against a constable for the same liability should be barred in three. Under the new CPLR provision, actions against all the stated officers, upon a liability for an official act, except for the nonpayment of money collected upon execution, are governed by a one-year period.
Paragraph 2 is virtually the same as subd 2 of CPA § 51.
Paragraph 3 is derived from § 50, subd 3 of § 51 and subd 8 of § 49 of the CPA. Actions for assault, battery, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution were formerly governed by a two-year period under § 50(1). The effect of the perpetration of the torts involved in these actions is known promptly to the person injured. The action for malpractice, which formerly was subject to a two-year period and listed among the specified torts of subd 1 of § 50, would be subject to the three-year period. See § 214(6). In contrast to the other tort actions listed, the effect of the tort in many actions for malpractice is not known promptly to the person injured.
Paragraph 4 is derived from CPA § 52.
Paragraph 5 is new. It is designed to make the same one-year period applicable to actions upon an arbitration award as is applicable to motions to confirm an arbitration award. See § 7510.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1968, ch 1072, § 37, eff March 1, 1969; L 1969, ch 1141, § 17, eff July 1, 1969; L 1979, ch 693, § 2, eff Sept 1, 1979; L 1983, ch 95, § 1, eff May 17, 1983; L 2006, ch 3, § 4, eff June 23, 2006; L 2019, ch 245, § 1, effective September 4, 2019; L 2023, ch 777, § 43, effective September 1, 2024; L 2024, ch 23, § 40, effective September 1, 2024.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:New York assault battery lawsuit deadlineone year statute of limitations New York defamationlibel slander lawsuit time limit NYdomestic violence lawsuit statute of limitations New Yorkmalicious prosecution deadline New York