Opinion ID: 1188554
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the period of suspension

Text: The final, and perhaps the most vexing question, remains for decision. We must determine between what dates the statute was suspended, and then deduct the period of suspension from the total period which intervened between the accrual of the cause of action and the institution of the present proceedings. We can then determine whether the net balance of time is more or less than ten years. The significant dates may be listed as follows: 14 April 1932 Net proceeds of estate paid by the administrator to the State Treasurer for the State Land Board. On this date the 10-year statute began to run. 8 May 1940 Germany invades The Netherlands. 11 May 1940 The President of the United States proclaims the existence of a state of war between Germany and the Kingdom of The Netherlands. 54 US Statutes at Large, part 2, page 2703. 18 May 1940 Belligerent occupation of The Netherlands completed and supreme civil authority assumed by decree of Chancellor Hitler. Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, page 446; Sovfracht v. Van Undens Scheepvaart, supra. 11 December 1941 State of war between the United States and Germany declared by joint resolution of Congress. 55 US Statutes at Large, part 1, page 796. 8 May 1945 Unconditional surrender of the German armies in The Netherlands and the end of belligerent occupation. 1 July 1946 Plaintiffs' petition for refund of escheated estate was filed. 31 December 1946 The President of the United States proclaims the cessation of hostilities of World War II. 22. In the plaintiffs' opening brief they were satisfied to contend that the period of suspension ended on or about 8 May 1945 when belligerent occupation ended and that thereafter the statutory limitation would again run. In their reply brief, however, it is suggested that the period of suspension continued until 31 December 1946, the date of the President's proclamation that hostilities in World War II had ended. With this second contention we cannot agree. It is generally held that the courts of this country are closed to alien enemies who are citizens or subjects of a country at war with the United States and that they remain closed until the making of the treaty of peace, or at least until Congress, by joint resolution, declares the termination of the state of war. Frabutt v. New York, Chicago & St. Louis R. Co.; Arnold v. Ellison et al ; MacLeod v. United States ; Inland Steel Co. v. Jelenovic ; Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. v. Industrial Commission ; Borovitz v. American Hard Rubber Co .; Industrial Commission of Ohio v. Rotar, all supra. It is unnecessary to decide the disputed question as to whether war can be ended by unilateral act, or only by treaty, because the rule applicable to German citizens or subjects cannot be applied in the case at bar. The plaintiffs were subjects of the Kingdom of The Netherlands with which the United States maintained diplomatic relations. There could be no treaty of peace or declaration of the end of hostilities between the United States and the Kingdom of The Netherlands because the two countries were never at war. The courts were closed to the plaintiffs solely because of the fact that Germany was in belligerent occupation of their country. For the reasons explained in the cases, the plaintiffs were treated as alien enemies, but upon termination of the occupation, we find no reason for holding that communications between persons in The Netherlands and others in this country were forbidden or that the courts of this country were closed to the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs were in a position analogous to that of the plaintiff in Osbourne v. United States, supra. The running of the statute was suspended for his benefit during his imprisonment by the enemy. No one would argue that the suspension continued after he was returned to the United States merely because the war with Japan had not ended. We hold that the suspension of the statutory period ended with the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces and the liberation of Holland on 8 May 1945. Between 14 April 1932, when the statute commenced to run, and 1 July 1946 when the suit was filed, 14 years, 2 months and about 17 days had elapsed. From 11 December 1941 to 8 May 1945, that is, from the commencement of war between the United States and Germany until the liberation of The Netherlands, the running of the statutory period was clearly suspended. That period, however, amounts to only three years and a little less than five months. If that be the extent of the suspension, it would follow that the ten-year period had fully run before the complaint was filed. The plaintiffs' case therefore rests upon their contention that the period of suspension could certainly start no later    than sometime in May, 1940, when Germany invaded The Netherlands. If the running of the statutory limitation was suspended from 18 May 1940 until 8 May 1945, it would follow that the filing of the complaint was well within the ten-year period. The plaintiffs rely upon several decisions from the courts of New York. They are, however, distinguishable from the cases which we have previously cited. In that state, the questions concerning the suspension of statutes of limitation by reason of war have been treated as strictly controlled by specific statute, leaving no room for construction. Before its amendment, to which we will later refer, section 27 of the Civil Practice Act provided in substance that an alien subject or citizen of a country at war with the United States was under a disability and that the time of the continuance of the disability is not a part of the time limited for the commencement of the action. But, it also provided, in section 28, that the disability must exist when the right of action accrued. In treating war as giving rise to a disability, the New York court arrived at a different construction from that applicable to OCLA, §§ 1-217 and 1-220, by reason of the difference in the wording of the New York and Oregon statutes. In Nathan v. Equitable Trust Co., 250 NY 250, 165 NE 282, the New York court distinguished Hanger v. Abbott, supra, because the latter case was decided on the ground of international law and without reference to any statute. The court then held under the statute that the disability of war was like that of insanity and must exist when the cause of action accrued. Under this decision, if the statute of limitations once began to run, it continued, notwithstanding the intervention of war. In Gallewski v. Hentz & Co., 93 NY Supp2d 546, 276 App Div 219, on which the plaintiffs rely, the New York court again gave no consideration to the rules of international law. It pointed out that under the Nathan case, the duration of the war could not have been excepted from the limitation period except for the fact that sections 27 and 28 of the Civil Practice Act had been amended. The court held that the amendatory act eliminated the previous requirement that the war shall have been in progress when the cause of action accrued, in order to toll the statute of limitations. The amendatory act was held applicable and the plaintiff, as administrator of one Gutmann who had been a citizen and resident of The Netherlands, but who was arrested and deported by Germany during the occupation, was held to be one as to whom the statute of limitations was tolled. The 1949 amendment to section 27 provided that the period of war should not be a part of the time limited for the commencement of the action, whether the cause of action arose during or prior to the period of such disability   . Laws of New York, 1949, ch 326. In 1949 the New York legislature also amended section 13 of the Civil Practice Act by adding the following with reference to causes of action arising outside of the state:    Where such cause of action, whether originally accrued in favor of a resident or nonresident, arose in a foreign country with which the United States or any of its allies was then or subsequently at war, or in territory then or subsequently occupied by the government of such foreign country, the period between the commencement of the war, or the occupation of such country, and the termination of hostilities with such country, or the termination of such occupation, is not a part of the time limited in this article for commencing the action   . Laws of New York, 1949, ch 855. The plaintiffs rely upon Von Hofmannsthal v. Wolfe, supra, 93 NY Supp2d 550, 276 App Div 223. That case was decided upon the authority of the 1949 amendments above cited. In that case the court said: The chronology of events may briefly be summarized as follows: The claim arose in Austria on March 9, 1938. That country was occupied by Germany on March 11, 1938. The World War started on September 1, 1939. The United States entered the World War on December 8, 1941, and the action was commenced on May 11, 1949. The hostilities ended on May 8, 1945. The statute of limitations would be tolled for the period from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945, and this would be more than sufficient to prevent the six-year statute of limitations from operating as a bar. Again we quote:    It is clear from these amendments that the Legislature wanted to afford some measure of protection for a period arising before the United States entered the World War, i.e., from September 1, 1939. It is possible that it was the intention of the Legislature to extend the benefits of the tolling provisions to claims arising in what turned out to be enemy occupied territory even before that date, for example those arising in Austria during the Anschluss or after March 11, 1938. As has been stated, it is unnecessary to decide that last point on this appeal, for if we assume that the tolling period, for claims arising in enemy occupied countries, begins from the time that the first ally of the United States entered the war, that is, from September 1, 1939, the period of tolling is sufficient, in the instant case, to prevent the six-year New York statute of limitations from operating as a bar. Thus it appears that the case was decided strictly on the basis of special New York statutes without any consideration of the principles of international law. The 1949 amendments to the New York Civil Practice Act manifest an impressive legislative policy in favor of the general principles advocated by the plaintiffs in the case at bar. The amendment to section 17 of that act brought the legislative policy of the state into harmony with Hanger v. Abbott, supra, but, for our present purpose, the question is whether the 1949 amendment to section 13, supra, or the decisions thereunder, can be considered as declaratory of any rule of international law. The many cases which we have earlier reviewed establish the rule that a person residing in The Netherlands when it was in belligerent occupation by Germany is in the position of an alien enemy from the outbreak of war between the United States and Germany until the liberation of The Netherlands. The New York statute went beyond the holdings of any of these cases when it provided for the suspension of statutes of limitation as to certain causes of action for a greater period, namely, for the period between the occupation of a country by a state with which the United States or any of its allies was then, or subsequently, at war, and the termination of such occupation. Furthermore, even if the New York cases were adopted as declaratory of rules of international law, they would not apply to the pending case. Section 13 of the New York Civil Practice Act refers to causes of action which arise outside of the state of the forum. The cause of action in the pending litigation arose in Oregon. The Von Hofmannsthal case is not in point. The plaintiffs draw some comfort from language employed by Justice Brandeis in Watts, Watts & Co. v. Unione Austriaca &c., 248 US 9, 63 L ed 100. In that case the controversy was between British and Austro-Hungarian corporations. The case was originally decided before 6 April 1917, the date on which the United States entered the first World War, but the final decision of the United States Supreme Court was made after that date. The Supreme Court took notice of the change of conditions which had occurred and held that by reason of such change of conditions, intercourse was prohibited between subjects of Austria-Hungary who were then alien enemies, and persons in the United States. The suit was continued until the restoration of peace. In addition to the ruling on the illegality of such intercourse, the court said: And we take notice of the fact that free intercourse between residents of the two countries has been also physically impossible. It is one thing for a court to take judicial notice of the fact that free intercourse was physically impossible between two countries which are at war, but it would be quite another thing for this court, in the pending case, to take judicial notice of the impossibility in fact of intercourse between a resident subject of The Netherlands and persons in the United States after the belligerent occupation of The Netherlands by Germany and before the United States declared war on Germany. There is nothing in the Watts case which indicates that physical impossibility of intercourse with persons in the United States because of war conditions in a foreign country would toll a domestic statute of limitations when the United States was not involved in any such war, and we find no judicial support for any such rule. In Sadowski v. Hubbard Steel Foundry Co., 100 Ind App 233, 193 NE 676, an action was brought under the Workmen's Compensation Act. There was a two-year statute of limitations. For reasons which are not clear, the court held that the application was not filed within two years after the death of the decedent, which occurred on 23 January 1919. The defendant pleaded the statute of limitations to which the plaintiffs filed a reply closely resembling the pleading of the plaintiff in the case at bar. It alleged that the plaintiff was at all times a resident of Poland, and that at the time of her husband's death and since said time has the State of Poland been engaged in war and been the scene of war. That as a consequence it was impossible to communicate with private persons in this country. The armistice which provided for the evacuation of occupied countries and which ended hostilities of World War I was signed on 11 November 1918, before the death of the workman. It seems clear that the plaintiff could not have been deemed an alien enemy at the time the cause of action accrued. The court said: We deem it expedient to note that appellants attempted to prove the allegations of their second paragraph of reply which allegations are set forth herein, and to note that appellants contend that the facts so alleged and proven suspend the operation of the statute of limitations against appellant Karolina Sadowski, and to note that appellants cite Inland Steel Co. v. Jelenovic (1925), 84 Ind. App. 373, 150 N.E. 391, as authority for their said contention. In that case this court held `that war suspends the operation of the statute of limitations against alien enemies residing in enemy territory.' In the cause at bar appellants did not allege nor attempt to prove that appellant Karolina Sadowski was an `alien enemy residing in enemy territory' at any time during the two years immediately following decedent's death, and therefore the case of Inland Steel Company v. Jelenovic, supra, is not applicable here. This case appears to be authority for the proposition that the physical impossibility of commercial intercourse by reason of the existence of a state of war does not suspend statutes of limitations or close the courts of this country except when the war is one in which the United States is involved and the litigant is in the position of an alien enemy. In Siplyak v. Davis, supra, the court referred to section 8 of the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, 40 Stat. 411 (U.S. Comp. St. 1918, U.S. Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, §§ 3115 1/2a - 3115 1/2ff, 3115 1/2g - 3115 1/2j). The statute provided for the suspension of the statute of limitations in certain contract cases, and then provided: Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the suspension of the running of the statute of limitations in all    cases where such suspension would occur under existing law. After quoting the above provision, the court said: Here is an express recognition of the fact that under existing laws the statute is suspended as between American citizens and the citizens of those countries with which we were at war, but would not be suspended between our citizens and the citizens of other countries, who were neither an enemy, nor an ally of an enemy, but against or in favor of whom the existence of war naturally made it difficult to enforce contractual or other obligations. 23, 24. A careful search has failed to discover any act or declaration of the legislative or executive branches of this government of which we could take judicial notice and which forbade communications by mail between subjects of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and persons in this country prior to December 1941 when the United States declared war against Germany. In the earnest search for any record of which we might take judicial notice, we directed an inquiry to the State Department in the following words: Is there a record of any official proclamation or declaration by the State Department of the United States concerning the impossibility in fact or law of communications or intercourse by citizens of The Netherlands with persons within the United States or with neutral countries in general, during the period of the belligerent occupation of The Netherlands and prior to the declaration of war between the United States and Germany? An answer signed, For the Secretary of State by the Acting Legal Adviser, stated that parcel post shipments to The Netherlands were suspended 21 May 1940, but that there were no official statements of the Department concerning communication between American citizens and residents of The Netherlands. We are reluctantly forced to the conclusion that, although the belligerent occupation of The Netherlands by Germany, prior to the entry of the United States into the war, probably did render communications with the United States difficult in fact, nevertheless, there was no law rendering such communication illegal and there is no reason to believe that the courts within the United States were closed to the plaintiffs during the period in question. It follows that, although the statutory limitation was suspended from 11 December 1941 to 8 May 1945, the ten-year period had fully run before the suit was commenced on 1 July 1946. It is of interest to note that in a case now pending in the District Court of Appeal of California, the Attorney General of the United States has filed a brief as amicus curiae which supports the legal conclusions at which we have arrived. The legal issues in that case are the same as here, though the facts are different. In the Matter of the Estate of Gerasimos Caravas, California District Court of Appeal, 3 Civil No. 7985. The case at bar is one of great hardship, and, we fear, some injustice. There is little equity in the claim of the defendants. The plaintiffs, with due diligence, filed their first complaint within the ten-year period, and the service in that case was quashed upon highly technical grounds. However, we are unable to find any rule of international law which would extend the limitation of the statute for a period long enough to warrant a holding in favor of the plaintiffs. The remedy, if any there be, must rest with the legislature. The order of the trial court is affirmed. Neither party will recover costs.