Bill Text: IL HB0222 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that no contributory fault may be attributed to a plaintiff bringing an action for damages for personal injury based on childhood sexual abuse. Creates the Sexual Abuse Per Se Harmful Article in the Code. Provides that for an action arising out of an injury caused by sexual conduct or sexual penetration, if the plaintiff proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant committed childhood sexual abuse against the plaintiff, such sexual conduct or sexual penetration shall be considered obviously and materially harmful to the plaintiff and shall be deemed by the court per se harmful and traumatic. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 20-13)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-12-05 - Sent to the Governor [HB0222 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB0222-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 2-1116 and by adding Article XXIII as
follows:
(735 ILCS 5/2-1116) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1116)
(Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by P.A. 89-7,
which has been held unconstitutional)
Sec. 2-1116. Limitation on recovery in tort actions.
In all actions on account of bodily injury or death or
physical damage to property, based on negligence, or product
liability based on strict tort liability, the plaintiff shall
be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds
that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is
more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage
for which recovery is sought. The plaintiff shall not be
barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that
the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is not more
than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for
which recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be
diminished in the proportion to the amount of fault
attributable to the plaintiff.

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No contributory fault may be attributed to a plaintiff
bringing an action for damages for personal injury based on
childhood sexual abuse as defined in Section 13-202.2.
(Source: P.A. 84-1431.)
(735 ILCS 5/Art. XXIII heading new)
ARTICLE XXIII.
SEXUAL ABUSE PER SE HARMFUL
(735 ILCS 5/23-101 new)
Sec. 23-101. Sexual abuse per se harmful. For an action
arising out of an injury caused by sexual conduct or sexual
penetration as defined in Section 11-0.1 of the Criminal Code
of 2012, if the plaintiff proves by a preponderance of the
evidence that the defendant committed childhood sexual abuse
as defined in Section 13-202.2 against the plaintiff, such
sexual conduct or sexual penetration shall be considered
obviously and materially harmful to the plaintiff and shall be
deemed by the court per se harmful and traumatic. The
plaintiff need not present additional evidence to prove they
were harmed. The plaintiff may present additional evidence to
show the extent of such harm.
Nothing in this Section shall be construed to state that a
plaintiff discovered the cause of action at any particular
time, or that a plaintiff realized that the plaintiff's
damages were related to the plaintiff's sexual abuse at any

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particular time.
This Section applies to causes of action arising on or
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd
General Assembly or to causes of action for which the
limitation period has not yet expired.