CHAPTER 662

STATE TORT LIABILITY ACT

Section

    662-1 Definitions

    662-2 Waiver and liability of State

    662-3 Jurisdiction

    662-4 Statute of limitations

    662-5 Jury

    662-6 Pleadings, trial and appeal

    662-7 Attorney general

    662-8 Interest

    662-9 Costs

   662-10 Judgment as bar

   662-11 Compromise

   662-12 Attorney's fees

   662-13 No awards except upon legal evidence

   662-14 Exclusiveness of remedy

   662-15 Exceptions

   662-16 Defense of state employees; county lifeguards

 662-16.5 Defense of professionally licensed or certified state

          employees; decision not to defend

   662-17 Benefits and obligations of parents of minor

          employees

   662-18 Conclusive presumptions; unexploded ordnance on

          Kaho`olawe and in the ocean adjacent to Kaho`olawe

   662-19 Limited liability for skateboarding activities in

          public skateboard parks

Cross References

  Government entity as a tortfeasor; abolition of joint and several liability, see §663-10.5.

Law Journals and Reviews

  Tort and Insurance "Reform" in a Common Law Court.  14 UH L. Rev. 55 (1992).

  Ala Loop and the Private Right of Action Under Hawai‘i Constitution Article XI, Section 9:  Charting a Path Toward a Cohesive Enforcement Scheme.  33 UH L. Rev. 367 (2010).

Case Notes

  Where plaintiff was arrested seven years after issuance of "retake warrant" for parole violation, neither the State nor the parole office could be vicariously liable for false imprisonment or false arrest because the State Tort Liability Act does not waive immunity for these claims.  Additionally, plaintiff could not overcome qualified immunity of parole officer because she was unable to show that parole officer was motivated by malice towards her.  37 F.4th 527 (2022).

  Determination of whether a state function is discretionary, discussed.  71 H. 581, 799 P.2d 959 (1990).

  Counties do not fall within the ambit of the State Tort Liability Act; §46-72 is the statute of limitations applicable to actions against the counties.  104 H. 341, 90 P.3d 233 (2004).

  Petitioner's claim for alleged negligence by the department of education (DOE) in evaluating petitioner's proposal, and in deciding the dispute with petitioner, was barred under this chapter because the DOE's conduct was not analogous to "a recognized claim for relief against a private person"; petitioner did not identify circumstances under which a private party could be sued for negligently applying the law, rules, or a request for proposals in awarding a government contract.  127 H. 263, 277 P.3d 988 (2012).

  Where plaintiffs brought action against the State and department of transportation when rockfall struck plaintiffs' vehicle, the State's breach of its duty of care due to its failure to have a routine, coordinated system of rockfall mitigation at the operational level did not fall within the exception for waiver of immunity for tort liability under the State Tort Liability Act when claims were based on the performance or failure to perform a discretionary function on the part of a state officer or employee.  140 H. 36, 398 P.3d 625 (2017).

  State has not waived sovereign immunity from 42 U.S.C. §1983 actions.  6 H. App. 397, 721 P.2d 165 (1986).