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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 96-CA-0895

CAMERON PARISH SCHOOL BOARD versus ACANDS, INC., ET AL.

ON DIRECT APPEAL FROM THE 38th JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF CAMERON, STATE OF LOUISIANA

KIMBALL, Justice.*
ISSUE La. R.S. 9:5644, relative to prescription of actions involving asbestos abatement, was declared unconstitutional by a trial court under Art. I, Sec. 2 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 insofar as it purports to revive already prescribed causes of action. More specifically, the trial court held defendant T & N plc's ("T & N") right to assert an exception of prescription, once accrued, is a vested right. As such, the trial court held, La. R.S. 9:5644 can not, consistent with due process, take away T & N's right to assert such an accrued exception by retroactively reviving the cause of action as to which prescription has already accrued. Pursuant to La. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 5(D), plaintiff Cameron Parish School Board ("the Board") brought this direct appeal to this court. Finding first, that the Board's claim has prescribed under the law existing prior to the enactment of La. R.S. 9:5644, and second, that La. R.S. 9:5644 does not contain a clear and unequivocal expression of intent by the legislature to retroactively apply the statute so as to revive prescribed causes of action, we find it unnecessary to address the constitutional issue ruled upon by the district court. We therefore vacate the ruling of the district court and dismiss the matter as prescribed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On February 11, 1993, the Board filed suit against several defendants, including T & N, seeking, inter alia, recovery of costs for the removal of asbestos material used in the construction of

*

Watson, J., not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2,

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