Criminal limitation periods

Criminal limitation extinguishes the state's power to punish through the passage of time and takes two forms. Limitation of prosecution bars proceedings once periods running from the commission of the offence expire, graduated by the gravity of the prescribed punishment. Limitation of the sentence prevents execution of a final sentence not enforced within its own period.

The periods are extended for certain offences against children and abolished entirely for crimes such as genocide and torture. Limitation of prosecution is interrupted by the acts listed by statute, including the issuance of an indictment and the interrogation of the accused, and restarts thereafter, with the total extendable period itself capped by law.

Expiry is a matter of public order, examined by the court of its own motion at every stage; where the period has run, the case is dismissed. The short complaint period in complaint-dependent offences must not be confused with these periods: the two are distinct institutions calculated separately.