PRESCRIPTION
Statute of limitations
The statute of limitations is one of the causes of extinction of criminal liability (art. 130.1. 6º of the Criminal Code). By virtue of the statute of limitations, the criminal liability of a person is extinguished by the simple passage of time.
How much time must elapse for a crime to be considered time-barred? The statute of limitations is regulated in Article 131 of the Penal Code and varies according to the seriousness of the crime committed:
- 20 years, when the maximum penalty for the crime is imprisonment for 15 years or more.
- 15 years, when the maximum penalty is disqualification for more than 10 years or imprisonment for between 10 and 15 years.
- 10 years, when the maximum penalty is imprisonment or disqualification of between 5 and 10 years.
- 1 year, for misdemeanors and offenses of libel and slander.
- 5 years for other crimes.
Is there any crime that never has a statute of limitations? According to the Penal Code, crimes against humanity and genocide, crimes against persons and property protected in case of armed conflict and crimes of terrorism if they have caused the death of a person are not subject to any statute of limitations.
The time periods previously indicated begin to run from the day on which the crime was committed. However, there are two exceptions:
- In the crimes of non-consensual abortion, injuries, crimes against freedom, torture, against moral integrity, against privacy and inviolability of the home and against family relations, if the victim is a minor at the time of the commission of the crime, the statute of limitations begins to run from the day the victim reaches 18 years of age.
- In the crimes of attempted homicide, serious injury, habitual abuse, crimes against liberty, sexual crimes and human trafficking, if the victim was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime, the statute of limitations begins to run from the victim’s 35th birthday.
In addition, the statute of limitations is interrupted when the proceedings are directed against the person apparently responsible for the crime, and restarts to run again from the moment the proceedings are halted or the proceedings end without a conviction.
Let’s see it with an example. A person commits a misdemeanor crime of fraud on February 10, 2018. If after one year from that date no complaint is filed or criminal proceedings are initiated to investigate the facts, the criminal liability is extinguished. Thus, if in January 2022 a complaint is filed and criminal proceedings are initiated against that person for the indicated facts, the Judge must file the proceedings due to the statute of limitations of the crime.
When can the statute of limitations be invoked in a criminal proceeding? The statute of limitations may be invoked at any time during the proceedings and must even be assessed ex officio by the Court, even if the parties have not requested it.
Statute of limitations
In addition to the statute of limitations for the crime, there is also the possibility of the statute of limitations for the penalty imposed. The statute of limitations is applicable to cases in which, once the criminal proceeding has been completed with a conviction, the sentence imposed in the judgment is not executed. The statute of limitations for sentences expires once the time periods provided for in Art. 133 of the Criminal Code have elapsed, which are as follows:
- 30 years, prison sentences for more than 20 years.
- 25 years, prison sentences of between 15 and 20 years.
- 20 years, disqualification for more than 10 years and imprisonment for between 10 and 15 years.
- 15 years, disqualification sentences of between 6 and 10 years, and prison sentences of between 5 and 10 years.
- 10 years, the rest of the serious penalties.
- 5 years, the rest of the less serious penalties.
- 1 year, minor penalties.
As was the case with the statute of limitations, sentences imposed for crimes against humanity and genocide, crimes against persons and property protected in armed conflicts and crimes of terrorism in which the death of a person has been caused are also not subject to the statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations begins to run from the date on which the conviction becomes final or from the breach of the sentence.