Prescription

The limitation periods are regulated in Article 131 of the Penal Code and vary depending on the seriousness of the crime committed:

1. 20 years, when the maximum penalty for the crime is imprisonment for 15 years or more.
2. 15 years, when the maximum penalty indicated is disqualification for more than 10 years or imprisonment of between 10 and 15 years.
3. 10 years, when the maximum penalty is imprisonment or disqualification of between 5 and 10 years.
4. 1 year, for minor offenses and the offenses of slander and libel.
5. 5 years, for the other crimes.

According to the Penal Code, crimes against humanity and genocide, crimes against persons and property protected in the event of armed conflict, and crimes of terrorism if they have caused the death of a person never expire.

The aforementioned time limits begin to run from the day the crime was committed . However, there are two exceptions:

1. In the crimes of non-consensual abortion, injuries, crimes against freedom, torture, crimes against moral integrity, crimes against privacy and the inviolability of the home and crimes 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 turns 18 years old.
2. In the crimes of attempted homicide, serious injuries, habitual abuse, crimes against freedom, sexual offenses 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 when the victim turns 35 years old.

Furthermore, the statute of limitations is interrupted when the proceedings are brought against the person apparently responsible for the crime , and begins to run again from the moment the proceedings are suspended or from the moment the process ends without a conviction.

Let’s look at an example. A person commits a minor fraud offense on February 10, 2018. If, after one year from that date, no complaint is filed or criminal proceedings are initiated to investigate the facts, criminal liability is extinguished. Thus, if in January 2022 a complaint is filed and criminal proceedings are initiated against that person for the aforementioned acts, the judge must dismiss the proceedings due to the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations can be invoked at any time during the proceedings and must even be considered ex officio by the Court, even if the parties have not requested it.