The Statute of Limitations in 21st Century: Between Public and Individual Interests in the Criminal Justice System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22197/rbdpp.v11i3.1199Parole chiave:
extinction of crime, statute of limitations, public interest, prosecution, individual rightsAbstract
This article attempts to analyse the statute of limitations – a common institution in continental criminal laws – within the framework of the dynamics between public and individual interests in the criminal justice systems. With the Polish legal system as a benchmark and a comparative look at selected other jurisdictions, this article presents the discussions on justifications and legal character of the statute of limitations, trying to define its role within the criminal law and process, given its ability to extinguish criminal liability and prosecution’s powers. This paper aims to present the statute of limitations as a polyphonic institution, with various motives behind its existence and different manners in which it influences the criminal proceedings, arguing that it is the search of a middle ground between the public and individual interest, as well as between failure to adjudicate and eternal prosecutions (both viewed as unjust), that shapes the statute of limitations in contemporary criminal law.
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