For every crime committed, a person must answer according to the law. Especially if it is a murder, and especially if it was committed with particular cruelty. However, in criminal law there is such a term as the statute of limitations. For the murder, as well as various other crimes, the person who committed the crime may not be held responsible. Today we’ll talk about what the statute of limitations is. We will find out the established time intervals, conditions, and also consider a number of other crimes for which punishment may not follow, if time has passed.
What is the statute of limitations?
This term implies a certain time period during which the person who committed the criminal offense will be liable to the fullest extent of the law. When the allotted time passes, a person cannot be punished. Since causing death is one of the most serious crimes, the statute of limitations for the murder is much higher. There are articles on which he is generally absent. That is, a criminal can be attracted in 50 years.
Article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Everything related to the statute of limitations is regulated by 78 articles of the corresponding Code. It details all the points. This applies to crimes of varying severity. The statute of limitations for murder and other particularly serious acts, as well as those that were committed in a generally dangerous way, is as high as possible or absent altogether.
Crime Categories
Before a detailed study of this issue, you must carefully familiarize yourself with the main provisions of the law. In particular, it is important to take into account the fact that the length of the statute of limitations directly depends on the severity of the act committed by a person, as already mentioned above. Consequently:
- If this is a crime characterized by a low degree of severity, the persecution lasts no more than two years. Moreover, the maximum punishment, as a rule, does not exceed three years.
- If a crime of moderate severity has been committed, the prosecution continues for six years. The punishment in this case varies from three to five years.
- If a serious crime has been committed, the perpetrator will have to answer for what he has done within 10 years. Punishment, as a rule, does not exceed a similar period.
- If this is a particularly serious crime, then the perpetrator has the right to be held accountable for 15 years. This is a term of imprisonment of more than 10 years, including life.
Features of the limitation period
Its calculation begins at exactly 12 o’clock in the morning of the day that follows the days when the crime was committed. The statute of limitations only expires with the passing of a judicial sentence or its entry into force. Each case is considered in a separate order. In no case is it possible to merge two crimes into one. For example, if a person committed theft five years ago and murder 2 years ago, he will only be responsible for the latter, since the first statute of limitations has already expired.
The statute of limitations for murder in the Russian Federation is fixed in a special order. The authorized person draws up an official document in which all circumstances of the case must be indicated, in particular, the suspected person, as well as additional information. Be sure to describe the reason or several of them that prevented the prosecution of the person who committed the grave act.
The judicial authority, in turn, has the right to change the statute of limitations for any crime, if there are any reasons or newly identified circumstances of the case.
Criminal Offenses
The initiation of a criminal case may be resumed after any period of time if it was instituted on the fact of a committed act provided for by such articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
- 205, 205.1, 205.3, 205.4, 205.5;
- 353, 356, 357, 358, 361;
- 277, 278, 279, 360.
It will not matter if 30 or 50 years have passed. These are especially serious crimes, so a person can be punished by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 25 years, and also for life. However, when the court decides that the criminal prosecution should be stopped due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, even if the offender was threatened with life imprisonment or the death penalty, these penalties cannot be applied.
The following acts have no statute of limitations:
- hostage-taking in a generally dangerous way;
- planning, preparation and unleashing of hostilities;
- terrorist acts, in particular, on an international scale;
- armed rebellion, as well as the seizure and retention of power;
- hijacking of air or water transport;
- attack on citizens and institutions under international protection;
- anti-human methods of warfare;
- genocide and ecocide;
- encroachment on the life of civil servants.
Criminal prosecution is ongoing indefinitely, regardless of the age of the offender and many other factors.
Statute of limitations for killing
In this case, which was already described a little earlier, the time frame can also be canceled. If the court considers that there are any circumstances and motives in the case for which the person who committed the murder should be liable in any case, the criminal prosecution will continue until he is caught or died.
The statute of limitations for murder in the Russian Federation can be different, depending on the severity of the crime. For example, if it was established that the object caused the subject death by negligence, in a state of affect, etc., then the criminal prosecution will continue for up to two years. If during the murder there was a use of special cruelty (violence, torture, poison, beating, and other acts that before the death brought suffering to the deceased), then the attacker must answer for what he did within 15 years. It should be noted that in order to establish the state of affect in which the murder was committed (strong excitement caused by bullying of the victim and other similar actions), an evidence base is required, which after a certain period of time may not exist. However, a court or jury may rely on the testimony of the accused and witnesses.
We examined almost everything related to the murder. The statute of limitations in a criminal case instituted on the fact of an attempt on a person’s life also takes place. This is no less serious crime, provided for by the Criminal Code, punishment for which is expressed by imprisonment for a term that fully depends on the circumstances of a particular case, as well as in the presence or absence of aggravating factors.
However, a prerequisite for recognizing the existence of the fact of an attempt on a person’s life is the evidence base, which determines the act on the basis of established signs:
- object - the life of a person that an attacker has encroached on;
- subject - the person who organized the criminal act (adult and capable person);
- subjective side - the availability of evidence, as well as confirmation of intentionality in the actions of the accused;
- the objective side - specific external signs that indicate the composition of illegal actions.
We have already learned whether the killing has a statute of limitations.What about the attempt? If the fact of the existence of this criminal act has been fully proven, the statute of limitations, as well as serving the sentence, depends directly on the circumstances of the case, the absence or presence of aggravating circumstances. The court determines it individually.
Privileged species
Yes, it happens. The statute of limitations under the article “Murder” with extenuating circumstances or potentially less dangerous for society is considered a privileged species. For such acts, the punishment is milder, therefore, the statute of limitations is less. He will never be more than 15 years old. These crimes are not considered particularly serious. According to Art. 78 of the Criminal Code, the statute of limitations for them, as a rule, varies within 2-6 years.
Preferred species are:
- killing by a woman of her newborn child in childbirth or immediately after them;
- in a state of passion;
- excess of necessary defense measures;
- by negligence;
- excess measures to detain the offender.
When committing two or more crimes by one person
The following should be noted separately: if a series of murders was committed that were committed by one and the same person, the statute of limitations begins from the moment when the last was committed. It does not matter the date of the first. Unless, of course, every murder from the established series was proven.