November 21, 2018
The Parliament of Cyprus has recently voted a law proposal for the amendment of the Criminal law regarding the limitation of criminal actions for light criminal offences.
According to this innovative, for the Cypriot legal system, reform, Article 88 of the Criminal Procedure Cap. 155 is amended so that to allow the limitation of some criminal offences that do not carry serious sentences in a short period of time.
Particularly, amended Article 88 states that, with the reservation of the any other Statue’s articles that provide differently, charges for offences which are punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding 854 euros and/or both of them cannot be imposed after the expiry of 6 months from the day of the offence. Additionally, charges for offences which are punished with an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding 1.708 euros cannot be imposed after the expiry of 12 months from the day of the offence.
Before the introduction of the said legal reform, no provision in the Cypriot legislation provided about the limitation of any criminal offence in contrast with civil actions the limitation of which is governed by the Limitation of Actions Act 2012 (66(I)/2012).
This amendment will significantly help the decongestion of Courts. On the other hand, submitting an indictment with delay due to the negligence or due to the increased workload of the police will give the opportunity to many offenders to escape punishment.
For further information and clarifications please contact info@hhlaw.com.cy
Important Note: The information contained herein is does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
