Proceeding with an indictable offence is not usually limited by the passage of time. There are some indictable offences that prescribe statutory limitations. The offence of treason is a good example. Section 48 of the Code prohibits proceeding against an accused person on the charge of treason beyond three years from the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed. With most indictable offences, however, there is no limitation period.
Subsection 786(2) provides that in the case of summary conviction matters no proceedings shall be instituted more than 12 months after the time when the subject matter of the proceedings arose, unless the prosecutor and the defendant so agree. The accused may agree, in order to be permitted to enter a plea to a lesser summary conviction charge, at a time when the limitation period for the lesser charge has passed.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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