Petition · past parliament
Introduce a "statue of limitations" on the majority of criminal offences.
Closed
61 signatures
What the petition asks
Introduce a limitation period to set the maximum time after an event when criminal legal proceedings and police actions may be initiated. There is currently only a limitation period for civl matters and not "criminal offences".
In many other countries, e.g. USA and most of the EU, there is a statue of limitations on when criminal proceedings can be brought agents a person. In the UK the only statue of limitations that we have are for "summary only offences" I would like to suggest that we have a statue of limitations period on all crimes, apart from murder, rape and anything related to the abuse, neglect, or taking advantage of children.
This will save a lot of money and also free up the police focus on current issues.
This will save a lot of money and also free up the police focus on current issues.
Timeline
| 1 Dec 2015 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 1 Jun 2016 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
61
Status
Closed
Opened
1 Dec 2015
Closed
1 Jun 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.