I understand having a limit for small crimes but for huge ones, like murder, why would the crime prescribe? Is there a reason for that?!
To prevent a suspect from being legally harassed by the state indefinitely. Sometimes suspects are innocent.
Also, to ensure a speedy trial.
Also, many kinds of evidence, especially the ones available when these limits were put in place, degrade significantly over time.
I’m not being an asshole I’m just curious and wanted to understand this concept since I don’t have any legal understanding. Thanks for the answer :)
Reducing the number of false accusations. Prevents situations like someone claiming “Xyz stole my car 30 years ago, arrest them!”.
Lack of evidence. It’s almost impossible to definitively prove something that happened long ago to the level of reasonable doubt required by courts.
Relevance. Theft from 30 years ago has no bearing on anyone’s life any more. For same reason the statute of limitations usually doesn’t exist for murder. Murder from 30 years ago still impacts people today.
US-centric answer: Murder doesn’t have any time limitations on being charged.
There are always going to be holes in the law, so it probably wouldn’t be difficult to find some example of a horrible crime that finds a loophole in this, but the general idea is that the worst crimes have no statute of limitations.
Misdemeanors are usually fairly short, many felonies are longer, sex crimes are often (but not always) exempt, and murder has no limit in any state.
You really need to specify where you’re talking about…
In America there’s no limitations on federal murder, but some states do
I’m not talking specifically. The broader concept of crime prescription is difficult for me to grasp
Many other reasons have been given. One more: let the archivists know when it’s time to throw away the paperwork and evidence.
Some crimes go unsolved with a bit of evidence collected, stamped, filed and stored somewhere.
At some point you’ll have to build a new building just to store the stuff if you never clear it out.
If you only keep the stuff for a few crimes such as murder the growth will be much more manageable.
