When a crime carries two or more punishments, which of them fixes the limitation period for that crime?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In practice material of this kind, we read the judgment recording the punishment actually imposed, and the statutory definition of the crime, since the provision turns on the punishments the crime carries or allows and on which of them is the heavier.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as written: where two or more punishments are combined for a crime, or where one of two or more punishments is imposed, the provision on limitation periods in the Criminal Procedure Act is applied by the heavier punishment, so the period is drawn from the heavier of the punishments the crime carries, not from the one imposed alone.
Another reading notes that the provision identifies the heavier punishment only as the reference point for applying the other provision, and does not say how punishments of different kinds are weighed against each other, nor how it applies where a punishment is later altered on appeal.
Your judgment
Where the punishments a crime carries are of different kinds, what in the statutory definition or the judgment shows which one is the heavier for this purpose?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to set how the heavier punishment is identified, or if a court decision explains how punishments of different kinds are compared for applying the limitation period.