For an offence that can only be prosecuted on the injured party's own complaint, from what day does the time limit for lodging that complaint start to run, and what can move that starting point?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice material for this exercise, we read the papers showing the offence in question is one that cannot be prosecuted without a complaint, the record of when the injured party learned who the offender was, and any note of circumstances said to have made it impossible to complain, together with when those circumstances ended.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the period at face value: once the injured party knows the identity of the offender, the complaint must be lodged within the period the provision sets, because after that time has passed a complaint may not be made.
Another reading turns on the proviso: where there is a reason of force majeure that made lodging a complaint impossible, the period is counted afresh from the day that reason ceased, so the date of that day, not the date the offender was learned, becomes the starting point.
Your judgment
If the injured party knew the offender's identity long before complaining, how could the file show that force majeure prevented the complaint until a later day?
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 change the length of the period or its starting point, or if a court decision explains what circumstances amount to force majeure or when such a reason is treated as having ceased.