how long does the police have to arrest a person

[joeystuds]

i would like to no how long the police have to arrest a person for a crime once the crime has been commited an how long would a magistrate have jurisdictiction thanks

[redcrx]

people have been arrested and charged for crimes they commited 10/20/30/40/50 years ago so there isnt a time limit

[squarebear]

Is there a limit?
I seem to remember a guy being arrested recently for crimes he did in the seventies.

[ummmm]

I don't think there's a time limit.

[Barmaid]

For summary only offences (ie those which are prosecuted in the magistrates court) the information must be laid before the Court within 6 months of the offence. However, that is subject to certain statutory exceptions for some offences. There is no time limit on an arrest, but there will be no chance of a prosecution if outside the time limit.

For other offences, there is generally no time limit.

[thedaveformula]

Once a crime has been committed, the person is wanted for arrest forever. Length of time has no bearing on the matter. If someone had been identified as a murderer from 1952, they'd have the old bill on him just the same as if he'd done it in 2002.

In terms of how long the magistrates got, that's a matter for the CPS and would be the same amount of time regardless of when the crime took place. Basically what Barmaid said is spot on.

[thedaveformula]

Btw Barmaid is your username a pun on the fact that you're a barrister.

[Buenchico]

For Thedaveformula:
Barmaid doesn't seem to be posting at the moment but those of us who've known her for a while can confirm that she's a self-employed barrister, specialising in civil law.