Time limits for the start of criminal proceedings

If you commit a criminal offence, Gardaí can only start criminal proceedings if any legal time limit for that offence has not passed.

For many offences there are clear time limits on when criminal proceedings can be brought against you.

The rules covering the time limit for the start of legal proceedings are set out below.

If you have committed a  summary offence (an offence tried in the District Court before a judge but without a jury), the Gardaí must make a complaint to the District Court within 6 months of the offence being committed.

These offences include most Road Traffic Offences like speeding, illegal parking and fixed charge notice offences.

The time limits for summary offences do not apply to an indictable offence. There is no time limit for the start of legal proceedings for an indictable offence unless specific legislation provides one.

But if there is an excessively long delay in prosecuting an offence, the judge may decide not to hear the case. In making this decision, the judge considers if the delay has reduced your chances of a fair trial. For example, if the delay means that key witnesses are no longer available to give evidence or if the delay could have affected their memory of what happened.

An indictable offence can be tried in the District Court (summarily) or it can be tried by a judge and jury in the  Circuit Court or the Central Criminal Court). This is set out in Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 1951 (as amended by Section 177 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006).

If there is an excessively long delay in prosecuting an offence, the judge may decide not to hear the case. In making this decision, the judge considers if the delay has reduced your chances of a fair trial. For example, if the delay means that key witnesses are no longer available to give evidence or if the delay could have affected their memory of what happened.

Special time limits

The general time limit of 6 months for starting proceedings, applies to most offences which are dealt with in the District Court. However, there are some exceptions to this. 

Because of the nature and difficulty of investigating some offences and of gathering enough evidence to start proceedings, special time limits are applied to them by law. 

Examples of these offences include the following:

• Getting car insurance by fraud or by knowingly making a false statement (any proceedings need not start until 3 months after the gardaí have sufficient evidence subject to a maximum time limit of 3 years)
• For offences under the Customs Acts, any proceedings must start within 2 years from the date of the offence.
• For offences under the Revenue Acts, any proceedings must start within 10 years from the date of the offence. This does not cover the actual repayment of any unpaid tax, which is a separate matter.

Usually, if you receive a summons to court and you get legal advice, your solicitor will check the dates on the summons to make sure that the Garda applied for it within the time limit allowed. If the Gardaí applied for was made outside the time limit, then the prosecution will be dismissed in court.

Date the Gardaí make a complaint or application

The important date is when the Gardaí make the complaint to the District Court judge or the date they make the application to the appropriate court clerk to issue a summons. The date the summons was issued on or the date on which the summons was served on you are not important for this purpose.

Date of the offence

The other important date is what date the offence took place. In most cases this is usually very clear, such as in a case of speeding or theft.

However, the dates for certain offences are slightly different. 

For example, if you are stopped by the Gardaí while driving on 1 January and you are asked to show your motor insurance certificate. If you do not show it there and then, you have the next 10 days to show it at a Garda station of your choice.

If you fail to show within 10 days, then you have committed an offence. The offence date does not start until  after  the 10 days have expired and the date you were stopped does not count as one of the 10 days. Therefore, in this case, 12 January would be the date from which a prosecution can be brought.