Petition Abolish the 6-month statutory time limit for prosecuting summary-only offences

The Government should introduce legislation to amend the Magistrates Court Act 1980 in such a way that it removes the 6 month limit for prosecutions of offences classed as summary-only and which are triable only in the Magistrates Court.

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The Magistrates Court Act is now over 40 years old. Evidential requirements on police have changed significantly in that time, as have CPS procedures for bringing prosecutions.The time limit applies to offences like drink-driving, harassment and common assault. There are numerous cases of offenders (including domestic abuse perpetrators) escaping justice for no other reason than the police and CPS are unable to bring a case before a court within 6 months. This law needs urgently updating.

This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months

58 signatures

Progress of the petition towards its next target: 58 of 10,000 signatures required to get a government response

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10,000 signatures required to get a government response

Date closed 17 October 2020
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