Is the Statute of Limitations morally licit?

[childofmary1143]

In another thread forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=126330

it mentions that there is a Statute of Limitations for abuse cases (5years).

Is that really right?

 

[Godfollower]

From the Code of Canon Law:

Can. 1362 §1. Prescription extinguishes a criminal action after three years unless it concerns:

1/ delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;

2/ an action arising from the delicts mentioned in cann. 1394, 1395 [violation of the Sixth Commandment by force, by threat, publicly, or with a minor under 16], 1397, and 1398, which have a prescription of five years;

3/ delicts which are not punished in the common law if particular law has established another period for prescription.

§2. Prescription runs from the day on which the delict was committed or, if the delict is continuous or habitual, from the day on which it ceased.

It’s the same in civil law: civil lawsuits are barred after a certain amount of time has passed (the exact length of time varies by subject matter and from state to state).

The reasoning is that, if too much time has passed before you’re notified that you’re being accused of something, you won’t have preserved whatever records there might be, you won’t be able to find important witnesses because they’ve died, moved away, or forgotten, etc. If the accused is hampered in presenting a defense because the accuser “slept on his rights,” then the accusation is dismissed (imagine trying to defend yourself against an accusation by someone you don’t remember that you hurt him in 1984; how could you possibly prove your whereabouts on that day?).

There are lots of exceptions, of course: often in civil law certain disabilities (like “being less than 18 years old”) postpones the limitations period (though I don’t know whether that’s true in canon law). I can tell you that there are cases pending where priests who have been dead for decades are now being accused of committing molestation in, e.g., the 1960s. Pity the bishop who has to investigate that claim!

(And, of course, care for the victim. My point in response to the OP is that there are fairness reasons for having statutes of limitations).