• Pages
    • About Us
    • Services
    • Insights
    • Case Studies
    • Contact Us
  • Pages
    • About Us
    • Services
    • Insights
    • Case Studies
    • Contact Us
  • Services
    • Family Law
      • Child Abduction
      • Child Custody
      • Domestic Violence
      • International Child Abduction
      • Parenting and Children
      • Child Support
      • Separation and Divorce
      • Same Sex and De Facto Relationships
      • Surrogacy
      • Consent Orders
      • Property Settlement
      • Financial Settlement
      • Spousal Maintenance
      • Family Dispute Resolution
      • Referral For Family Therapy
      • Mediation
      • Collaborative Family
      • International Family Law
    • Commercial Law
    • Property Lawyer Sydney
    • Planning and Environment Lawyer
    • Criminal Law Sydney
  • Services
    • Family Law
      • Child Abduction
      • Child Custody
      • Domestic Violence
      • International Child Abduction
      • Parenting and Children
      • Child Support
      • Separation and Divorce
      • Same Sex and De Facto Relationships
      • Surrogacy
      • Consent Orders
      • Property Settlement
      • Financial Settlement
      • Spousal Maintenance
      • Family Dispute Resolution
      • Referral For Family Therapy
      • Mediation
      • Collaborative Family
      • International Family Law
    • Commercial Law
    • Property Lawyer Sydney
    • Planning and Environment Lawyer
    • Criminal Law Sydney
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • © 2025 Sterling Legal Pty Ltd
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • © 2025 Sterling Legal Pty Ltd

Insights

Home Insights Statute of Limitations

Statute of Limitations

  • July 13, 2022
  • A criminal case is started by someone issuing and filing a court attendance notice (known as a CAN).
  • A statute of limitations is a law that sets the maximum amount of time between when a crime is committed and a charge laid.
  • If you are charged with a crime after the statute of limitation period, the court doesn’t have the power to hear the matter and should dismiss your charge.
  • In Australia, this is set out in the Crimes Act and means that someone can’t be charged with a summary Commonwealth offence more than a year after it happened.
    • A summary Commonwealth offence has a maximum penalty of 6 months in prison (for a person) or 150 penalty units (for a company).
    • There is no statute of limitations for other Commonwealth offences like murder or sexual assault.
  • In NSW, we have a statute of limitations of 6 months for summary offences (set out in the Criminal Procedure Act).
    • These include:
      • Negligent driving
      • Obscene exposure
      • Goods in custody
    • There is no statute of limitations for indictable offences, or:
      • Indictable offences heard summarily in the Local Court
      • Any offence involving someone’s death or a coronial inquest (in which case the time limit is 6 months from the end of the inquest or 2 years after the offence)
  • For traffic offences in NSW, if you are issued with a penalty notice fine (instead of a CAN) the statute of limitations is 12 months.
  • This is set out in the Fines Act. Some examples of penalty notice offences rae:
    • Drug possession
    • Speeding fines
    • Using a phone while driving
    • Negligent driving
    • Red light offences

Recent Posts
  • Family trusts are not automatically protected in a property settlement – Caldwell & Caldwell [2026] FedCFamC1A 81
    In Insights
    June 27, 2026
  • Protected: How Many Marriages End In Divorce? A Look At Divorce Statistics In Australia
    In Insights
    June 27, 2026
  • Case Summary: Shehu & Vicario [2026] FedCFamC1A 49
    In Insights
    April 25, 2026
  • High Court Ruling in Bryant v Badenoch: A Shift in the Running Account Defence
    In Insights
    August 19, 2025
  • The Latest on Addbacks – in the wake of Shinohara & Shinohara [2025] FedCFamC1A 126 (23 July 2025)
    In Insights
    August 1, 2025

  • Archive

    • June 2026
    • April 2026
    • August 2025
    • July 2025
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • November 2017

  • Categories

    • Insights
    • PrevPrevious
    NextNext
    Sterling Legal

    Quick Links

    • Home
    • About
    • Services
    • Blog
    • Contact Us

    Services

    • Commercial Law & Disputes
    • Conveyancing & Leasing Law
    • Dispute Resolution
    • Family Law
    • Media & Sports Law

    Contact Us

    • 1300 497 007

    • [email protected]

    • Corporate Law Office

      1133 Castlereagh Street, Level 21 Sydney, NSW 2000

    • Community Law Office

      13 Harrow Road Level 5 Auburn, NSW 2144