законодательной базы данных

Section 78: Limitation period

…

(3)   To the extent that prosecution is subject to the statute of limitations, the limitation period shall be

……

3.    ten years in the case of offences punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than five years but no more than ten years;

4.    five years in the case of offences punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than one year but no more than five years;

…

(4)   The period shall conform to the penalty provided for in the law defining the elements of the offence, irrespective of aggravating or mitigating circumstances provided for in the provisions of the General Part or of aggravated or privileged offences in the Special Part.

Section 78a: Commencement
The limitation period shall commence to run as soon as the offence is completed. If a result constituting an element of the offence occurs later, the limitation period shall commence to run from that time.

Section 78b: Stay of limitation
…

(4)   If the Special Part provides for a sentence of imprisonment of more than five years in aggravated cases and if the trial proceedings have been instituted in the District Court, the statute of limitations shall be stayed in cases under section 78 (3) No 4 from the Admission of the indictment by the trial court, but no longer than for five years; subsection (3) aboveremains unaffected.

(5)   If the offender resides in a country abroad and if the competent authority makesa formal request for extradition to that state, the limitation period is stayed from the time the request is served on the foreign state,

1.    until the surrender of the offender to the German authorities,

2.    until the offender otherwise leaves the territory of the foreign state,

3.    until the denial of the request by the foreign state is served on the German authorities

or

4.    until the withdrawal of the request.

If the date of the service of the request upon the foreign state cannot be ascertained, the request shall be deemed to have been served one month after having been sent to the foreign state unless the requesting authority acquires knowledge of the fact that the request was in fact not served on the foreign state or only later. The 1st sentence of this subsection shall not apply to requests for surrender for which, in the requested state, a limitation period similar to section 83c of the Law on International Assistance in Criminal Matters exists, either based on the Framework Decision of the Council of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender agreements between the member states (OJ L 190, 18.7.2002, p 1), or based on an international treaty.

Section 78c: Interruption
(1)   The limitation period shall be interrupted by

1.    the first interrogation of the accused, notice that investigations have been initiated against him, or the order for such an interrogation or notice thereof;

2.    any judicial interrogation of the accused or the order for that purpose;

3.    any commissioning of an expert by the judge or public prosecutor if the accused has previously been interrogated or has been given notice of the initiation of investigations;

4.    any judicial seizure or search warrant and judicial decisions upholding them;

5.    an arrest warrant, a provisional detention order, an order to be brought before a judge for interrogation and judicial decisions upholding them;

6.    the preferment of a public indictment;

7.    the admission of the indictment by the trial court;

8.    any setting of a trial date;

9.    a summary judgment order or another decision equivalent to a judgment;

10. the provisional judicial dismissal of the proceedings due to the absence of the indicted accused as well as any order of the judge or public prosecutor issued after such a dismissal of the proceedings or in proceedings in absentia in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the indicted accused or to secure evidence;

11.  the provisional judicial dismissal of the proceedings due to the unfitness to plead of the indicted and any order of the judge or public prosecutor issued after such a dismissal of the proceedings for the purposes of reviewing the fitness of the indicted accused to plead;

or

12. any judicial request to undertake an investigative act abroad.

In separate proceedings for measures of rehabilitation and incapacitation and in an independent proceeding for deprivation or confiscation, the limitation period shall be interrupted by acts in these proceedings corresponding to those in the 1st sentence of this subsection.

(2)   The limitation period shall be interrupted by a written order or decision at the time at which the order or decision is signed. If the document is not immediately processed after signing the time it is actually submitted for processing shall be dispositive.

(3)   After each interruption the limitation period shall commence to run anew. The prosecution shall be barred by limitation once twice the statutory limitation period has elapsed since the time indicated in section 78a, or three years if the limitation period is shorter than three years. Section 78b shall remain unaffected.

(4)   The interruption shall have effect only for the person in relation to whom the interrupting act is done.

(5)   If a law which applies at the time the offence is completed is amended before a decision and the limitation period is thereby shortened, acts leading to an interruption which have been undertaken before the entry into force of the new law shall retain their effect, notwithstanding that at the time of the interruption the prosecution would have been barred by the statute of limitations under the amended law.