The Czech Bar Association Criticizes the Proposal to Eliminate the Statute of Limitations for Murder

A proposal by a group of senators led by Jitka Seitlová and Jan Pirke would ensure that criminal liability for murder would no longer expire upon the passage of the statute of limitations. Currently, the statute of limitations for murder expires after 30 years; this period was only introduced by a recent amendment to the Criminal Code, effective as of January 2026. The proponents argue, in particular, that the intentional killing of a person is an exceptionally serious crime, that the bereaved have an interest in seeing the perpetrator punished, and that modern forensic methods—such as DNA analysis—are now available. Under the proposal, the new rule eliminating the statute of limitations would apply to murders committed only after the law takes effect; older cases would continue to be assessed according to the existing rules.

However, the Czech Bar Association points out that the abolition of the statute of limitations cannot be viewed merely as a symbolic tightening of the law. In criminal law, the statute of limitations is linked, among other things, to the fact that, over time, the availability and quality of evidence deteriorate, the ability to reliably reconstruct the facts of the case diminishes, and the risk of a miscarriage of justice increases. The Bar Association also criticizes the fact that the proposal does not draw on statistics regarding unsolved murders, does not distinguish between different forms of murder, and does not take into account other criminal offenses in which death is the result of the act. According to the Czech Bar Association, it is therefore premature to abolish the statute of limitations at a time when the new 30-year period has not yet had a chance to take effect. The Ministry of Justice, on the other hand, supports the idea of making murder not subject to a statute of limitations, citing the gravity of the crime and advances in forensic methods.