Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Attorney General, what the deadline is for criminal prosecutions to be brought by the Metropolitan Police against people implicated in electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets as a result of the Election Court rulings against former mayor Lutfur Rahman.

Robert Buckland

The time limit for bringing proceedings for a criminal offence depends on the court in which the case can be heard. Proceedings for those offences which can only be tried in the magistrates court must usually be brought within 6 months of the alleged offence being committed. There is not usually a time limit for those offences which can only be prosecuted in the Crown Court or which can be prosecuted in either the magistrates or Crown Court. There are exceptions in relation to individual offences.