NITIJELA OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

34TH CONSTITUTIONAL REGULAR SESSION, 2013

BILL NO.: 50

P.L. 2013-28

CRIMINAL CODE (AMENDMENT) 2013

AN ACT

To amend Section 1.06 of the Criminal Code, 2011, to restore the 6-year statute of limitations for most crimes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE NITIJELA OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS:

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the Criminal Code (Amendment), 2013.

Section 2. Amendment.

(1) Amendment of Section 1.06 of the Criminal Code, 2011.

Section l.06 of the Criminal Code, 2011, is hereby amended as follows:

§1.06. Time Limitations.

(1) A prosecution for murder may be commenced at any time.

(2) Prosecution for other offenses are subject to the following periods of limitation:

(a) a prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor must be commenced within six years after it is committed;

(b) a prosecution for a petty misdemeanor or a violation must be commenced within one year after it is committed.

(3) An offense is committed either when every element occurs, or if a legislative purpose to prohibit a continuing course of conduct plainly appears, at the time when the course of conduct or the person's complicity therein is terminated. Time starts to run on the day after the offense is committed.

(4) A prosecution is commenced when a complaint, information, or citation is filed or when a warrant or other process is issued, provided that such warrant or process is executed without unreasonable delay.

(5) The period of limitation does not run:

(a) during any time when the accused is continuously absent from the Republic has no reasonably ascertainable place of abode or work within the Republic, but in no case shall this provision extend the period of limitation otherwise applicable by more than three years; or

(b) during any time when a prosecution against the accused for the same conduct is pending in the Republic.

Section 3. Effective Date.

This Act shall take effect on the date of certification in accordance with Article IV, Section 21 of the Constitution.
___________________

CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify:

1. That Nitijela Bill No.50 was passed by the Nitijela of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on the 6th day of November, 2013; and

2. That I am satisfied that Nitijela Bill No.50 was passed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Rules of Procedures of the Nitijela.

I hereby place my signature before the Clerk this 26th day of November 2013.
	
Attest:
	
Hon. Donald F. Capelle
Speaker
Nitijela of the Marshall Islands
	TarjoArelong
Clerk
Nitijela of the Marshall Islands