Royal Commission urged to address statute of limitations on rape cases
Tuesday 14 May 2013 @ 11.25 a.m. | Legal Research
According to an article in abc.net.au, law experts are calling on the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse to remedy an "unjust" statute of limitations which is still being applied retrospectively.
A statute of limitations which was in place in Victoria for decades under the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 gave young girls only one year to report sexual abuse against them, or the case could not be prosecuted.
The time limit stayed in place until the 1990s, but a woman who reported her case only recently blames it for derailing the proceedings.
A man accused of raping a Melbourne woman in 1975 was due to stand trial for it in April 2013.
The victim says the Office of Public Prosecutions cited a statute of limitations when it explained to her why the case had been dropped suddenly.
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