do you mind me asking what the summons is for?? if road traffic mmatter then 6 months apply but if its for theft or anything that has a 5 years imprisonment then the sunnons can be longer .
Your absolutly right Galway, I just assumed that the OP was referring to a "Summary Offence", but of course may not be. Here is a bit of info on time limits, depending on what the summons is in relation to.
In the case of a
summary offence (an offence tried in the
District Court before a
judge without a
jury) the Gardaí must make a complaint to the District Court within six months of the offence being committed. These offences include most
Road Traffic Offences like speeding, illegal parking and fixed charge notice offences.
Indictable offences
Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 1951 states that the time limits that are provided for summary offences do not apply to an
indictable offence (an offence to be tried by a judge and jury in the
Circuit Court or the
Central Criminal Court). Technically, therefore, there is no time limit for the commencement of proceedings in the case of an indictable offence unless specific legislation provides one.
However, if there is an excessively long delay in prosecuting an offence, the judge may decide not to hear the case. In making the decision, the judge considers whether the delay has reduced your chances of a fair trial, for example, if the delay means that key
witnesses are no longer available to give evidence or if the delay could have affected their memory of what happened.
Special time limits
The general time limit of 6 months for commencing proceedings, mentioned above, applies to most offences which are dealt with in the District Court. There are however, some exceptions to this. Because of the nature and difficulty of investigating some offences and of gathering enough evidence to start proceedings, special time limits are applied to them by law. Examples of these offences include the following:
- Under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts, An Post may institute proceedings for unlicensed TV sets at any time within 12 months from the date of the offence .
- Under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 proceedings for an offence may be instituted within 2 years from the date of the offence.
- For offences under the Revenue Acts, proceedings may commence within 10 years from the date of the offence.
- For offences under the Customs Acts, proceedings may commence within 3 years from the date of the offence
Hope that clears up some points.....