5 / 36
IMPACT OF STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS IN CORRUPTION CASES AFFECTING EU FINANCIAL INTERESTS |
PAG.5
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
A non-satisfactory regulation of the statutes of
limitations (hereinafter SOL) represents a major
obstacle in contrasting corruption-related of-
fences. The purpose of this report is to analyse
different legal framework to identify how weak
regulations affect the efforts made to contrast
corruption, with a specific focus on the damage
that may ensue to the protection of EU financial
interests.
To this end, this report makes a comparison
between the legal framework of six different
Member States: researchers focusing on Italy,
Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal and Romania
present the efficiencies and deficiencies of the
different approaches adopted in these coun-
tries.
In addition, based on the European Court of Ju-
stice judgement in Taricco
1
, this report analyses
national experts’ opinions and possible scena-
rios which might arise at country level.
A major conclusion of this report is that there
is a considerable diversity of regulations, which
reflects the identification of statutes of limitation
“as problematic” only in limited countries though
somehow seems to affect, at least indirectly, all
the countries involved in this study.
A first result is that the (short) length of limita-
tion periods is not the main criticisable factor;
other relevant aspects are more important, such
as the establishment of absolute statutes of limi-
tation, the scarceness of causes for suspension
or interruption, the expectable delays in transna-
tional cases, the “ways out” or clauses granted to
specific individuals.
Statutes of limitation are often related to other
issues which are perceived as more detrimental
to the entire national system, such as the lack
of resources to detect and prosecute corrup-
tion-related crimes, the length of criminal justi-
ce proceedings or the lack of impartiality in the
laws that create privileges for specific categories
of citizens.
1
Specifically, case C-105/14 Ivo Taricco and Others, delivered by EU Court of Justice on September 8, 2015