ABSTRACT
The Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998 has awakened renewed interest in the question of delay. The courts may still dismiss charges for delay even though the charges are within the statutory time limit.
4.1.1 It has always been open to defendants to apply for a stay of proceedings on account of delay. Until the HRA 1998 came into force, applications for stays for reasons of delay were made under the head of ‘abuse of process’.
