ABSTRACT
This chapter considers statutes of limitation, a non-exculpatory defense which may not absolve an actor’s moral blameworthiness but forgoes criminal liability and prosecution after a certain amount of time has passed since the commission of an offense. The chapter first discusses the case of Walter Rauff, a Nazi technical adviser who devised systems of mass murder responsible for the death of roughly 97,000 people. Rauff was eventually arrested in Chile, but the statute of limitation for murder had since passed and Rauff escaped all criminal liability for his contributions to genocide. The chapter then considers the case of Oskar Groening, a Nazi who was convicted as an accessory to murder nearly 70 years after the war, since statutes of limitation for war crimes had since been abolished. The chapter reveals the diversity in statutes of limitations in the states, which differ in the crimes exempt from statutes of limitation. The chapter discusses the societal interests promoted by statutes of limitations and debates whether or not they ought to be narrowed.
