Calculate Brazilian criminal limitation periods: abstract, retroactive, supervening, and executive (CP arts. 109-117).
Brazil's Criminal Code provides four limitation types for the state's power to punish: (1) abstract, based on the maximum sentence the statute allows, counted from the date of the crime (art. 109, together with art. 111); (2) retroactive, based on the sentence actually imposed, for the period between the acceptance of charges and the publication of the conviction (Law 12.234/2010 barred counting the period between the crime and the acceptance of charges, for crimes committed on or after 6 May 2010); (3) supervening, also based on the concrete sentence, between the conviction's publication and it becoming final; (4) executive, based on the sentence imposed, from the point the conviction becomes final for the prosecution, increased by one-third if the convict is a recidivist (art. 110). The art. 115 reduction (by half) applies to anyone under 21 at the time of the crime or over 70 at sentencing, across all four types. The markers that interrupt the count are listed in art. 117: acceptance of charges, the pronouncement decision, its confirmation, an appealable conviction or appellate judgment, the start or continuation of serving the sentence, and recidivism.
Criminal prescription extinguishes punishability when the state lets the statutory period for prosecuting or executing a sentence run out without acting. The Criminal Code recognizes four types, distinguished by which sentence feeds the calculation (the statutory maximum or the sentence actually imposed) and by which period is counted (before or after the conviction becomes final).
All four types use the same table from art. 109: periods run from 3 years, for maximum sentences up to 1 year, to 20 years, for sentences above 12 years. The difference lies in which sentence enters the table and between which markers the period is counted.
Article 115 of the Criminal Code halves every limitation period when the agent was under 21 at the time of the crime or over 70 at sentencing (the term is interpreted as any conviction decision, including an appellate judgment). The reduction applies to all four types. Article 110, meanwhile, increases the executive limitation period by one-third when the convict is a recidivist; recidivism does not change the punitive limitation period (STJ Precedent 220).
Article 117 lists the markers that interrupt prescription, resetting the count: acceptance of charges, the pronouncement decision, its confirmation, the publication of an appealable conviction or appellate judgment, the start or continuation of serving the sentence, and recidivism. If the limitation period runs out between two consecutive markers, the claim is time-barred for that interval.
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Abstract uses the maximum possible sentence and counts from the date of the crime; retroactive uses the sentence actually imposed, for the period between the acceptance of charges and the publication of the conviction. Retroactive is usually more favorable to the defendant, because the imposed sentence tends to be lower than the statutory maximum.
Estimate based on CP arts. 109-117. Consult a criminal defense attorney for case-specific analysis.
CP art. 109, pena máxima em abstrato; termo inicial: data do fato (art. 111).