Canada Elections Act

Marginal note:Limitation period

• 514 (1) A prosecution for an offence under this Act must be instituted within 18 months after the day on which the Commissioner becomes aware of the facts giving rise to the prosecution and not later than seven years after the day on which the offence was committed.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Despite subsection (1), if a prosecution cannot be instituted because the offender has left the jurisdiction of the court, the prosecution may be instituted within one year after the offender’s return.

• Marginal note:Commissioner’s certificate

  (3) A document purporting to have been issued by the Commissioner, certifying the day on which the Commissioner became aware of the facts giving rise to a prosecution, is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or of the official character of the person appearing to have signed the document and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matter asserted in it.