Statute of limitations in the context of the principle of non-retroactivity of the laws

This study having the subject matter of "Statute of Limitations In the Context of the Principle of Non-Retroactivity of the Laws" examines the status of the rules regarding the statute of limitations vis-a-vis the non-retroactivity principle. The underlying question, in this context, is whether a legal provision on statute of limitations that enters into force after a crime has been committed will apply to that crime. Different answers may be observed to this question in the legal provisions jurisprudence and the doctrine; in different countries. The main reason of this discrepancy is that, the principle of legality-and therefore-the principle of non-retroactivity differs in meaning and in scope in different periods of the history. For this reason, these concepts are examined in great detail in our study. The discussions on the retroactivity of laws tend to focus on the examples of certain specific types of crime and the possible retroactive use of laws that might harm the perpetrators' benefits. So, this study is limited to the non-retroactivity of laws that are disadvantage to the perpetrator. In this study, we draw on the methods of the disciplines of legal history, legal philosophy, criminology and comparative law. Also legal provisions and jurisprudence of international criminal law were taken into consideration. We will examine the discussions about this subject, by focusing on the specific kinds of crimes that are named as the state crimes and our study is limited to the retroactive use of laws that might harm the perpetrators' benefits. We will conclude this study by proposals of alternative statute of limitations provisions that may prevent the abuse of the "statute of limitations" in criminal procedural law.