No Retrospective Liability

Question 1

What is no retrospective liability

Answer 1

• where the particular conduct is not an offence at the time that D does the act, then it is unfair to convict them of the offence
• the idea of not being retrospectively liable for a crime is set out in the European convention of human rights article 7

Question 2

What does the rule of no retrospective liability prevent

Answer 2

• prevents a government from creating a law to make a person guilty even though the act was not an offence when it was done

Question 3

Outline two examples of retrospective liability

Answer 3

• one law that created retrospective liability was the war crimes act 1991
• it provided that if a person was a British citizen/uk resident from 1990 onwards, he/she could be prosecuted for a war crime carried out in Germany during ww2
• common in criminal offences - sexual assault of children who later claim as adults, this is a problem if the law on sexual offences has changed

Question 4

Outline the ‘natural law theory’ in relation to no retrospective liability

Answer 4

• some argue retrospective law is justifiable if it reflects a higher moral law
• shown in the case of R v R - which corrected an immoral position in law

Question 5

What are the positives of the idea of no retrospective liability

Answer 5

• protects individual rights and freedoms
• upholds legal certainty and predictability
• preventing retrospective rulings may preserve injustice laws