Retroactive Laws Debate

The cluster focuses on discussions about the retroactive application of laws, ex-post facto prohibitions, and whether past actions can be prosecuted under new legislation. Commenters debate the impossibility or rarity of retroactive laws and implications for current practices becoming illegal in the future.

πŸ“‰ Falling 0.4x Legal
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Keywords

IMHO OP IMO wikipedia.org UK GDPR U.S laws law retroactively legal facto legislation changed effect records passing

Sample Comments

cheerlessbog β€’ Jul 10, 2020 β€’ View on HN

Aren't retroactive laws a thing?

jacques_chester β€’ Jan 23, 2020 β€’ View on HN

Legislation can be changed. Including retroactively.

qaq β€’ Aug 30, 2016 β€’ View on HN

the entire argument is that you can not apply laws retroactively.

hbrn β€’ May 17, 2023 β€’ View on HN

I don't know if you're aware of this, but laws cannot be applied retroactively.

beobab β€’ Feb 10, 2019 β€’ View on HN

You can’t retroactively apply laws, thankfully.

npongratz β€’ Nov 1, 2023 β€’ View on HN

What's legal and recorded today might be retroactively prosecuted as a crime tomorrow.

rhizome β€’ Sep 30, 2013 β€’ View on HN

It's possible that laws have to be passed to prohibit it, in which case ex-post facto prevents the current and past practices to be prosecuted.

gooob β€’ Apr 30, 2024 β€’ View on HN

yes, but apparently the law hasn't been updated to allow for that, and legal people get confused by it. what is it that triggers the process of reviewing and revising/removing an outdated law when an entity breaks it? it's obvious that there could be thousands of laws that were made, that are now out of date because of advances in technology or scientific understanding. so isn't there some regular procedure for, when someone sues someone, allowing for the opportunity to consi

pygy_ β€’ Apr 25, 2018 β€’ View on HN

Agreed, it doesn't make any sense to apply those rules retroactively.

eesmith β€’ Jul 6, 2023 β€’ View on HN

It's a shame no one can rewrite the law should circumstances change. /s