Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Retroactive
adj. (Of a statute, ruling, etc.) extending in scope or effect to matters that have occurred in the past. - Also termed retrospective. Cf. PROSPECTIVE (i). - retroactivity, n ."'Retroactivity' is a term often used by lawyers but rarely defined. On analysis it soon becomes apparent, moreover, that it is used to cover at least two distinct concepts. The first, which may be called 'true retroactivity,' consists in the application of a new rule of law to an act or transaction which was completed before the rule was promulgated. The second concept, which will be referred to as 'quasi-retroactivity,' occurs when a new rule of law is applied to an act or transaction in the process of completion .... [T]he foundation of these concepts is the distinction between completed and pending transactions . . . ." T.C. Hartley, The Foundations of European Community Law 129 (1981).
retroactive law.
A legislative act that looks backward or contemplates the past, affecting acts or facts that existed before the act came into effect. ( A retroactive law is not unconstitutional unless it (1) is in the nature of an ex post facto law or a bill of attainder, (2) impairs the obligation of contracts, (3) divests vested rights, or (4) is constitutionally forbidden. -Also termed retrospective law.