Kryvoi, Y;
Matos, S;
(2021)
Non-Retroactivity as a General Principle of Law.
Utrecht Law Review
, 17
(1)
pp. 46-58.
10.36633/ulr.604.
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Abstract
This article examines the principle of non-retroactive application of law, which prohibits the application of law to events that took place before the law was introduced. The application of this principle has become particularly controversial as states adopt stricter regulations to tackle climate change with retroactive effect, and investors challenge such regulations before international courts and tribunals. In the context of criminal law, the principle is widespread and has become a binding norm of international law. However, a survey of domestic jurisdictions and decisions of international courts and tribunals shows that that there is no general principle of international law which forbids the retroactive application of administrative law. Despite pronouncements of some international courts and tribunals to the contrary, states can conclude treaties and adopt administrative regulations with retroactive effect to pursue legitimate public policy objectives.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Non-Retroactivity as a General Principle of Law |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.36633/ulr.604 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.36633/ulr.604 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | international law, legal certainty, ex post facto laws, retroactivity, retroactive laws, environmental law, dispute resolution |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Laws |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10141752 |
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