Non-retroactivity

Non-retroactivity is the

Legal systems vary considerably in the extent to which they apply the principle to civil and administrative laws.^[4] Legal systems also vary considerably in the extent to which court rulings on issues of law, such as the rulings of a constitutional court, have retroactive effect. The United States Supreme Court has for example often denied retroactive effect to its constitutional rulings on criminal procedure.^[5] The first such decision was in Linkletter v. Walker in 1965.^[6]

There is frequent tension between the principle of non-retroactivity and the punishment of crimes against humanity. For example, in the case of the former Chadian president Hissène Habré, the ECOWAS Court invoked the principle of non-retroactivity to bar Habré from being tried under a retroactive law in Senegal, instead requiring him to be tried in a new ad hoc court, the Extraordinary African Chambers.^[7]

Historically, the principle of non-retroactivity of statutory law emerged in the ancient

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