Ex post facto law facts for kids
An ex post facto law (pronounced "eks POST FAK-toh") is a special kind of law. It comes from Latin words meaning "after the fact." This type of law changes the legal rules or results for things that people did before the law even existed.
Imagine someone did something that was perfectly fine last week. If a new law comes out today that says what they did last week is now against the rules, that new law would be an ex post facto law. These laws are usually about criminal law, meaning they deal with actions that are considered crimes.
An ex post facto law might:
- Make an action a crime even though it was legal when it happened.
- Make a crime worse than it was when someone committed it.
- Change the punishment for a crime to be harsher than it was before.
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Why Ex Post Facto Laws Are Not Allowed
Many countries believe that ex post facto laws are unfair. It's hard for people to follow rules if the rules can change after they've already acted. This is why these types of laws are often forbidden.
In the United States
The Constitution of the United States clearly says that ex post facto laws are not allowed. This is a very important rule to protect people's rights.
- Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." This applies to the U.S. federal government.
- Article 1, Section 10 states: "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law. . ." This applies to individual states, meaning they cannot pass such laws either.
These rules make sure that people know what is allowed and what is not allowed at the time they act.
Ex Post Facto Laws and Civil Law
It's important to know that the rule against ex post facto laws mainly applies to criminal law. This means laws about actions that are considered crimes. It does not usually apply to civil law. Civil laws deal with private rights and disagreements between people or groups, like contracts or property disputes.
In 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States explained the difference. They said that ex post facto laws are about "penal laws" (laws that punish actions) and not about civil laws, even if civil laws might affect people's rights in some way.
In Europe
The European Parliament also has rules against ex post facto laws for all its member nations. They believe that these laws can stop citizens from getting a fair trial or from being able to challenge unfair legal decisions.
In English law, ex post facto laws are very rare. One example was the War Crimes Act 1991. This law allowed British citizens to be put on trial for very serious actions that happened during World War II, even though the specific laws for those actions might have been different at the time.
See also
In Spanish: Ley ex post facto para niños
