Prohibition on retrospective criminal laws

Back to rights and freedoms: right by right

Article 15

ICCPR Article15 states:

1. No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed. If, subsequent to the commission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of the lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.
2. Nothing in this article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations.

More information

• Attorney-General's Department Guidance Sheet
• Polyukhovich v The Commonwealth [1991] HCA 32 Retrospective war crimes law found valid by majority; discussion of relationship between retrospective legislation and judicial power
• Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Keating [2013] HCA 20 (May 2013) Retrospective social security law found ineffective

Comments

Comments are invited on issues raised on this page, including suggestions for addition, amendments or additional resources, using the Comments field at the end of this page. Please note that

• registration and log in is required to enable comments. This is purely in the interests of reducing non-authentic comments (including automated spam) and is subject to the Commission's privacy policy
• posts which are irrelevant to the topic or are otherwise contrary to our social media guidelines may be deleted.

Please email if any difficulties are encountered in posting comments.