Comparative Law Perspective, The Criminal Law Is Not Retroactive To The Principles Of Constitutional Analysis

Ex Post Facto prohibition is not only a principle of Constitutionalism, but also a principle of Legality. This paper studies intensively on what is retroactive criminal law and what is the basic theories of Ex post facto law by Constitutionalism analysis, and then articulates how to resolve the problem of retroactivity.This dissertation comprises introduction and main body which consists of five parts.The introduction sets forth why the author chose such a topic and the significance of such topic as well as the purpose of this dissertation.The first chapter introduces the legislation of international laws and internal nation laws about retroactive law. There are three mainly modes: Anglo-American mode, Deutsch-France mode and Switzerland mode. The last part introduces China's legislation.The second chapter illustrates the ingredients of retroactive laws. This chapter firstly demonstrates what is Ex Post Facto, then introduces the validity of the Criminal law and Judicial decisions in terms of Time. The last part expounds how legislation and judicial decisions can be retroactivity.The third chapter demonstrates the rules how to apply the law when legal changes. There are four doctrines: the principle of Be the favor of the defendant, the principle of Application the criminal law entirely, the principle of Labeling prohibition and the principle of Negative inference prohibition.The fourth chapter expounds the basic theories of Ex Post Facto prohibition. This dissertation thinks the principles on which the Ex Post Facto prohibition is based are fundamental fairness and justice, fair notice theory, power checking theory and the theory of certainly.The fifth chapter discusses some special problems about retroactivity. Such as the application of continuing offenses which straddled the effective date of the newly made law, the retroactivity about the system of probation and parole, the retroactivity aboutthe measures of restriction or prohibition of one's vocation.