CAN A LAW HAVE RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION?

 CAN A LAW HAS RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION

This is one of the topics that makes law student different in the campus because it is logical.

Before deep penetration in to the fact in issue,I will like to define the meaning of retrospective in two eyes; grammatically and legally.

Grammatically,it means, looking backwards or affecting or influencing past things; retroactive. anyway, with all these grammatical meanings, it means, the looking back on something that happened in the past events.

Legally,is a law that affects events that happened or rights that occurred before it was passed; that is ex post facto law. On the other hand,is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of action that were committed, or relationship that existed before the enactment of law.

Conspicuously, the general principle of law is that the applicable law to an action is the law existing or the law that existed at the time of the couse of action arose .see the case of Adesanoye v. Adewale (2000)9 NWLR (pt. 671)127. Therefore, when a law was enacted or amended during the couse of prosecuting a matter,the applicable law ought to be the law in existence at the time the couse of action .

However, in every general rule there must be an exception, although is a cardinal principle of law that laws or statutes are to operate prospectively not retrospectively, but there are some exceptions to that ,whereby the provision of statutes it is to operate retrospectively.

Thus, one exception is where a retrospective effect of law is clearly stated and intended by the statute. because it is a fundamental rule of Nigerian law that no statute shall be construed to have a retrospective operation unless such a construction appears very clearly in terms of the act or law;or arises by necessary and distinct implication.

Further more, A second exception is where the statute or amendment affects procedural matters. in as much as an appellate Court can not take into account a new law brought into existence after the judgement appealed against has been rendered, because the right of the litigants or parties are determined under the law in force at the date of the suites; matters of procedure are different and the law affecting procedure is always retrospective. you may visit the case of ojokolobo v. Alamu (1987) 3 NWLR (pt.61)377 at 396 -397 paras. H-A per bello CJN (as he was then ) made an observation on the exception to the general rule governing the operation of retrospective laws as follows;

"It is a cardinal principle of our law that statute operate prospectively and can not apply retrospectively unless it is made to do so by clear and express terms or it only affects purely procedural matters and does not affect the right of the parties"

Notably, retrospective effect is not allowed in criminal law, the judgement have made it well settled that there can not be any retrospectivity in respect of penalty and confiscation.

CONCLUSION, it is conspicuous that the general rule of law is that the applicable law to an action is the law existing or the law that existed at the time of couse of action and it is a cardinal principle of law to operate prospectively but retrospective application may arise subject to the satisfaction of the listed exceptions, that it must be clear and expressed by the statute and when the statute or amendment affects procedural matters not the parties to the case.

ABDULWALIY MUSTAPHA (DAN KWARA)

09035826496

LLB 2 STUDENT

ANNAHDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY NIAMY