ex post facto
Retroactive in law
Ex post facto describes laws or rules applied retroactively—punishing acts that were legal when committed, or changing the consequences after the fact.
The Latin translates roughly as "from after the deed." The U.S.
Constitution prohibits ex post facto criminal laws: The ex post facto clause prevents Congress from criminalizing past behavior.
More loosely, any after-the-fact reasoning or justification: ex post facto rationalization.
Occurring post-event
- backdatedMarked with earlier date
- retrospectiveReviewing what came before
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
- reassessmentRenewed evaluation of something
revision · reclassification · reinterpretation · subsequent · backward-looking · grandfathering · effective date
Effective from a past date
- unconstitutionalViolating fundamental law
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- clauseProvision in agreement
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
statute · legislation · criminalization · punishment · jurisprudence · amendment · doctrine · provision
after-the-fact
Occurring post-event
- backdatedMarked with earlier date
- retrospectiveReviewing what came before
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
reassessment · revision · reclassification · reinterpretation · subsequent · backward-looking · grandfathering · effective date
retroactive
Effective from a past date
- unconstitutionalViolating fundamental law
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- clauseProvision in agreement
constitution · statute · legislation · criminalization · punishment · jurisprudence · amendment · doctrine · provision · due process
- constitutional lawConstitution, Bill of Rights, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment
- criminal lawcrime, felony, misdemeanor, murder, robbery
- Latin Legal Termsbona fide, caveat emptor, de facto, de jure, in absentia
- Latin Wordsad, ad nauseam, et, caveat emptor, affidavit
- Legal Latinab initio, bona fide, caveat emptor, certiorari, de facto
- ConstitutionBill of Rights, preamble, articles, U.S. Constitution, Article I
ex post factoprospective
Expected in the future
ex ante · beforehand · in advance · forward-looking · a priori
ex post factoex ante
Before occurrence, anticipated
prospective · predictive · forward-looking · forecasted · anticipated