retrospective legislation meaning

• [Law]
  Legislation that operates on matters taking place before its enactment, e.g. by penalizing conduct that was lawful when it occurred. There is a presumption that statutes are not intended to have retroactive effect unless they merely change legal procedure (see INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES).

• retrospective:    Noun: retrospectiv ...
• legislation:    Noun: legislation& ...
• retrospective penalties:    [Law]See PENALTY.

Examples

1. He also opposed the Conservative government's Immigration Bill and retrospective legislation on workfare.
2. Asquith opposed retrospective legislation or compensation.
3. It did however contain retrospective legislation declaring that all work previously carried out was deemed authorised by the Act.
4. The banks made some attempts to have retrospective legislation passed to legalise the swaps, but were not successful in doing so.
5. As a result of the proliferation of similar schemes, John Howard as Treasurer introduced retrospective legislation which was subsequently passed by the parliament.