RETROACTIVE
retroactive,adj. (Of a statute, ruling, etc.) extending in scope or effect to matters that have
occurred in the past. — Also termed retrospective. Cf. PROSPECTIVE(1). [Cases: Administrative
Law and Procedure 419; Courts 100(1); Statutes 261–278. C.J.S. Courts §§ 147–148; Public
Administrative Law and Procedure §§ 89, 98; Statutes §§ 407–431.] — retroactivity,n.
“ ‘Retroactivity’ is a term often used by lawyers but rarely defined. On analysis it soon
becomes apparent, moreover, that it is used to cover at least two distinct concepts. The first, which
may be called ‘true retroactivity,’ consists in the application of a new rule of law to an act or
transaction which was completed before the rule was promulgated. The second concept, which
will be referred to as ‘quasi-retroactivity,’ occurs when a new rule of law is applied to an act or
transaction in the process of completion…. [T]he foundation of these concepts is the distinction
between completed and pending transactions ….” T.C. Hartley, The Foundations of European
Community Law 129 (1981). [Blacks Law 8th]