Legislation Act 2019

Interpretation and application of legislation - General principles of interpretation

12: Legislation does not have retrospective effect

You could also call this:

"Laws only apply from the date they start, not before they were made."

When you look at a law, you need to know it does not apply before it was made. Legislation does not have retrospective effect, which means it only applies from the date it starts. You can compare this to a similar law from 1999, which is available on the Legislation Act website.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7298195.


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11: Legislation applies to circumstances as they arise, or

"The law applies to what's happening now, not what happened before."


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"What special words mean in New Zealand laws"

Part 2Interpretation and application of legislation
General principles of interpretation

12Legislation does not have retrospective effect

  1. Legislation does not have retrospective effect.

Compare
  • 1999 No 85 s 7