ACCA Applied Skills · Corporate and Business Law (Global) · Business, political and legal systems
A trader in Qorin is prosecuted under a law that was passed after the act she is accused of, and which made that act a crime. Which element of the rule of law is most clearly breached?
The element breached is that laws should not apply retrospectively to criminalise conduct that was lawful when done. The rule of law requires that people can know the law in advance, so punishing past conduct under a later law is unfair and undermines legal certainty.
- AIndependence of the judiciary
- BLaws should not operate retrospectively to criminalise past conductCorrect
- CEqual access to legal education
Explanation
The rule of law requires laws to be known in advance, clear and generally prospective, so people can plan their conduct. Punishing an act that was lawful when done breaches this. Nothing in the facts concerns judicial independence.
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