<P> An ex post facto law ( corrupted from Latin : ex postfacto , lit . ' out of the aftermath ' ) is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences ( or status ) of actions that were committed , or relationships that existed , before the enactment of the law . In criminal law , it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed ; it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed ; it may change the punishment prescribed for a crime , as by adding new penalties or extending sentences ; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime likelier than it would have been when the deed was committed . Conversely , a form of ex post facto law commonly called an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts . A pardon has a similar effect , in a specific case instead of a class of cases . Other legal changes may alleviate possible punishments ( for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment ) retroactively . Such legal changes are also known by the Latin term in mitius . </P>
<P> An ex post facto law ( corrupted from Latin : ex postfacto , lit . ' out of the aftermath ' ) is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences ( or status ) of actions that were committed , or relationships that existed , before the enactment of the law . In criminal law , it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed ; it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed ; it may change the punishment prescribed for a crime , as by adding new penalties or extending sentences ; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime likelier than it would have been when the deed was committed . Conversely , a form of ex post facto law commonly called an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts . A pardon has a similar effect , in a specific case instead of a class of cases . Other legal changes may alleviate possible punishments ( for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment ) retroactively . Such legal changes are also known by the Latin term in mitius . </P>
where are ex post facto laws discussed and what does it say
where are ex post facto laws discussed and what does it say
a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences ( or status ) of actions that were committed , or relationships that existed , before the enactment of the law
a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences ( or status ) of actions that were committed , or relationships that existed , before the enactment of the law