retroactive: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

adj.

Influencing or applying to a period prior to enactment: a retroactive pay increase.

[French rétroactif, from Latin retroāctus, past participle of retroagere, to drive back : retrō-, retro- + agere, to drive.]

retroactively ret'ro·ac'tive·ly adv.
retroactivity ret'ro·ac·tiv'i·ty n.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Having reference to things that happened in the past, prior to the occurrence of the act in question.

A retroactive or retrospective law is one that takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, creates new obligations, imposes new duties, or attaches a new and different legal effect to transactions or considerations already past. Common-law principles do not favor the retroactive effect of laws in the majority of cases, and canons of legislative construction presume that legislation is not intended as retroactive unless its language expressly makes it retroactive.

Retroactive criminal laws that increase punishment for acts committed prior to their enactments are deemed ex post facto laws and are unenforceable because they violate Article I, Section 9, Clause 3, and Section 10, Clause 1, of the U.S. Constitution and comparable provisions of state constitutions.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - retroaktiv, tilbagevirkende

Nederlands (Dutch)
met terugwerkende kracht

Français (French)
adj. - rétroactif

Deutsch (German)
adj. - rückwirkend

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - αναδρομικός, αναδρομικής ισχύος

Italiano (Italian)
retroattivo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - retroativo

Русский (Russian)
ретроактивный, (юр.) имеющую обратную силу

Español (Spanish)
adj. - retroactivo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - retroaktiv

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
反动的, 有追溯力的, 追溯的

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 反動的, 有追溯力的, 追溯的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 반동하는, 소급하는

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 遡及する, 効力がさかのぼる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) ذو أثر رجعي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מפרעי, אחורני, רטרואקטיבי‬

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