Charged for a crime which doesn't exist

[fouronthefloor]

I was thinking about the imminent end to the Covid regulations and it got me wondering whether it's possible to be charged for committing an offence under a law which no longer exists.
I don't know of any examples but possible scenarios could be:

Driving at 49mph on a 40mph restricted road which has recently been changed to 50 limit.

Committing a homosexual act two days before the law was changed.

Or holding a party or gathering when it was forbidden under the Covid act.

I'm guessing that the law applies at the time it was broken but are there any examples of anyone being charged for an offence under a law which has subsequently been revoked, prior to trial?

Thanks, Boris

[littleredrooster]

[NGee]

fouronthefloor said:

I was thinking about the imminent end to the Covid regulations and it got me wondering whether it's possible to be charged for committing an offence under a law which no longer exists.
I don't know of any examples but possible scenarios could be:

Driving at 49mph on a 40mph restricted road which has recently been changed to 50 limit.

Committing a homosexual act two days before the law was changed.

Or holding a party or gathering when it was forbidden under the Covid act.

I'm guessing that the law applies at the time it was broken but are there any examples of anyone being charged for an offence under a law which has subsequently been revoked, prior to trial?

Thanks, Boris

Boris, please do not try committing a homosexual act whilst driving at 49 mph as that is outside my remit so I won't be able to help you.
However having a party is fine as long as you can confirm that you were working from home and didn't realise you were at a party.

Hope that helps.
Priti

[fouronthefloor]

NGee said:

fouronthefloor said:

I was thinking about the imminent end to the Covid regulations and it got me wondering whether it's possible to be charged for committing an offence under a law which no longer exists.
I don't know of any examples but possible scenarios could be:

Driving at 49mph on a 40mph restricted road which has recently been changed to 50 limit.

Committing a homosexual act two days before the law was changed.

Or holding a party or gathering when it was forbidden under the Covid act.

I'm guessing that the law applies at the time it was broken but are there any examples of anyone being charged for an offence under a law which has subsequently been revoked, prior to trial?

Thanks, Boris

Boris, please do not try committing a homosexual act whilst driving at 49 mph as that is outside my remit so I won't be able to help you.
However having a party is fine as long as you can confirm that you were working from home and didn't realise you were at a party.

Hope that helps.
Priti

I'm afraid I can't comment on any of the aforementioned scenarios due to the ongoing inquiry.

[fouronthefloor]

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

[cuprabob]

fouronthefloor said:

.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

Of course he is.

[Dingu]

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

[fouronthefloor]

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

Possibly an example but that is a kind of ongoing law - you must obey the speed limit

[Dingu]

fouronthefloor said:

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

Possibly an example but that is a kind of ongoing law - you must obey the speed limit

Are they not still prosecuting people for regulations which have since eased or currently don’t apply? We don’t have limitations on numbers inside but cases were still dealt with. It’s not that different.

If your question is specifically about Boris start a thread about that instead.

[fouronthefloor]

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

Possibly an example but that is a kind of ongoing law - you must obey the speed limit

Are they not still prosecuting people for regulations which have since eased or currently don’t apply? We don’t have limitations on numbers inside but cases were still dealt with. It’s not that different.

If your question is specifically about Boris start a thread about that instead.

No, there's enough about Boris already. I'm just curious to know if someone can be prosecuted for a crime for something that used to be illegal but no longer is. It seems a bit of a waste of time and effort.

[Aretnap]

Prosecutions for breaching (now defunct) Covid regulations are still working their way through the courts in fairly large numbers. Random example: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-60...

[Gareth79]

fouronthefloor said:

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

Possibly an example but that is a kind of ongoing law - you must obey the speed limit

It's a very similar situation actually. The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations (there have been several) is temporary secondary legislation introduced under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. The underlying act is still in force.

In the same way, a temporary speed limit is secondary legislation enabled by primary legislation (Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984).

[Austin_Metro]

It’s probably a waste of time and effort but the answer is yes. It’s the law the applies at the time usually. Some laws do apply retrospectively, but rarely.

But test it this way, on day 1 the penalty for speeding was £100, from day 7, it was £200. If you were caught on day 3, the penalty would be £100.

[fouronthefloor]

Aretnap said:

Prosecutions for breaching (now defunct) Covid regulations are still working their way through the courts in fairly large numbers. Random example: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-60...

Presumably this person was caught at the time and it's taken this long for the case to be heard

[fouronthefloor]

Gareth79 said:

fouronthefloor said:

Dingu said:

fouronthefloor said:

Seriously though, are there similar situations to compare.....or is Boris going to get away with it.

People must get fined and points for temporary speed limits all the time. Some will be after the limit ends. Doesn’t change the fact the law was broken.

Possibly an example but that is a kind of ongoing law - you must obey the speed limit

It's a very similar situation actually. The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations (there have been several) is temporary secondary legislation introduced under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. The underlying act is still in force.

In the same way, a temporary speed limit is secondary legislation enabled by primary legislation (Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984).

I'm curious to know whether the Coronavirus Regs cease to be in force as of next week when all restrictions are lifted and whether this would affect the timing of the police enquiry following the allegations about gatherings at No.10.

[Austin_Metro]

fouronthefloor said:

I'm curious to know whether the Coronavirus Regs cease to be in force as of next week when all restrictions are lifted and whether this would affect the timing of the police enquiry following the allegations about gatherings at No.10.

Unless they retrospectively de criminalise compliance with those regs, which is unlikely, then the crimes will still be issues to investigate and prosecute as necessary

[fouronthefloor]

Austin_Metro said:

fouronthefloor said:

I'm curious to know whether the Coronavirus Regs cease to be in force as of next week when all restrictions are lifted and whether this would affect the timing of the police enquiry following the allegations about gatherings at No.10.

Unless they retrospectively de criminalise compliance with those regs, which is unlikely, then the crimes will still be issues to investigate and prosecute as necessary

Thank you. They must be waiting for it to kick off in Ukraine then.

[fouronthefloor]

Just bad luck then, for a murderer who's awarded the death penalty but the death penalty is abolished a week before he is due to be hanged.

[Dingu]

I think you would likely find the sentence commuted in that particular case.

Also that’s different as they are still guilty of the same crime.

You will have seen sentences change both ways in the past, these won’t be retrospectively altered. E.g. harpers law is a case of it increasing.

[Boosted LS1]

Is this a dig at partygate? God that's so effing boring now. It's dull as can be.