(From the High Court of Australia) There is a presumption that a statute was intended to operate prospectively and not retrospectively.
Lord Reid said: ‘Generally, there is a strong presumption that a legislature does not intend to impose a new liability in respect of something that has already happened, because generally it would not be reasonable for a legislature to do that . . But this presumption may be overcome not only by express words in the Act but also by circumstances sufficiently strong to displace it.’
Judges:
Viscount Simonds, Lord Reid, Lord Radcliffe, Lord Tucker, Lord Hodson
Citations:
[1961] UKPC 34, [1961] AC 927, [1961] 3 WLR 727, [1961] 3 All ER 203
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Australia
Cited by:
Cited – Barlow v Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council CA 1-Jun-2020
Presumption of dedication dates back.
The claimant tripped over a tree root raising a path in the park. The court was now asked whether the pathway through a public park, but which was not a public right of way, was maintainable at public expense as a highway governed by the 1980 Act. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional
Updated: 27 November 2022; Ref: scu.445327
