If someone does a crime but there was no law against it at that time, do they get caught if a law is set up for it in the future?

Question

So for exemple if someone got on with a minor at the past, or if someone was openly racist in the 50s, would they be jailed now if they were alive, or do laws apply to the time you commited the crime?

In: Other

Answer 1

Nope. Imagine if they worked like that: a fully authoritarian government could set up a law that criminalized something their opponents are known to have done, and apply it retroactively. Now the opposing party is all of a sudden full of criminals that need to be arrested and brought to justice.