EX POST FACTO LAW; DEFINED

- Ex post facto law generally prohibits the retrospectivity of penal laws.

KINDS OF EX POST FACTO LAW

1.) Which makes an action done before the passing of the law and which was innocent when
done criminal, and punishes such action;
2.) Which aggravates a crime or makes it a greater than when it was committed; or
3.) Which changes the punishment and inflicts greater punishment than the law annexed to the
crime when it was committed;
4.) Which alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less or different testimony than the law
required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to convict the defendant;
5.) Which deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has
become entitled, such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a proclamation
of amnesty.

CHARACTERISTICS:
1.) It refers to criminal matters;
2.) It is retroactive in application; and
3.) It works to the prejudice of the accused.

SCOPE
The law does not prohibit all retrospective laws. It is imperative to note that the provision of
the Constitution prohibits only those laws that is are penal in nature.

WHEN CONSIDERED PENAL

A law is penal when it prescribes a criminal penalty imposable in a criminal trial. However, a
law is also a penal law if it prescribes a burden equivalent to a criminal penalty even if such
burden is imposed is imposed in an administrative proceeding. (Pascual vs. Board of Medical
Examiners

*When the law alters the legal rules of evidence or mode of trial, unless the changes operate
only in a limited and unsubstantial manner to the disadvantage of the accused.

WHEN IS VALID
An ex post facto law is valid when the law enacted is favorable to the accused. (People v.
Casingal

BILL OF ATTAINDER; DEFINED

It is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without judicial trial. If the punishment must be
less than death, the act termed a bill of pains and penalties.

ELEMENTS OF BILL OF ATTAINDER:

1.) There must be a law;
2.) The law imposes a penal burden on a named individual or easily ascertainable members of a
group;
3.) The penal burden is imposed directly by the law without judicial trial