<P> An ex post facto law (corrupted from Latin: ex postfacto, lit .' out of the aftermath') is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law . In criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed; it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed; it may change the punishment prescribed for a crime, as by adding new penalties or extending sentences; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime likelier than it would have been when the deed was committed . Conversely, a form of ex post facto law commonly called an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts . A pardon has a similar effect, in a specific case instead of a class of cases . Other legal changes may alleviate possible punishments (for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment) retroactively . Such legal changes are also known by the Latin term in mitius . </P> <P> Some common - law jurisdictions do not permit retroactive criminal legislation, though new precedent generally applies to events that occurred before the judicial decision . Ex post facto laws are expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3 (with respect to federal laws) and Article 1, Section 10 (with respect to state laws). In some nations that follow the Westminster system of government, such as the United Kingdom, ex post facto laws are technically possible, because the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy allows Parliament to pass any law it wishes . In a nation with an entrenched bill of rights or a written constitution, ex post facto legislation may be prohibited . </P>

A law that makes an act illegal after the fact is called a(n) law