Detrimental criminal jurisprudence: gonna walk and don’t look back

Abstract

The retroactivity of detrimental criminal jurisprudence presents a dilemma between legal certainty and the protection provided by the criminal law (which is upheld by the judge’s exclusive reliance on the law). As the European Court of Human Rights asserts, the dilemma must be resolved in favor of non-retroactivity whenever it involves a change in a well-established line of jurisprudence, with no exceptions and no discernible signs of change.