Retrospective Legislation : Reliance, the Public Interest, Principles of Interpretation and the Special Case of Anti-Avoidance Legislation

Retrospective legislation is generally thought of as undesirable as it erodes the reliability of the law in the eyes of the citizen and therefore breaches the criterion known as the “reliance principle”. There is little unanimity between legal scholars as to why reliance is important. This article argues that its importance varies according the context of the legislation in question. The reliance principle may be modified, or even defeated in some contexts by the weight of public interest