nonretroactivity
nounEtymology From non- + retroactivity.
1
The quality (especially of a law) of not being retroactive.
- The question for the court in this case was whether state courts, in considering postconviction appeals from criminal defendants, are bound by the same rule of nonretroactivity.2008 February 21, Linda Greenhouse, “Justices Rule on Retroactivity of Decisions”, in New York Times: