Law Abrogated, Enduring Criminal Liability

"The law must be stable, but it must not stand still¹."

Law is ever dynamic, ever changing in nature. With the development of society, new laws and enactments materialize to meet the requirements of evolving societal needs. Obsolete Acts are replaced with dynamic legal frameworks, befitting the changing societal norms and needs. Such modifications may be carried out either by the means of amendment or repeal.

In case where an old Act is repealed and the same is followed by new enactment, provisions are generally made under the repealing/ subsequent Act in form of 'saving clause'. Saving clause is provided under any enactment to protect vested rights, as they existed on the date of repeal. Such clause is considered, "ordinarily a restriction in a repealing act, which is intended to save rights, pending proceedings, penalties, and so on, from annihilation that would result from an unrestricted repeal²". As per Crawford's Statutory Construction³, saving clause is