Ultraactivity consists of the action to enforce a law (or provision of law) that has already been repealed in cases that occurred during the period it was in effect.
If an offense is committed before the repeal of a given law, it will be governed and dealt with in accordance with the rules established by the repealed law, not the current one.
In this case, the revoked law acts in an ultra-active character, as it continues to apply even after its annulment, but only for crimes that were committed during the period in which it was in force.
According to the principles of criminal law, the criminal rules most beneficial to the accused should be applied when possible. This means that, the law is only ultraactive if it is more beneficial to the accused than current legislation.
For example, a 1990 law stipulates a 2 year prison sentence for the accused, and in 2000 this law is repealed and instead the sentence is increased to 4 years imprisonment for the convict.
The accused is on trial in 2002, answering for a crime committed in 1998. According to the principle of
tempus regit actum, Criminal Law provides that the defendant must be tried based on the 1990 legislation, which was in force at the time he committed the crime.But if the 1990 law has more serious consequences for the accused than the 2000 law, the latter will apply, even for crimes committed before its approval. In this case, the law is said to act retroactively.
Retroactivity and Ultraactivity
As stated, the ultraactivity of the law consists in its application even after its repeal, only for cases that occurred during the period of validity of the law.
Retroactivity consists of use of the law for cases that occurred before it came into being.
In law, a law can only be retroactive if it is more beneficial to the accused than the previous legislation. Otherwise, the revoked law may have the character of ultraactivity, while the current one is considered unretroactive, that is, it cannot go back and affect cases that occurred before its application.
See also: the meaning of Ex tunc and Ex nunc.
