Artikel 16: No punishment without prior law; principle of legality
No offence shall be punishable unless it was an offence under the law at the time it was committed.
Explanation
Please note: Only the Dutch-language version of the Constitution has legal effect.
If conduct is made a criminal offence, this applies only from the moment the criminal provision enters into force. Anyone who committed an act before it became an offence cannot therefore be punished for it.
Additional Article IX provides that Article 16 does not apply to the war crimes and crimes against humanity covered by the Extraordinary Criminal Law Decree.