, 8 March 2010 (UTC)  :::If someone is convicted of causing harm by withcraft then they are de facto a witch. That the legislation they were charged under has not been on the statute book since 1735 is immaterial. It is absurd to argue that when a law is repealed all those found guilty under it are automatically pardoned as it would be to argue that when a new law is enacted the state can go back and retrospectively apply that law to people who had at that time committed no offence.   17:31