Origin[edit]
The roots of sunset provisions are laid in Roman law of the mandate but the first philosophical reference is traced in the laws of Plato.[1] At the time of the Roman Republic, the empowerment of the Roman Senate to collect special taxes and to activate troops was limited in time and extent. Those empowerments ended before the expiration of an electoral office, such as the Proconsul. The rule Ad tempus concessa post tempus censetur denegata is translated as "what is admitted for a period will be refused after the period". The same rules were applied in the Roman emergency legislation. The fundamental principle appeared in several areas of legislation and later codified in the Codex Iustinianus (10, 61, 1). The principle was broken when Julius Caesar became dictator for life.