Early english common law contains the foundations of the modern-day double jeopardy. the rule of prohibited the retrial of a defendant who was found not guilty.

The rule of Autrefois acquit says that if a defendant who found not guilty at all prohibited the retrial of the crime he committed because of being not guilty of the crime alleged to the defendant. Autrefois acquit is all about a plea by a defendant who is charged for a crime for which he or she had previously been tried and acquitted.