Declaratory statutes clarify pre-existing law and are generally construed to operate retrospectively when they remove doubt. A declaratory statute is one enacted to remove doubts about existing law or the meaning of a prior statute and is generally construed to operate retrospectively. Indicators include declaratory language, a preamble, and an explanatory purpose to cure omissions or clear ambiguities; substance governs over form. Where the prior provision was clear, an amending Act will not be deemed declaratory absent explicit words indicating retrospectivity; purely new rules introduced by similar language will be treated as amendments without automatic retrospective effect.