Executive Clemency: A Ubiquitous Part of the Constitutional Scheme

The political purposes for granting clemency went beyond solving crime or exonerating the innocent; grants of pardon could end wars, co-opt political opponents, reward loyalists, or win favour from unruly subjects. The bureaucratisation of the clemency power in Europe accompanied the expansion of clemency to the colonies. Clemency has adjusted to the times, just as punishment has: conditional pardons were more common when transportation to a penal colony was used as punishment, and commutations of sentence were particularly useful in systems with the mandatory death penalty. The nations without any constitutional provision for clemency are Australia, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Israel, Libya, New Zealand, Nicaragua, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Yemen. The potential benefits of providing for detailed clemency regulation in a national constitution rather than in domestic legislation include greater permanence, symbolic weight, and the possibility of constitutional review of clemency decisions in the courts.