Amnesty Essay

Amnesty is a sovereign act of forgiveness for past offences (generally of a political nature that threatens the sovereignty of the Government), which is granted to a group of people as a whole (for individuals it is called pardon) and always through national law or governmental decree.
Historically, amnesty has always been a controversial issue. The roots of pardon and amnesty can be found in ancient law. The first amnesty is generally attributed to Thrasybulus in Ancient Greece (403 B.C.). However, fifteen centuries earlier, the Babylonian kings would declare a misharum, involving a general discharge from legal bonds. There is also evidence of amnesty in Roman law, which had a huge impact on the development of European law.
In medieval Europe, amnesties were granted by the Roman Catholic Church and by some rulers. Later on, it concentrated mostly on the hands of monarchs.
Famous amnesties are the ones granted by Charles II of England, Napoleon or Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria.
Taking a more recent example, the first amnesty in the United States (though it was more an individual pardon) was granted by President George Washington in 1795 to some individuals after the Whiskey Rebellion, provoked because of issues with taxes on alcohol. Then, President Adams granted another amnesty in 1800. Thomas Jefferson granted pardon to military deserters on 1807. President Madison granted amnesty in four occasions: three times to deserters and the last time, Madison amnestied pirates “who came to the aid of their country”. Other Presidents granted amnesties such as Jackson (1830), Lincoln, who issued the first Civil War amnesty in 1862, Johnson (1865), or in the twentieth century, Roosevelt, Coolidge and Truman. The amnestied had in commo...

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...t offences. This is the main difference, as amnesty exempts a group(s) of people from the criminal liability of past offences, as explained before. However, there is another difference, as amnesties overlook offences while pardon remits punishment.
“Pardon applies only to the individual, releases him from the punishment fixed by law for his specific offence, but does not affect the criminality of the same or similar acts when performed by other persons or repeated by the same person. Amnesty is an act of grace, extended by the government to all persons who may come within its terms and which obliterates the criminality of past acts done and declares that they shall not be treated as punishable.” Also, amnesties are normally granted before prosecution, while pardon is granted after the offender has been convicted and exempts the individual from serving his sentence.