Amnesty or Pardon

The ability to grant amnesty or pardon represents significant power in the legislature. Most legislatures either have this power or do not. When the legislature does not have the ability to grant amnesty or pardon, the executive branch usually holds this power. Sometimes the legislative and executive branches both have this power and either can independently grant pardon or amnesty. In other cases, the executive and legislative branches are required to act jointly to grant amnesty or pardon. Finally, it is also of note that while some constitutions draw a distinction between amnesty and pardon, others do not. It is therefore possible that a legislature has one power but not the other. Below the powers are discussed together but the same descriptions apply when only one of the powers is at issue.