QandAs: Legal

What is Amnesty?

Answer:
Amnesty is an act by heads of state in which an individual or a group of individuals are granted freedom from imprisonment

for their crimes and all traces of the crime are erased from their record.

Amnesties have been granted since the colonial days, usually after wars ended, to forgive those involved in the wars. The most notable anmesties were granted to Napoleon Bonaparte after his war against France and to ex-Confederate soldiers after the US Civil War. The amnesties granted to ex-Confederate soldiers freed them of any legal responsibility from war crimes and gave them the right to vote.

Amnesty is often given to criminal offenders to allow them to surrender their weapons without fear of being prosecuted for having those weapons. It is also used in cases where a criminal offender agrees to legal immunity in exchange for his or her testimony against a fellow criminal.

Amnesty is granted when heads of state feel it is better if the criminal offender can be conditioned to comply with the law. Not all criminal offenders can be reformed. Reformation of criminals is usually reserved for lesser offenses like domestic assaults, alcoholism, vandalism, or petty theft.