Content of pardon and some doubts regarding its implementation

Abstract

The granting of a pardon to a person who has committed a criminal offence or who has been convicted of a criminal offence is an act of mercy vested in heads of the President of Republic. According to the Criminal Code, pardon shall release a specifically named person from criminal prosecution and grant full or partial remittance of punishment, replace the pronounced penalty by a lighter penalty or suspended sentence, grant rehabilitation, order shorter duration of legal consequences of conviction or repeal particular or all legal consequences of conviction. Contrary to many comparative jurisdictions, Serbian President is vested with the power to release defendant from criminal prosecution, what is considered as a special form of pardon, so-called 'abolition'. Although rarely implemented in the practice, such solution is strongly criticized by the author, given the fact that it is motivated more with political than with the legal reasons, and practically means intrusion of executive power in the domain of judicial branches. In the paper are further analyzed particular forms of pardon mentioned above and certain disputable issues related to them. The pardon is mainly granted in the form of partial remittance from the execution of punishment, but the question is whether such remittance must be within the limits prescribed by the CC related to the mitigation of punishment? Whether is possible for the President to grant by the act of pardon execution of prison sentence at prisoner home, under certain condition? Whether is possible to substitute pronounced prison sentence with suspended sentence by an act of pardon? In addition to that, the authors also deal with issues of pardon that repeal or order shorter duration of certain security measures, grant rehabilitation or alter legal consequences of conviction.