Amnesty - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition amnesty

Definition :

Amnesty [fr. auvnorla, Gk., non-remembrance], an act of pardon or 'oblivion' (see, e.g., the Act of Oblivion, 12 Car. 2, c. 11, and 20 Geo. 2, c. 52), by which crimes against the Government up to a certain date are so obliterated that they can never be brought into charge. All acts of amnesty originate with the Crown.

As understood in common parlance, the word 'amnesty' is appropriate only where political prisoners are released and not in cases where those who have committed felonies and murders are pardoned, State (Govt of NCT of Delhi) v. Prem Raj, (2003) 7 SCC 121 (126): 2003 SCC (Cri) 1586. (Constitution of India, Arts. 72, 161)

Means a pardon extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offence; act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted, e.g. the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act provided amnesty for undocumented aliens already present in the country, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 83.