pardon
Individual remission or mitigation of a sentence — guilt and conviction remain.
A pardon is the individual remission or mitigation of a punishment imposed on a person by a court. The concept differs from acquittal in that the question of guilt is not affected — a pardon concerns only the enforcement or extent of the sentence. Under Danish law, the legal basis for pardons is found in the Danish Constitution (grundloven) § 24, which provides that the King may grant pardons and amnesty. In practice this power is exercised by the government on the King's behalf, and the authority is delegated to the Ministry of Justice, which processes applications.
A pardon is always granted after a specific, individual assessment and only in special cases. There is no statutory right to a pardon, and an application does not automatically suspend enforcement of the sentence. Typical considerations in the assessment may include health conditions, humanitarian circumstances or extraordinary features of the case.
Where a pardon is granted, the punishment itself lapses or is reduced, but other legal consequences of the judgment — for example liability for damages or disqualification from holding certain rights — are not necessarily affected. A pardon likewise does not erase the criminal conviction as such.
A pardon must not be confused with amnesty, which is a general cancellation of punishment for a particular group of offences, in contrast to the individual character of a pardon. The power to grant amnesty also rests with the King under § 24 of the Constitution.
