(from the Greek ''amnestia'', oblivion) is an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than Pardon , inasmuch as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence.
Amnesties, which, in the 's amnesty of March 13 , 1815 from which thirteen eminent persons, including Talleyrand , were exempt; the Prussia n amnesty of August 10 , 1840 ; the general amnesty proclaimed by the emperor Franz Josef I Of Austria in 1857 ; the general amnesty granted by President Of The United States , Andrew Johnson , after the American Civil War ( 1861 - April 9 , 1865 ), in 1868 , and the French amnesty of 1905 . The last act of amnesty passed in Great Britain was that of 1747 , which pardonned those who had taken part in the 1745 Jacobite Rising .
- The term is also any initiative where individuals are encouraged to turn over illicit items to the authorities, on the understanding that they will not be prosecuted for having been in possession of those items. A common use of such amnesties, is to reduce the number of firearms or other weapons in circulation. Several public schools with a zero-tolerance policy on drugs or weapons have an "amnesty box" in which students may dispose of contraband objects brought to school without consequence.
- was used in South Africa, during the 1990s , as part of the '''TRC''' ( class="copylinks">Truth And Reconciliation--- In The [[United States Immigration Debate , allowing illegal immigrants to legally remain in the United States is often called amnesty. [http://www.afsc.org/immigrants-rights/policy/legalization-amnesty.htm Some observers argue that the word amnesty is improperly applied here, because it gives illegal immigrants more legal rights than they would otherwise have, rather than simply forgiving past offences. [http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/007620.html#amnesty]
- Many libraries have an where people can return late library books and they will not be charged a fine for having them out.
In criminal law, a sovereign act of oblivion or forgetfulness (from Greek amnestia, "forgetfulness") granted by a government, especially to a group of persons who are guilty of (usually political) crimes in the past. It is often conditional upon the group's return to obedience and duty within a prescribed period. The Amnesty itself was founded on July 2006
- Describing a change in a law which renders innocent actions which previously broke the law. For example, raising the speed limit from 55 to 70 is not "amnesty", even though those who have always gone 65 may now do so innocently. That is simply "changing the law", which is the job of lawmakers. Genuine amnesty is where a particular group of lawbreakers are pardoned for past violations which would otherwise be subject to prosecution.
- Referring to imposed lesser sentences or punishments that are not "more than Pardon , inasmuch as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence" as amnesty.
- Often wrongly or purposely used by politicians and/or journalists to denote cases of pardon where offenses are not stricken from the record and individuals proclaimed innocent. Instead, those individuals receive some lesser reprimand or sentence in response to an admission of guilt. Otherwise defined as an act of but not amnesty, per se.
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