The Royal Prerogative of Mercy and Parliamentary Acts of General Pardon in Tudor England

The article focuses оn the Tudor statutory laws of General pardon. The parliamentary acts of pardon approved by “kings-in-parliament” were a visible manifestation of the royal sovereignty in the judicial sphere. The statutes’ preambles emphasized the will and initiative of the monarch in whom the power to pardon justly accused offenders had been vested. Owing to his prerogative and using Parliament as a tool the king was able to annul any verdict of any court of common or civil law. The acts of general pardon were important in terms of social policy and communication between the crown and society. They provided for the reintegration of the accused offenders into the legal field as well as for the improvement of the work of the courts of justice. But “the policy of mercy” did not implied clemency in cases of felony, situations undermining stability of political regime, king’s prerogative as a feudal overlord or the foundations of the Anglican Church

Parliament · Parliamentary sovereignty · Politics · Prerogative · Statutory law · Verdict · Religious Freedom and Discrimination · Scottish History and National Identity · Undergraduate Neuroscience Education and Research