Remission, Amnesty, Kings Pardon Explained
1) Remission
There is remission in
2) Amnesty (Reduction in sentence by Royal Decree)
A sentenced prisoner, who has no appeals outstanding, can have his sentence reduced or can be released early by Royal Decree, often referred to as an Amnesty. An amnesty is granted on auspicious, usually royal, occasions. The amount of time taken off the sentence depends on the occasion of the amnesty and the ‘class’ of the prisoner at the time. Only an “excellent class” prisoner is granted full remission through an amnesty.
It is not possible to forecast which prisoner may or may not benefit and narcotics offenders are usually excluded from amnesties.
Amnesties do not occur annually for the Kings Birthday; more often than not they occur on his tenth year cycle e.g. 70th, 80th birthday.
3) Kings Pardon (Petition for executive Clemency) Royal Pardon
Executive clemency may be a better expression. Pardon is usually interpreted as forgiveness, amounting to removal of suggestion of liability for fault. Thus pardon can easily be interpreted as a signal of innocence. Executive clemency is a signal of compassion and kindness with the issue of guilt left – outstanding. Petitions for executive clemency can only be made at 2 year intervals, and the first can be made 6 months after sentence. The exact timing would obviously depend on the circumstances of the individual prisoner concerned.
Royal pardon is a possibility but is only likely to succeed with support of the Embassy and this is only given if there are strong medical grounds e.g. terminal illness.
In May 2001, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) announced a change in its policy towards supporting clemency pleas made by British nationals overseas. The FCO will now consider supporting clemency appeals that fall within one of the following strict criteria:
1) In compelling compassionate circumstances, such as where the prisoner is chronically ill or dying (particular when prison conditions overseas are poor) or when a close family member is chronically ill or dying; where continued incarceration is likely to endanger life or is likely to reduce life expectancy significantly. The FCO would not normally consider a plea on compassionate grounds if a Prison Transfer Agreement exists between the
2) If the prisoner overseas is a minor (under 18);
3) As a last resort, in cases where we have prima facie evidence of a denial or miscarriage of justice, where we have made representations, but where those representations have failed to secure a remedy. In cases within this category, our reasons for supporting the plea would not normally be mentioned explicitly in the plea itself.
The Procedure for Kings Pardon Application
This information may be subject to change without notice or to regional variation.
Check with your Embassy/FCO.
This is a guideline to help
All prisoners who have finished all court proceedings (including appeals) may be eligible to submit a petition to his Majesty the King through the Prison Director. This petition can be made in two ways.
1) Petition prepared by the prisoner, the prisoner's family or a Lawyer on his/her behalf, but signed personally by the prisoner.
2) Petition prepared and signed by the prisoner's family.
Pardon petitions can be submitted once 6 months has lapsed after sentencing. All documents included in the petition have to be translated into (Royal) Thai and should include:
1) A petition statement giving the background to the applicants’ life and indicating why the applicant became involved in criminal activities.
2) Copies of court verdicts of every case from each court involved, certified by the Chief Clerk of each court concerned. To get these, the prisoner will need to make a request for these from the courts concerned. Such requests should quote the case numbers which can be obtained from a prison official if the prisoner does not know them. There is a small fee payable to the court for this service.
3) A guarantee from the Embassy that the repatriation costs can be met (airfare single ticket to the
4) Letters of reference and support from family, friends, previous employers, future employers etc. These should all be addressed to HM the King and where originals are in a Language other than Thai, officially translated.
5) Medical reports, if a medical condition is one of the reasons for seeking a pardon. Three copies of the petition will be forwarded by the British Embassy in
I’ve personally known pardons to take as a very general rule 3 years to 6 years and counting.
The prisoner will normally be notified of the outcome through the prison system. At least two years must lapse after one petition has been rejected before another can be submitted.
See flow chart (below) for route a Royal Pardon takes!
As I understand 3 copies of a pardon can be submitted through the following channels:
Embassy, Prison you are incarcerated in, Office of His Majesty’s Principle Private Secretary, The Secretariat of the Prime Minister.
Which ever of the above it is submitted at, all will be sent to the Department of Corrections. Then the procedure will be taken orderly as described in the above and shown in the Flow chart.
Without the Embassy, FCO or other prominent figures, people of major influence and clout in either
My own pardon to date is un-supported by any of the above with the exception of my Local MP.
If you can help with support with somebody of influence etc. please contact me here at Rye Hill Prison address on this site or contact this website itself.
“My pardon was submitted on
My own pardon is based on compelling compassionate circumstances concerning my immediate family, and the severity of my sentence for a relatively small amount of drugs (25 grams)
I don’t claim to be innocent; I am guilty of a crime of possession of 25 grams of drugs in my own house for my own consumption.
Surely 6 years incarceration to date (April 2009), 4 years 6 months of which was spent incarcerated in a Thai prison. Surely that’s punishment enough?, I will let you be the Judge of that.
All I ask is ‘Just Punishment for my Crime’.
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