It is not particularly well known that under the Australian
constitution, the government has the power to grant what amounts to
a royal pardon. Its official title is the royal prerogative of
mercy, and it can be granted by the governor-general or state
governor as the representative of the British monarch -
Australia's head of state - on the recommendation of the
attorney-general.
What is the royal prerogative of mercy?
The royal prerogative of mercy lies in the ancient power of the
monarch to bestow mercy on a convicted offender and to redress a
miscarriage of justice.
Monarchs having the right to show mercy goes back for millenia,
but the first official record of this process was in the early
1600s, when a convicted person, usually facing the death penalty,
could appeal to the monarch for mercy and instead serve a life
sentence or be transported.
