User:The C of E/amnistie présidentielle

Amnistie Présidentielle (English: Presidential amnesty) was a power conferred upon the President of France by the 1958 Constitution of France. It allowed for the President to collectively grant amnesty to groups of people. Traditionally, this was used for minor traffic offences but could be used for any crime. The power was abolished under the French constitutional law of 23 July 2008.

History
The amnesty was created as having a stronger legal effect than a pardon. When someone convicted of a crime in France is granted a presidential amnesty, it has the effect of removing the condemnation with the person being treated in law as if the offence had never happened. They were traditionally granted following a French Presidential election with the aim of pardoning minor offences such as traffic violations. However it has been opined that these amnesties encouraged people to break the law on the grounds that traditionally traffic offences that occurred 6 months prior to an election would be granted the amnesty.

21st century
In the 21st century, political opinion started to turn against the idea of presidential amnesties. In 2002, President Jacques Chirac announced there would be no amnesties for anyone who committed "life threatening" crimes. In 2004, the UK Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage stated in the European Parliament in Strasbourg that France's European Commissioner for Transport Jacques Barrot had been found guilty of embezzlement and banned from holding public office. However, Barrot had received a presidential amnesty in 1995. Farage was pressured by the President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell to withdraw the statement as it was illegal under French law to mention previous crimes annulled by the amnesty, but refused to. However Farage was not arrested as the EU building was extraterritorial and he was covered by EU parliamentary privilege.

The presidential amnesty was abolished in Nicolas Sarkosy's 2008 reforms. The revised constitution now stated that amnesties could only now be granted in accordance with statute law.