Abstract: Is there a concept of clemency in Jewish law? In other words, is the power to grant clemency - to nullify the consequences flowing from a criminal conviction - a halakhically valid institution? Through a systematic inquiry, this paper advances a qualified yes to that question. First, this paper explores Jewish criminal law and fleshes out the three separate, though not wholly distinct, jurisdictions within it: the ordinary jurisdiction of the bet din (or religious court), the exigency jurisdiction of the bet din, and the king’s jurisdiction. The interaction among these three jurisdictions is then explored to determine whether a Jewish king may, in some circumstances, exercise the power to grant clemency.
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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