Pardon in different Legal Systems The Romans developed the notion of Pardoning in the 3rd century BC. In the democratic society of ancient Athens, the institution of clemency power rested with the people rather than with a monarch. The end of Athens Civil War in 403 B.C., developed a procedure of receiving clemency, whereby one had to comply with the process of adeia, which required that at least 6000 citizens support a petition for clemency in a secret poll. The general amnesty of 403 B.C. included all citizens who had participated in the Athenian Civil War. Other amnesties recorded in Greek history appear to have been granted to promote solidarity during emergencies such as the Peloponnesian and Persian wars. The Roman tendency to use pardons was skillfully used to meet their political ends. The Roman also practiced the killing of every tenth soldier rather than executing an entire army of wrongdoers, as an example of using clemency in a politically expedient fashion, maintaining discipline while preserving resources that could prove useful to the state. The Romans also employed the pardon power to excuse crimes of which the people disapproved, but which furthered patriotic ends. This Roman tradition of pardon manifested itself in England. The first General Pardon in England was issued in celebration of the coronation of Edward III in 1327. In 1535 Henry VIII consolidated the pardoning power establishing the king as the sole power to pardon or remit treasons, murders, manslaughters, felonies, or outlawries. Charles II, in his regime, frustrated the parliament by pardoning Osborne prior to the conclusion of their impeachment process. This outraged the Parliament and the legality of the pardon was questioned. Soon, the parliament opted to limit the powers of the King on the matter of Clemency. The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, the Bill of Rights of 1689 and Act of Settlement of 1700 limited royal clemency in particular instances. Later in 1721, the Parliament vested itself with the power to pardon by legislative act. In the United Kingdom, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 now governs pardons. The United States, the power to grant a pardon derives from the English system in which the king had, as one of his royal prerogatives, the right to forgive virtually all forms of crimes against the crown. The first amnesty in U.S. history was offered by President George Washington, in 1795, to participants in the Whiskey Rebellion, a series of riots caused by an unpopular excise tax on liquor; a conditional amnesty, it allowed the U.S. government to forget the crimes of those involved, in exchange for their signatures on an oath of loyalty to the United States. Presidential Pardon has been used time and again to restore tranquility to the nation, especially after the Civil War. After the Civil war, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation of amnesty for those who had participated in the rebellion. Such pardons were conditioned on voluntarily oath to uphold the Constitution. In 1865 President Andrew Johnson pardoned the rebels of the Civil War at the white house. On August 29, 1865, the President granted full pardon to a group of rebels, for having taken part in the late rebellion against the Government of the United States. Later in 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional amnesty to all participants in the Civil War. Likewise, in Canada, pardons are considered by the National Parole Board under the Criminal Records Act, the Criminal Code and several other laws. In France, Pardons and acts of clemency (graces) are granted by the President of France, who, ultimately, is the sole judge of the propriety of the measure. In Germany, the right to grant pardon lies in the office of the President (Bundespräsident). In Italy, the President can grant pardons under the Italian constitution. Under the Constitution of Ireland, the President of Ireland can pardon convicted criminals