695. Release by prerogative.

The royal prerogative of mercy may be extended at any time to a person sentenced to imprisonment or other form of detention1. The prerogative, although sparingly exercised for reasons of constitutional propriety associated with the inviolability of the judicial process and general non-interference by executive action, is not restricted by the fact that an appeal is pending before, or has been dismissed by, the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal2. It may rarely be exercised in the form of a pardon; more commonly, prisoners benefit from a reduction of the whole or a part of the court's sentence