Presidential pardons will no longer be issued for people convicted of a crime before the foundation of the State, the Minister for Justice has confirmed.
Jim O'Callaghan secured approval in principle from the Government for a new approach to considering applications for a Presidential pardon.
In future, only sentences imposed on people since 1922 can be considered for a Presidential pardon.
The reasoning behind the move is based on the fact that the courts that tried offences before 1922 were established under the jurisdiction of the previous British administration in Ireland, and not the Irish State itself.
Mr O'Callaghan said he decided to move forward with the change due to a number of applications pre-dating the foundation of the State.
He said: "The Constitution provides the President with the power to issue a pardon, on the advice of the Government.
"There is a high evidentiary bar that must be met to recommend the granting of a pardon to the President, and this is reflected in the low number of pardons that have been granted since the foundation of the State.
"In recent years, the nature of applications for consideration of a pardon have changed to focus on historical cases that pre-date independence from British rule.
"These cases present several difficulties, not least of which is that the courts that tried these offences were established under the jurisdiction of the previous British administration in Ireland, and not the Irish State itself."
Presidential pardons a rare occurrence
Presidential pardons are a rare occurrence in the history of the State, with posthumous pardons even rarer.
Between 1937 and 2014, only three Presidential pardons were granted, none of which were granted posthumously, and none related to cases pre-dating the founding of the State in 1922.
Since 2015, five further pardons have been granted, four of which relate to convictions that pre-date the foundation of the State.
The Government can recommend to a president to exercise their right to grant a pardon under Article 13.6 of the Constitution.
The right is exercisable only on the advice of the Government, under Article 13.9.
In order to do so, the State must acknowledge that it has responsibility for miscarriages of justice.
The Department of Justice said there has been significant challenges associated with processing historical cases which predate foundation of the State, including a likelihood that many cases may not be sufficiently documented.
It said it wanted to ensure that the power to pardon is not "in some way devalued by overuse, especially in circumstances where the threshold of proof grounding any proposal for a pardon is lowered due to the passage of time".
"There is a high evidentiary bar that must be met to recommend the granting of a pardon to the President, and this is reflected in the low number of pardons that have been granted since the foundation of the State," Minister O'Callaghan added.
Pardon applications 'need to be anchored to foundation of State'
Under the new approach, only convictions imposed after the State’s foundation in 1922 will be eligible for consideration.
"The granting of a pardon is one of the most significant powers the President can exercise and allows the State to right a manifest wrong that has occurred in the administration of justice.
"However, Presidential pardons under the Constitution should be granted in those circumstances where a miscarriage of justice has occurred under the auspices of the State.
"Remedying historical miscarriages of justice, while admirable and desirable to many, poses significant challenges, including that convictions pre-dating independence in 1922 occurred under a different legal system, in the name of a different Government," Minister O'Callaghan said.
"I am of the strong view that the policy approach with respect to the processing of Presidential pardon applications needs to be anchored to the foundation of the State when an Irish Government came into existence.
"By doing so it recognises that the Irish State acknowledges that it has responsibility for any miscarriages of justice that have taken place under its authority," he added.
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