Description:
This book provides a comparative constitutional analysis of executive clemency, with a focus on death penalty cases. Comparative executive clemency has never been the subject of a full-length comparative constitutional analysis, and the breadth of jurisdictions contained in this book--encompassing the entire English-speaking world--provides a full range of cultural and political variations in the level of deference given to executive decision-making.
Review Quotes:
"In Comparative Executive Clemency, Andrew Novak skillfully explores executive mercy in the common law world. His analysis ranges from big picture questions (should clemency still be considered merely an "act of grace"?) to more specific controversies (where have posthumous pardons been granted?), and he examines a number of other vital clemency-related issues along the way. In sum, Novak's new book is a well-researched, engaging, and timely study of global clemency practices and trends." - Jeffrey Crouch, author of The Presidential Pardon Power, American University
"More than anything, the book projects the very true idea that mercy through legally established clemency is a legal construct that exists in a stunning array of places...For the scholar of clemency, Novak's work is worthwhile and clearly set out." - Mark Osler, University of St. Thomas, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books, Rutgers
"Novak's ambitious comparative law project, set out in nine chapters, aims to juxtapose the laws and procedures governing executive clemency across the entire common law world, from Alabama to Zimbabwe...Novak's work prompts plenty of questions and avenues for further clemency research, particularly on the empirical side. And perhaps that is the point: not to end the conversation on comparative executive clemency, but to restart it again after Sebba." - Daniel Pascoe, City University of Hong Kong, Asian Journal of Comparative Law