Christmas amnesty (German: ''Weihnachtsamnestie'') or Grace (German: ''Gnadenerweis'') is the process of early

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

s and their deeds in the run-up to 24 December (Christmas) in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. This process is intended to facilitate reintegration into society.

Germany

A reform of the system of

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

in 2006 made Christmas amnesty a matter for the states ( German: ''Länder''). Therefore, they individually decide how and to what extent they implement a Christmas amnesty.

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

does not conduct any Christmas amnesty, they reason that the Christmas amnesty would give some prisoners unfair advantages. Only prisoners whose prison term would end anyway in the period between mid-November and the first week of January can be released early. Usually prisoners with substitute custodial sentences benefit from this regulation, these are imposed on people who have not paid their fines. Excluded are those who have committed serious offences such as narcotics, violent or sexual offences, who have not attracted any negative attention in prison, or have to serve a long prison sentence. The prisoners have to agree on their release but accommodation and subsistence must be also provided by the prisoners. The early releasement allows prisoners to finish officials visits (e.g. unemployment office) early before the national holidays or to visit support services and counselling centres. Prisoners do not always want to be released early. In 2019, 69 out of 963 total early released prisoners declined their early amnesty. In 2021, 790 prisoners were released early from prisons in

Other countries

Some states, such as the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, conduct one-time Christmas amnesties.

References

{{coord missing, Germany Prisons in Germany Penal system in Austria