http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#United_Kingdom Today the monarch may only grant a pardon on the advice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#United_Kingdom Today the monarch may only grant a pardon on the advice of the Justice Secretary (previously the Home Secretary) or the First Minister of Scotland (or the Defence Secretary in military justice cases), and the policy of the Ministry of Justice and Scottish Executive is only to grant pardons to those who are "morally" innocent of the offence (as opposed to those who may have been wrongly convicted by misapplication of the law)