ABOLITION

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ABOLITION

ABOLITION. An act by which a thing is extinguished, abrogated or annihilated. Merl. Repert, h.t., as, the abolition of slavery is thedestruction of slavery. 2. In the civil and French law abolition is used nearly synonymouslywith pardon, remission, grace. Dig. 39, 4, 3, 3. There is, however, thisdifference; grace is the generic term; pardon, according to those laws, isthe clemency which the prince extends to a man who has participated in acrime, without being a principal or accomplice; remission is made in casesof involuntary homicides, and self-defence. Abolition is different: it isused when the crime cannot be remitted. The prince then may by letters ofabolition remit the punishment, but the infamy remains, unless letters ofabolition have been obtained before sentence. Encycl. de d'Alembert, h.t. 3. The term abolition is used in the German law in the same sense as inthe French law. Encycl. Amer. h.t. The term abolition is derived from thecivil law, in which it is sometimes used synonymously with absolution. Dig.39, 4, 3, 3.

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