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Minister of Justice, at the same time setting forth the good behaviour and wretched circumstances of the condemned criminal in a form of petition to the Emperor for His Majesty’s mercy. This petition is presented in writing for His Majesty’s sanction by the Minister of Justice, who also gives his own view of the matter.

In 1897 there were 28 criminals pardoned; in 1898, 33; in 1899, 19; in 1900, 70; and in 1901, 92.

Parole or libération préparatoire is proposed by the prison governor to the Minister of Justice, at the same time setting forth specific conditions worthy of his attention on behalf of the condemned for felony or misdemeanour who have served three-fourths of the sentence imposed, and who have, by good conduct and careful observance of prison discipline, shown a disposition to live more worthily. These specific circumstances are considered by the Minister of Justice, and, if judged satisfactory, he then accords to the prisoners in question the petitioned benefit of conditional liberation by an administrative measure, at the same time putting them under special police surveillance during the remainder of the sentence. The following list gives the number of conditionally liberated criminals for the five years subsequent to 1896:

In 1897 there were 321 criminals conditionally liberated; in 1898, 338; in 1899, 398; in 1900, 346; and in 1901, 323.

Our long experience has taught us that capital punishment is the necessary penalty for the following crimes: murder, manslaughter, robbery with violence, homicide, or wounds inflicted by children or descendants against their fathers or mothers, or grandfathers and mothers, and arson.

The death penalty has been inflicted much oftener in cases of murder, manslaughter, and robbery with violence than in the case of the other crimes above enumerated, but in general the number of all these crimes has of late gradually decreased. The following number of persons have suffered capital punishment for the five years following 1896:

In 1897 there were 21 criminals executed; in 1898, 29; in 1899, 39; in 1900, 34; and in 1901, 206.

In accordance with the prison regulations now in force, medals are granted by prison governors as rewards to any criminals in their custody who have shown their amendment by carefully observing prison rules, properly conducting themselves, and labouring diligently since their incarceration. The medal can only be awarded three times to an individual, this restriction having the two-fold effect of, first, forming a sort of standard usually followed by governors in proposing pardons or conditional liberation; and, second, it is of assistance in determining various forms of lenient treatment, according to