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<p> </p><p>The information provided by Lord McNally on 7 March 2012 was in respect
of (a) pardons granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) on the recommendation
of the Secretary of State for Justice, which excluded the First World War servicemen's
pardons made under statute, and (b) exercises of the RPM in relation to Northern Ireland.
My earlier response of 17 June 2014 referred to the Royal Prerogative of Mercy being
exercised on the recommendation of previous Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland.</p><p>For
clarity, and to expand upon Lord McNally's answer, until the devolution of policing
and justice in 2010, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was responsible for
recommending the exercising of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in relation to Northern
Ireland. Following the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the Northern Ireland
Executive (specifically the Justice Minister for Northern Ireland) has responsibility
for recommending the exercise of the RPM in Northern Ireland in relation to almost
all matters. However, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland retains responsibility
for recommending the exercise of the RPM if it were ever to be used in terrorism cases.</p><p>It
was previous Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland who recommended the exercise
of the RPM in relation to the 18 pre-devolution cases cited (that the Northern Ireland
Office can confirm as having been granted since 1998); 16 of those cases were terrorism-related,
as I referred to in my answer of 14 June. In addition to those, there were two non-terrorism
related cases dating from the late 1990s prior to the devolution of policing and justice.
Those 16 and the other two make up the total of 18 Northern Ireland cases identified
since 1998, made on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.</p><p>
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