Cannabis law - Hundreds go unpunished after cannabis legalization
After the partial decriminalization of Cannabis in Lower Saxony, hundreds of convicts remain free in the state. A spokesperson for the Justice Ministry in Hannover confirmed this in response to an inquiry. In approximately 3600 enforcement proceedings in the state, it was necessary to determine whether a sentence should be pardoned or reissued based on the amnesty regulations. In about 15 percent of cases, a pardon resulted. Previously, the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" had reported on this.
In the Cannabis Law, there is an amnesty regulation for old cases. Therefore, many court files and judgments had to be reviewed manually if people had been sentenced to prison or fines for Cannabis offenses in the past. According to the Ministry, approximately 16,000 such proceedings had to be checked in Niedersachsen.
Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD) had previously criticized the amnesty regulation. "At the time of the offense, people knew that their actions were punishable and yet bought or consumed Cannabis in full knowledge of this," the Minister told the dpa about a month ago.
The amnesty regulation in the Cannabis Law applies to old Cannabis-related cases, requiring a manual review of over 16,000 court files and judgments in Lower Saxony. This was necessary due to the partial decriminalization of Cannabis in the state. The Hanover-based Ministry of Justice confirmed that hundreds of convicts who were sentenced for Cannabis offenses have been granted freedom as a result. The Ministry also mentioned that in approximately 3600 cases, a decision was made to either pardon or reissue sentences based on the amnesty regulations, with about 15% resulting in pardons.
