Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, by which (a) documents and (b) other means the recipients of a Royal Pardon, following the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, are able to demonstrate to a court or any law enforcement agency, that they are the beneficiaries of exercise of the Royal Prerogative; and if she will make a statement.

Following a search of the records held by the Northern Ireland Office, no evidence has been found to indicate that between 1979 and 2002 the RPM was used to do anything other than to remit (i.e. shorten) the sentences of individuals who had already been convicted of offences. It is therefore the release from custody that demonstrates the exercise of the RPM.