The prerogative of mercy. The Home Secretary (on behalf of the Crown) may pardon offences of a public nature prosecuted by the Crown. This particular prerogative has been held by the courts to be non-justiciable in the past. However, new cases cast doubt on this view. In Hanratty v Lord Butler of Saffron Walden (1971) 115 SJ 386, the Court of Appeal held that the courts had no jurisdiction to inquire whether or not the Home Secretary had been negligent in the exercise of this prerogative. In De Freitas v Benny [1976] AC 239, Lord Diplock stated in the Privy Council (at 247): 'Mercy is not the subject of legal rights. It begins where legal rights end'. The decision in R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Bentley [1994] QB 349 has modified the position, however.