In criminal law. Change; substitution. The substitution of one punishment for another, after conviction of the party subject to it The change of a punishment from a greater to a less; as from hanging to imprisonment Commutation of a punishment is not a conditional pardon, but the substitution of a lower for a higher grade of punishment, and is presumed to be for the culprit’s benefit In re Victor, 31 Ohio St 207; Ex parte Janes, 1 Nev. 321; Rich v. Chamberlain, 107 Mich. 881, 65 N. W. 235. In civil matters. The conversion of the right to receive a variable or periodical payment into the right to receive a fixed or gross payment Commutation may be effected by private agreement but it is usually done under a statute. Commutation of taxes. Payment of a designated lump sum (permanent or annual) for the privilege of exemption from taxes, or the settlement in advance of a specific sum in lieu of an ad valorem tax. Cotton Mfg. Co. v. New Orleans, 31 La. Ann. 440. Commutation of tithes. Signifies the conversion of tithes into a fixed payment in money. Commutation ticket. A railroad ticket giving the holder the right to travel at a certain rate for a limited number of trips (or for an unlimited number within a certain period of time) for a less amount than would be paid in the aggregate for so many separate trips.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
punishments. The change of a punishment to which a person has been condemned into a less severe one. This can be granted only by the executive authority in which the pardoning power resides.