Overview
- Eligibility covered prisoners whose sentences would have ended between November 21, 2025 and January 1, 2026, with releases allowed starting November 20.
- Those convicted of sexual or violent crimes or serving longer terms were excluded from consideration.
- Justice Minister Christian Heinz said the measure aims to support a law‑abiding restart and to let people secure support services and complete administrative tasks before the holidays.
- Hesse reports 16 prisons holding 4,485 inmates plus a youth detention facility with five detainees as of December 10, underscoring the program’s limited scale.
- Separately, Lower Saxony said 56 inmates were released early this year under its Christmas clemency, restricted to cases with no more than one month remaining and excluding homicide and sexual offenses.