¶1dissenting.
¶2In 1972, the Legislature enacted the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act [Controlled Substance Act],
¶3*277The Resentencing Amendment reflects a legislative decision that, to the fullest extent possible, all persons should be treated equally for the same substantive conduct. The majority holds that the Resentencing Amendment is an unconstitutional infringement on the powers of the judiciary. I dissent because the Resentencing Amendment is a proper exercise of legislative power, which in no way interferes with or infringes upon the powers of the judiciary.
¶4I
¶5The separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government is central to our constitutional scheme. Yet the dividing lines among the three co-equal branches “are sometimes indistinct and are probably incapable of any precise definition.” Stander v. Kelley, 433 Pa. 406, 421-22, 250 A.2d 474, 482 (1969) (plurality opinion). The Constitution does not comprehend the total separation of the three branches of government. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 121, 96 S.Ct. 612, 683, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). As Justice Holmes wrote:
“The great ordinances of the Constitution do not establish and divide fields of black and white. Even the more specific of them are found to terminate in a penumbra shading gradually from one extreme to the other.
It does not seem to need argument to show that however we may disguise it by veiling words we do not and cannot carry out the distinction between [the powers of the separate branches] with mathematical precision and divide the branches into water tight compartments.”
¶6Springer v. Philippine Islands, 277 U.S. 189, 209-11, 48 S.Ct. 480, 485, 72 L.Ed. 845 (1927) (dissenting opinion).
¶7The impossibility of making a neat separation among legislative, executive, and judicial powers requires accommodation among the three branches:
“Under the system of division of governmental powers it frequently happens that the function of one branch may overlap another. But the successful and efficient adminis*278tration of government assumes that each branch will cooperate with the others.”
¶8Leahey v. Farrell, 362 Pa. 52, 57, 66 A.2d 577, 579 (1949) (emphasis deleted). This need for accommodation, while preserving the essential features of the separation of powers, requires a close inquiry, on a case by case basis, into actions alleged to violate the principle of separation of powers. The problem does not easily lend itself to rigid, simplistic rules. Unlike the majority, I do not believe this case can be decided without careful consideration of the principles which underlie the separation of powers doctrine.
¶9To decide whether legislative action offends the principle of separation of powers, we must look to the purposes of the doctrine.
“This ‘separation of powers’ was obviously not instituted with the idea that it would promote governmental efficiency. It was, on the contrary, looked to as a bulwark against tyranny.”
¶10United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 443, 85 S.Ct. 1707, 1712, 14 L.Ed.2d 484 (1965). In reviewing legislative actions alleged to infringe on the province of the judiciary, we must be especially mindful of the need to preserve a separation of powers in order to protect the rights of the individual:
“ ‘ “Were the power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator.” ’ ”
¶11Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 120, 96 S.Ct. at 683, quoting The Federalist No. 47 (J. Madison), quoting Montesquieu (emphasis in original).
¶12Legislative infringement on the province of the judiciary, and the concomitant threat to individual liberties, may take one of two forms. First, the Legislature may take action which impairs the independence of the judiciary, either by requiring the performance of non-judicial functions, see United States v. Ferreira, 54 U.S. (13 How.) 40, 14 L.Ed. 42 (1852), or by interfering with the power of the judiciary to perform its essential functions, see Commonwealth ex rel. *279Carroll v. Tate, 442 Pa. 45, 274 A.2d 193 (1971) (plurality opinion); Stander v. Kelley, 433 Pa. at 427-28, 250 A.2d at 486 (1969) (Concurring Opinion of Roberts, J., joined by Jones and Pomeroy, JJ.). Second, the Legislature may usurp the power of the judiciary by taking it upon itself to judge individual cases. This latter infringement on the province of the judiciary is specifically prohibited by the bill of attainder clause. U.S.Const. art. I, § 10; Pa.Const. art. I, § 18. See also U.S.Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 3.
¶13The Legislature’s effort in the Resentencing Amendment to equalize sentences among individuals convicted for marijuana possession does not offend these principles. The Re-sentencing Amendment does not involve an attempt by the Legislature to judge individual cases. Nor does it impair the independence of the judiciary: the courts are not required to perform non-judicial functions, and the courts’ capacity to perform their essential functions is not affected.
¶14The Resentencing Act is a statute of general application, representing a policy determination that the sentences being served by a certain class of offenders should be reduced to be comparable to those of other offenders found guilty of the same conduct but sentenced under a later statute. Enactment of such a rule of general application is a proper legislative function:
“ ‘It is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society; the application of those rules to individuals in society would seem to be the duty of the other departments.’ ”
¶15United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. at 446, 85 S.Ct. at 1713, quoting Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch.) 87, 136, 3 L.Ed. 162 (1810). As a general rule which leaves to the judiciary the power to impose sentences on the individuals to whom it applies, the Resentencing Amendment does not violate the separation of powers. Rather than impairing or usurping the power of the judiciary, enactment of legislation such as the Resentencing Amendment is peculiarly within the province of the Legislature.
¶17The distribution of power among the three branches of government assigns to the Legislature the power to define criminal offenses and determine what punishments would be imposed. As this Court stated in Commonwealth v. Glover, 397 Pa. 543, 545, 156 A.2d 114, 116 (1959):
“There is no question that it is within the province of the legislature to pronounce what acts . . . are crimes and to fix the punishments of all crimes . ■ . The legislature has the right to fix the maximum and likewise can, if it sees fit, name the minimum. If it does so it does not thereby violate Article V, Section 1 of the Constitution, vesting judicial power in the courts.”
¶18Subject to specific constitutional protections, such as the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, U.S. Const, amend. VIII, XIV; Pa.Const, art. I, § 10, and the prohibition against ex post facto laws, U.S.Const. art. I, § 10; Pa.Const. art. I, § 17, the Legislature may, through the enactment of standards of general applicability, exercise complete control over sentencing. See United States v. Lewis, 300 F.Supp. 1171 (E.D.Pa.1969).
¶19The Legislature’s power to define criminal offenses, and determine the range of punishments which may be imposed, encompasses the power to decide that the punishment for certain conduct should be, reduced or eliminated. It also encompasses the power to reduce or eliminate the punishment of classes of offenders who have been convicted and sentenced, but whose convictions have not yet become final. See Commonwealth v. Thomas, 450 Pa. 548, 301 A.2d 359 (1973). Finally, I believe that the Legislature has the power to enact legislation which reduces the punishment of classes of offenders whose convictions have become final, or which pardons such offenders, exempting them from further punishment and relieving them from any legal disabilities resulting from conviction. See United States ex rel. Malesevic v. Perkins, 17 F.Supp. 851 (W.D.Pa.1936); United States v. Hughes, 175 F. 238 (W.D.Pa.1892); United States v. Hall, 53 *281F. 352 (W.D.Pa.1892) (verbatim repetition of Hughes).
¶20Historically, general pardons have more commonly been granted by legislatures than by the executive. Weihofen, Legislative Pardons, 27 Calif.L.Rev. 371, 375 (1939). As a grant of a general pardon involves the adoption of a general rule applicable to a class of offenders, it is appropriate that this power be exercised by the Legislature:
“[T]he power to exercise clemency in a particular case, and in favor of an individual or individuals, charged with the offense [is] an executive act of a quasi judicial kind, . . . while an amnesty act establishes a general rule . . . applicable to all persons or persons of a given class, [which is] more especially an act legislative in nature.”
¶21State v. Bowman, 145 N.C. 452, 454, 59 S.E. 74, 75 (1907); see Brown v. Walker, 161 U.S. 591, 16 S.Ct. 644, 40 L.Ed. 819 (1896).
¶22The Pennsylvania Constitution does not prohibit legislative pardons, at least where the pardon is pursuant to a law of general applicability, rather than special legislation enacted only to benefit particular offenders.
¶23It is the Legislature which is constitutionally empowered to set the punishment for criminal conduct. Since the Legislature’s control over the determination of what conduct should be made criminal, and what punishments should apply, includes the power to grant a general pardon, it must also include the authority to provide for reduced sentences for a class of offenders convicted of a particular crime.
¶24Unquestionably, the Legislature has the power to provide for reduced sentences for marijuana possession, as it did in the Controlled Substance Act. The subsidiary judgment as to whether individuals whose convictions have become final should benefit by such a change in legislation is appropriately a matter of legislative choice. See Comment, Today’s Law and Yesterday’s Crime: Retroactive Application of Ameliorative Criminal Legislation, 121 U.Pa.L.Rev. 120, 147 *283(1972). See also Pa.Const. art. I, § 17.
¶25III
¶26The majority concludes that the Resentencing Amendment is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers because it has the effect of altering final judgments. I cannot agree.
¶27The majority relies on a general rule recognizing “the inviolability of final judgments of the judiciary.” There is no such general rule. Rather, the Pennsylvania Constitution has several specific prohibitions which restrict the power of the Legislature to alter final judgments. E. g., Pa.Const. art. I, § 10 (no taking without just compensation); art. I, § 17 (no law may impair the obligation of contracts); art. Ill, § 32 (the Legislature may not pass any local or special *284law remitting fines, penalties and forfeitures). Thus, when the private rights of parties have become vested in the judgment of a court, that judgment ordinarily cannot be taken away by subsequent legislation without violation of some specific constitutional provision.
“[A] suit brought for the enforcement of a public right . even after it has been established by judgment *285of the court, may be annulled by subsequent legislation and should not thereafter be enforced .”
¶28Hodges v. Snyder, 261 U.S. 600, 603, 43 S.Ct. 435, 436, 67 L.Ed. 819 (1923).
¶29The enforcement of the sentences upon persons convicted before the adoption of the Controlled Substance Act constitutes “the enforcement of a public right.” Judgments of sentence are enforced to vindicate the public’s interest in obedience to the law, and to protect the public against future violations. It is also clear that the Resentencing Amendment does not offend any of the specific prohibitions in the Pennsylvania Constitution which restrict the power of the Legislature to alter final judgments. Because only public rights are involved, and the Legislature has decided that the harsh penalties formerly applicable no longer serve the public interest, the Legislature’s decision to provide for resentencing should be respected.
¶30I see no reason to adopt a sweeping prohibition, applicable even though none of the specific prohibitions in the Pennsylvania Constitution is implicated, against statutes which may alter final judgments. The Pennsylvania Constitution does not expressly provide for such an indiscriminate rule, and I do not believe that this Court should fashion one on the basis of the separation of powers doctrine. As explained in Part I of this opinion, the separation of powers principle is in no way offended when the Legislature provides, pursuant to a statute of general application, that persons convicted under prior laws should be resentenced by the courts in accordance with the lesser penalties provided for by the statute currently in force.
¶31The majority relies on Commonwealth ex rel. Banks v. Cain, 345 Pa. 581, 28 A.2d 897 (1942), for the proposition that legislation may not alter the sentence which has been imposed after judgment has become final. This reliance is misplaced, for Banks upheld the power of the Legislature to provide that convicted criminals sentenced to imprisonment may instead be released on parole. Thus, Banks demonstrates that the Legislature has the power to provide for the application of ameliorative legislation to convictions which have become final.
¶32There is dictum in Banks, relied on by the majority, that legislation may not affect the duration of a sentence. I do not believe that such a rule would be sound, or that it could be reconciled with the holding in Banks. The parole legislation upheld in Banks, which provided that convicted criminals sentenced to imprisonment, in some cases at solitary confinement, could be released into the community, clearly had the effect of altering final judgments of the judiciary. While the freedom granted a parolee may be less than that given by a reduction in sentence, the difference is only a matter of degree and is not of constitutional significance. In either case, the effect is to alter a final judgment.
¶33In support of its dictum that legislation may not affect the duration of sentences, Banks relied on the proposition that “[t]he fixing of the term of the sentence is exclusively a judicial function.” 345 Pa. at 589, 28 A.2d at 901. This statetnent is correct insofar as it refers to the sentence to be *287imposed upon a particular offender when the Legislature provides for a range of permissible sentences. It is the province of the Legislature, however, to determine the range of permissible sentences for an offense. Commonwealth v. Glover, 397 Pa. 543, 146 A.2d 114 (1959); see United States v. Lewis, 300 F.Supp. 1171 (E.D.Pa.1969). Indeed, with the abolition of common law crimes, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 107(b) (1973), the judiciary has no power to fix penalties for criminal offenses unless they have been provided for by the Legislature. See Commonwealth ex rel. Varronne v. Cunningham, 365 Pa. 68, 73 A.2d 705 (1950).
¶34The Court in Banks stated that the parole legislation did not alter the sentence which had been imposed, relying on the fiction that the parolee was in fact being imprisoned *288while on parole: “ ‘The parole authorized by statute does not suspend service or operate to shorten the term. . [I]t is in legal effect imprisonment.’ ” Commonwealth ex rel. Banks v. Cain, 345 Pa. at 588-89, 28 A.2d at 901, quoting Anderson v. Corall, 263 U.S. 193, 196, 44 S.Ct. 43, 46, 68 L.Ed. 247 (1923) (emphasis supplied in Banks). This theory, however, cannot be reconciled with subsequent cases, e. g., Commonwealth ex rel. Rambeau v. Rundle, 455 Pa. 8, 314 A.2d 842 (1973), which held that, after parole revocation, a prisoner is not entitled to have credited against the time he must serve in prison the time spent while at liberty on parole.
¶35The dictum in Banks, that legislation may not affect the duration of sentences, apparently was an effort to avoid overruling Commonwealth ex rel. Johnson v. Halloway, 42 Pa. 446 (1862). In Johnson, a majority of the Court expressed its belief that legislation could not interfere with a judicially imposed sentence by providing for the discharge of prisoners before the expiration of their terms on the basis of “good time” credits.
¶36Although Banks tried to distinguish Johnson, the cases cannot be reconciled. The fiction employed in Banks does not change the fact that the legislation upheld in Banks reduced the punishment imposed by final judgments of the judiciary. This Court should follow Banks' sound result, and recognize that the Legislature has the power to enact a statute of general applicability providing for the mitigation of the punishment imposed pursuant to existing judgments.
¶37IV
¶38I would uphold the Resentencing Amendment as a valid exercise of legislative power. The need to preserve the independence of the judiciary and to protect the people against overreaching by the Legislature neither requires nor justifies a decision holding the Resentencing Act unconstitutional. Indeed, for the majority to strike down such legislation, which the Legislature has the power to enact and which presents no real danger to the separation of powers, is an unwarranted judicial invasion of the province of the Legislature.
¶39. Act of April 14, 1972, P.L. 233, §§ 1 et seq., 35 P.S. §§ 780-101 et seq. (Supp.1977).
¶40. Act of September 26, 1961, P.L. 1664, §§ 1 et seq., as amended, formerly codified in 35 P.S. §§ 780-1 et seq. (1964), repealed, 35 P.S. § 780-143(a) (Supp.1977).
¶41. 35 P.S. § 780-113(g) (Supp.1977).
¶42. Act of September 26, 1961, P.L. 1664, § 20(c), as amended, formerly codified in 35 P.S. § 780-20(c) (1964), repealed, 35 P.S. § 780-143(a) (Supp.1977).
¶43. Thus, if appellant Parker had gone to trial instead of pleading guilty, and as a result had been sentenced after April 14, 1972 instead of on March 3, 1972, the reduced penalties of the Controlled Substance Act would have applied. Similarly, if appellant Sutley, who was sentenced on July 2, 1971, following his guilty plea, had gone to trial and appealed to the Superior Court, it is likely that his conviction would not have become final until after April 14, 1972, and the reduced penalties would have applied. See Commonwealth v. Thomas, 450 Pa. 548, 301 A.2d 359 (1973).
¶44. While other sections of the Controlled Substance Act became effective on June 14, 1972, this section became effective immediately - on the Act’s April 14, 1972 enactment date.
¶45. Act of July 25, 1973, P.L. 219, § 1, 35 P.S. § 780-138 (Supp.1977). This section provides, in pertinent part:
“That in any case final on or before June 12, 1972 in which a defendant was sentenced for the commission of acts similar to those proscribed by subsection (16) [possession of a controlled substance] or (31) [possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use] but not (30) [manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance], of section 13(a) of this act [18 P.S. § 780-113(a)], such defendant shall be resentenced under this act upon his petition, if the penalties hereunder are less than those under prior law . . .”
¶46. These federal cases deal with legislative pardons granted pursuant to the Act of March 31, 1860, P.L. 382, § 181, 19 P.S. § 893 (1964); repealed in part, Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, § 1201, 18 P.S. § 5201 (1963). The pardons did not take effect until after the individuals pardoned had served their sentences, and the pardons therefore only had the effect of removing the disabilities resulting from conviction. Nevertheless, these cases treated the Pennsylvania statute as legislation granting pardons, and recognized the power of the Pennsylvania Legislature to grant legislative pardons.
¶47. A legislative provision for resentencing applicable to a general class of offenders does not infringe on the executive’s power to pardon and commute sentences. The constitutional provision granting the executive power to pardon, Pa. Const, art. IV, § 9, is not exclusive by its terms, and there is no reason to construe it as exclusive. The executive’s pardon power, with its requirement of a recommendation by the Board of Pardons after a full hearing, see id., is best suited to decide whether particular individuals should be *282pardoned or have their sentences commuted. The Legislature is better equipped to decide the issues pertaining to general pardons. Thus, the executive’s power to pardon does not impliedly prohibit the Legislature from enacting statutes in the nature of general pardons:
“Although the Constitution vests in the President ‘power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses' against the United States, except in cases of impeachment,’ this power has never been held to take from Congress the power to pass acts of general amnesty
¶49. “Amnesty, or general pardon, and pardon proper, result in the same thing. . . The difference between amnesty and pardon —‘general’ or ‘special pardon,’ if one likes — lies ... in the character of the act. The one [pardon] remits punishment to a named person. The other [amnesty] remits punishment of an offense, without particular reference to those who committed it.”'
¶50Radin, Legislative Pardons: Another View, 27 Calif.L.Rev. 387 (1939).
¶51. The ex post facto clause, Pa.Const. art. I, § 17, prohibits the imposition of increased penalties once sentence has been imposed. Indeed, it prohibits imposition of any increase in criminal penalties which is enacted after the crime is committed. Yet this clause was intended to work only one way; it does not prohibit imposition of reduced sentences for crimes committed after an ameliorative statute becomes effective. The framers found a need to protect the individual from increased penalties of which there was no warning, but saw no need to protect the people from acts of legislative mercy.
¶52a. As Mr. Justice Manderino points out in his dissenting opinion, this explains many of the opinions relied on by the majority. For example, in Pennsylvania Co. v. Scott, 346 Pa. 13, 29 A.2d 328 (1942), the Court stated:
“It is elementary that the legislature may not, under the guise of an act affecting remedies, destroy or impair judgments obtained before the passage of the act, and this principle prohibits not only a statutory re-opening of cases previously decided by the court but also legislation affecting the inherent attributes of judgments or annulling or substantially interfering with the right to issue execution and to collect the amount due thereon. There are two reasons for this limitation on legislative power; one, that a judgment is property of which, under state and federal constitutional prohibitions, the judgment creditor cannot be deprived without due process of law; the other that under our system of the division of governmental powers the legislature cannot invade the province of the judiciary by interfering with judgments or decrees previously rendered.”
¶53Id.346 Pa. at 16-17,29 A.2d at 329-30 (citations and footnotes omitted, emphasis added). As the quoted passage makes clear, the Court was very much concerned with the effect that altering final judgments would have on private property rights. Because private rights were..implicated, there is no justification for fashioning a sweeping prohibition based on the broad language excerpted by the majority. Constitutional adjudication demands more careful attention to the interests which in fact are at stake.
¶54It is also noteworthy that the Court in Pennsylvania Co. v. Scott, id., upheld the retroactive application of the Deficiency Judgment Act, Act of July 16, 1941, P.L. (1941) P.L. 400, §§ 1 et seq., 12 P.S. §§ 2621.1 et seq. (1967), to judgments entered and executed upon before the Act was enacted. Thus, I cannot agree with the majority that the case supports “the proposition that a legislative attempt to alter the effect of final judicial action imposed under prior law” necessarily “is a direct assault upon the power of the judicial branch.”
¶55. This is not a case where the Legislature has undertaken to review judgments on an individual basis. See generally Bator, Mishkin, Shapiro & Wechsler, Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System 85-102 (2d ed. 1973). The asserted dangers of such legislation may be addressed if the Legislature ever enacts such legislation. Here, it is enough to recognize that this Court is capable of separating such private legislation, for the benefit of specific individuals, from the legislation in question here.
¶56. The majority relies heavily on the judicial discretion involved in imposing sentence in support of its conclusion that the Resentencing Amendment is unconstitutional. The Resentencing Amendment does not eliminate that discretion, however. The court has the same discretion in imposing sentence under the Resentencing Amendment as it does in imposing sentence on persons convicted of violating the Controlled Substance Act. Even if the court had no discretion, however, this would not mean that the Resentencing Act was unconstitutional. See United States v. Lewis, 300 F.Supp. 1171 (E.D.Pa. 1969) (mandatory sentencing provisions of narcotics statute do not violate separation of powers).
¶57The majority also relies on the possibility that, although appellant Sutley pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of marijuana, the sentencing judge concluded that Sutley was in fact guilty of sale of marijuana. The majority asserts that it is common to accept a plea to a lesser offense, then impose the same sentence as would be imposed if the defendant had been found guilty of the greater offense. I am not prepared to take judicial notice that such a practice is widely followed. As the judge who sentenced Sutley was not the judge who accepted the plea, a claim that the practice was followed here would be pure speculation. Assuming the practice is a common one, it raises some troublesome issues. It is certainly arguable that it would be improper to sentence a person as though he had been convicted of the greater offense, when he has only been convicted of a lesser offense. In some cases, the practice might raise doubt as to the validity of the plea. The propriety of the practice is not before us, however. It is enough to conclude that the possible existence of the practice is not a sufficient basis to hold that the Resentencing Amendment is unconstitutional. Any argument that the Resentencing Amendment will reduce the punishment of some individuals who ought to be punished more severely goes to the wisdom of the Resentencing Amendment, not to its validity.
¶58. “It has become a routine exercise to discredit the custody theory on the basis of its conflict with the forfeited release-time concept. The parolee is supposedly still serving his sentence. If he violates his parole, however, all of his parole time is forfeited as if he had not been in custody during that time. Beyond this direct conflict, if the prisoner is considered to be in custody, this practice is roughly analogous to the bizarre possibility of allowing a warden to extend prison terms beyond the prescribed maximum.”
¶59Comment, The Parole System, 120 U.Pa.L.Rev. 282, 291-92 (1971) (footnote omitted).
¶60. In his dissenting opinion, Mr. Justice Manderino concludes that the discussion of the constitutionality of the legislation in Johnson was not a holding of the Court. I agree with this conclusion. Although the Court in Johnson stated that it thought the act was unconstitutional, it decided the case “independently of the constitutional objection, which is not decisive to all of us.” 42 Pa. at 449. However, despite this clear indication that the constitutional discussion in Johnson was dictum, this Court in Banks treated this discussion as a holding of the Court and felt constrained to reconcile its holding with Johnson.
¶61dissenting.
¶62Because the majority misconceives the nature of the separation of governmental powers, I dissent. Article 2, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution states,
“[t]he legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.”
¶63*290The “legislative power” has been interpreted to be the power to make, alter, and repeal laws. In re: Marshall, 363 Pa. 326, 69 A.2d 619 (1950). See also, Petition of City of Pittsburgh, 376 Pa. 447, 103 A.2d 721 (1954). Traditionally, legislative enactments are general in character. See, Prentis v. Atlantic Coast Line Co., 211 U.S. 210, 29 S.Ct. 67, 53 L.Ed. 150 (1908). This power to make, alter, and repeal laws is derived from the people. Except where limitations have been imposed by the state or federal constitutions, or by valid treaties and statutes, the power of the legislature is unlimited. See generally 16 Am.Jur.2d, Constitutional Law §§ 227-234; and McGinley v. Scott, 401 Pa. 310, 164 A.2d 424 (1960). Among the powers granted to the legislature by the people at the time of the creation of our constitutional form of government, was the power to pardon those convicted of crimes. U. S. v. Hughes, 175 F. 238 (D.C.1892). In fact, the legislative pardoning power was recognized in United States v. Wilson, 7 Pet. 150, 163, 8 L.Ed. 640, 644 (1833), as being superior to the pardoning power of the executive because,
“ . . . [a legislative pardon] is considered as a public law; having the same effect on the case as if the general law punishing the offense had been repealed or annulled.”
¶64The executive power is more limited, being the power only to execute the laws as they have been enacted by the legislature and interpreted by the courts. Except where limited by the constitution, the ■ legislature may stipulate what actions the executive branch shall or shall not perform. The executive branch, although co-equal to, and independent from, the legislature, exercises this limited power because of the nature of the Constitution itself. The authority of the legislature is unlimited so long as the exercise of that authority does not violate any constitutional limitations. Commonwealth v. Wormser, 260 Pa. 44, 103 A. 500 (1917); Sharpless v. Mayor of Philadelphia, 21 Pa. 147 (1853). The authority of the executive, on the other hand, extends only so far as is expressly provided in the Constitution. One of the powers expressly granted to the executive is the pardoning power. Pa.Const. Art. 4, Section 9.
¶65*291The judicial power is one of interpreting, applying, and enforcing existing laws as they relate to past transactions or to conditions existing at the time of the exercise of the judicial power. Once the court is created, its power derives from the Constitution, not from the statute creating it.
¶66The judicial power of the Pennsylvania Courts is derived from Article 5 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania which vests the judicial power in a unified court system. Like the executive branch, the power of the judicial branch is limited in extent to that expressly provided for by law. Const. Art. 5, §§ 2-8. Among the judicial powers so provided by law is the power to sentence those judged guilty of crime.
As was stated in United States v. Hughes, supra,at 242: “[f]rom the very nature of government, it required no reasoning to prove the self-evident proposition that in Pennsylvania the power of pardon was vested in the legislative branch by the inherent power of the supreme law making power and in the executive by constitutional provision. The grant of this power to the executive was no limitation on the right of the power granting it to exercise it also.”
¶67The legislative pardoning power has been said to be “precisely that which would have been afforded to the criminal if the Governor of the State issued free and unconditional pardon.” Perkins v. United States ex rel. Malesevic, 99 F.2d 255, 258 (3d Cir. 1938), citing Diehl v. Rodgers, 169 Pa. 316, 32 A. 424 (1895). See also, former Act of March 31, 1860, P.L. 382, § 181 (19 P.S. 893) (repealed in part by 18 P.S. 5201).
¶68Having the authority to pardon absolutely, it follows that the legislature could devise a system to partially pardon those convicted of possession of certain controlled substances. This was done by the resentencing provision of the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act.
¶69Clearly, the exercise of the authority to pardon those convicted and sentenced by the courts, whether done by the executive or by the legislative branch, affects a “final judg*292ment” of the judiciary. A “final judgment” in a criminal case, however, has never been held to be free from the power of pardon. None of the cases relied on by the majority for the proposition that the legislature may not interfere with judicial judgment of sentence stands for that proposition. The cases cited by the majority fall into two classes: the cases cited either, (1) upheld legislative attempts to affect judicial decisions, and thus the passages quoted from them by the majority are merely dicta, or (2) the cases cited deal with legislative attempts to interfere with judicial judgments in civil cases, and, as becomes clear when these cases are analyzed, they are either inapposite or involved legislative attempts to deprive litigants of property in violation of the constitutional prohibition against taking property without due process of law, or they violated the constitutional prohibition against amending a statute by reference to its title only. The case before us involves neither of these constitutional provisions.
¶70Into the first group of cases fall Comm. ex rel. Banks v. Cain, 345 Pa. 581, 28 A.2d 897 (1942), (upholding the legislative creation of a board of parole, and allowing the Act’s provisions to be. applied to cases where sentence was imposed before its effective date); Comm. ex rel. Johnson v. Halloway, 42 Pa. 446 (1862), (where the court decided on non-constitutional grounds that the challenged statute granted the “inspectors of the Penitentiary” a measure of discretion as to whether a prisoner was entitled to discharge under the Act, and that the inspectors had not abused .that discretion, thereby upholding the statute); and Leahey v. Farrell, 362 Pa. 52, 66 A.2d 577 (1949), (holding that a statute regulating the method of determining the number and fixing the salaries of court employees is not unconstitutional because of legislative encroachment on the judiciary so long as the legislature does not arbitrarily and capriciously fail to provide a sufficient number of court employees or for the payment of adequate salaries).
¶71Into the second group fall Greenough v. Greenough, 11 Pa. 489 (1849); In re East Grant Street, 121 Pa. 596, 16 A. 366*293(1888); Titusville Iron Works v. Keystone Oil Co., 122 Pa. 627, 15 A. 917 (1888); De Chastellux v. Fairchild, 15 Pa. 18 (1850); Appeal of Edwards, 108 Pa. 283 (1885); and Pennsylvania Company, etc. v. Scott, 346 Pa. 13, 29 A.2d 328 (1942).
¶72Greenough v. Greenough, supra,involved a disputed claim under a will. The court held that the challenged legislative enactment could not be applied retroactively because to do so would violate a provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution providing that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property except by judgment of his peers or the law of the land. Greenoughthus stands for the proposition that the legislative attempt to overrule a judicial decision was invalid because it violated a specific constitutional prohibition, not because of any legislative encroachment on the judicial power.
¶73De Chastellux v. Fairchild, supra,held that the legislature could not direct the grant of a new trial in a trespass action because to do so deprived the plaintiff “ . . . of a judgment, which is essentially his property . . . .” Thus De Chastellux, like Greenough, prohibits the legislative taking of property without due process of law because it violates a specific constitutional prohibition.
¶74Pennsylvania Company v. Scott, supra, also held that the legislature could not affect previously rendered judgments because a judgment is “property” of which the judgment creditor cannot be deprived without due process of law under the state and federal constitutions.
¶75In In re East Grant Street, suprathe court stated that the Act of June 8, 1881 “ . . . professes to declare the meaning of the said section of the act of 1874, and if this were all, the act of 1881 would conflict with Section 6 of Article 3 of the Constitution which declares that ‘no law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only, but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended, or conferred shall be re-enacted, and published at length.’ ” The court continued, however, and pointed out that the Act of 1881 went *294further and validly amended the Act of 1874. East Grant Streetthus stands simply for the proposition that a legislative attempt to change a pre-existing law by reference to its title only, is violative of Article 3, § 6, of the Pennsylvania Constitution, and that to amend a pre-existing statute, the legislative must re-enact and publish “at length.”
¶76Titusville Iron Works v. Keystone Oil Co., supra, held only that the Act of June 17, 1887, violated Article 3, Section 6 of the Pennsylvania Constitution in providing that two other acts (mentioned only by title and date) should be construed in a certain way. Like, East Grant Street, Titusville Oil held only that the legislature violates a specific constitutional prohibition when it attempts to amend a pre-existing statute by reference only to its title.
¶77Appeal of Edwards, supra,held that the legislature could not alter the fact of illegitimate birth so as to entitle such a child to take by purchase under a limitation in a prior deed of trust to “lawfully begotten children.” The court said that the legislature did have the power to confer legitimacy upon an illegitimate child so as to render him capable of inheriting from an ancester to the same extent as if he had been born in wedlock. That legislatively conferred legitimacy, however, did not make him “lawfully begotten” so as to come within the condition -in the trust. Edwards in no way stands for the proposition urged by the majority.
¶78Clearly therefore, none of the cases relied on by the majority opinion support the proposition that the resentencing provision of the revised Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act encroaches upon the exclusive province of the judiciary. The resentencing provision does not encroach on exclusively judicial powers and should be upheld.