Many democracies across the globe have prosecuted their past or present leaders; former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy were found guilty of corruption post the completion of their tenures. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were also prosecuted for tax fraud and corruption charges, respectively. African countries have witnessed the imprisonment of former presidents like South Africa's Jacob Zuma on charges of money laundering and racketeering. Even current leaders like Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

In the United States, former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges related to hiding his relationship with a porn star. Though the indictment is a first in the US, it is quite common in liberal democracies. However, the prosecution of former presidents may become a divisive issue, considering these leaders may have been popularly elected and revered by the public before being tried for legal offenses. President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor Richard Nixon in 1974, despite evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal, to avoid political differences that could divide the country.