How can the Hadith, "Judges are three," be reconciled with Al-Qari's statement, "For the Imam, to err on the side of forgiveness is better than to err on the side of punishment"?

There is no contradiction between the hadith "Judges are three" and the hadith "Avert the prescribed punishments (hudud) from Muslims as much as you can." The first addresses the judge and warns him against injustice or ignorance in judgment, while the second addresses the Imam and the averting of hudud through doubts and prioritizing leniency, for an error in pardon is better than an error in punishment. The jurists have agreed on averting hudud with doubts, and this necessitates relying on certainty in attributing the crime, and the accused benefits from doubt, and an error in pardon is better than an error in punishment.