The new Judiciary committee meets at once after lunch; it has several important propositions to consider. Bellumar is frustrated about most of the morning debates, where it felt like the idiots who screwed everything up last time were proudly going around like nothing had changed, but he is still optimistic that he can get the two most important things through Judiciary.
"I call this meeting of the new Committee On The Judiciary to order."
"Kidnap is elsewhere a Crime; this Draft creates two Powers granted to those charged with Enforcement of Law, and Abridges other Powers they previously had to carry out said Enforcement. The Effect of the Draft is Nil upon those who are not the Crown or otherwise carrying out her Majesty's Justice."
"You on Assize would have, and could Employ, those Powers, and Detain a free Subject. The ordinary Person lacking them cannot Employ them, and hence has no Occasion to abide by their Restrictions, and for him to Kidnap is a Crime."
"It is thus Drafted in order to achieve its Aims via the most Narrow means, that is, to Permit Arrest, an act which would be Kidnap without some Power under the Law permitting it, and Govern the Arrestor."
If you can't answer a yes or no question in a way that includes at least one of those words before or within your paragraphs then Elorri rather despairs of you writing something a random Chelish peasant will understand after having it explained six times, by a paladin, when they're not even in trouble. "Would you say that, then, the answer to my question, is 'no, it is for those persons identical'?"
"Well, it means that if someone they love has been detained and not released or charged they should petition for their release after seven days, that's not nothing."
"Indeed so. It is Blank as to Additional Obligations on the People but provides them a Useful Remedy they might be Glad of."
"Delegate Goés raised this point already, but one trend I've noticed in modern Chelish law, compared to Arodenite law, is that modern law tends to be much longer. I don't think this is wholly a bad trend, and it may be unavoidable if we need to ensure there's no room for ambiguity, but I confess I find myself concerned that many people, particularly among the illiterate, will struggle to understand what this law actually does. Could we perhaps provide some sort of short, clear summary at the beginning of the law so that anyone can understand?"
Honestly it seems pretty restrained, probably because it was written over the course of ten minutes.
"Hold a Moment, please." Time to employ advanced experimental drafting techniques honed in a year of doing nothing useful.
An Act Establishing Lawful Forms of Arrest and Detention
Preamble
Desiring to curb Misuses and Abuses of the Power of Detention while Permitting its Necessary Use in the Enforcement of the Criminal Laws, we Enact this Law having the following Effects:
- granting to Law Enforcers the powers of Arrest on Suspicion of Crime and Arrest to Compel Testimony;
- limiting the Exercise of said two Powers to those Persons and those Spans of Time Necessary for Investigation and Trial;
- securing by the Right of Petition the Release of those held Overlong without Charge;
- and Abridging all other Powers of Detention.
Definitions
- A Law Enforcer
- is any Person Duly and Lawfully Charged with carrying out her Majesty's Justice, including the Investigation of Crimes and the Enforcement of Criminal Laws.
- An Investigation
- is the Due and Lawful Investigation of a Specific Crime, or multiple Specific Crimes.
- Suspicion
- is the belief of a Law Enforcer that a Person may be Guilty of a Specific Crime, or multiple Specific Crimes.
- A Reasonable Time
- is, for Detention during Investigation seven days; for Detention awaiting Trial until the date Fixed for Trial; for Detention during a Sentence of Imprisonment until the Expiration of the Sentence.
Statute
- A Law Enforcer has the power to Detain, for a Limited Time, any free Subject of her Majesty solely for the Purpose of Investigation upon Suspicion of Crime (the "Power of Arrest on Suspicion").
- Detention under the Power of Arrest on Suspicion may continue only during the related Investigation, unless the Detained be then Charged in which case it may continue until the date Fixed for Trial.
- If the Detained be Sentenced to Imprisonment the Detention may continue through the Term of the Sentence.
- If such Detention has continued past a Reasonable Time, the Crown or those carrying out her Majesty's Justice shall grant a Petition for Release.
- A Law Enforcer has the power to Detain, for a Limited Time, any free subject of her Majesty solely for the Purpose of Compelling Testimony in connection with an Investigation or Trial (the "Power of Arrest to Compel Testimony").
- The Power of Arrest to Compel Testimony is not the Primary Means by which Testimony is Compelled, but may be employed when a Law Enforcer suspects the Witness may fail to Appear when Duly Summoned.
- Detention under the Power of Arrest to Compel Testimony may continue only during the related Investigation, unless such result in Charges in which case it may continue until the date Fixed for Trial on said Charges.
- If such Detention has continued past a Reasonable Time, the Crown or those carrying out her Majesty's Justice shall grant a Petition for Release.
- Should any Detention under this Law entail the Transportation of a Subject over a Great Distance, particularly if Teleported, the Crown shall upon the End of Detention provide at its expense their Safe Return to the Location where they were Originally Detained.
- Except under the foregoing Provisions, the Crown and those Carrying Out her Majesty's Justice shall not Detain free subjects of her Majesty.
- For the Avoidance of Doubt, the Lawful Forms of Conscription and the Corvée as authorized by Royal Decree, originating from her Majesty or from the Constitutional Convention, are not forms of Detention under this Law.
"It is a Narrow Law, and satisfies I believe all Desiderata yet Mentioned. To my colleagues of the Reclamation I note that no Burdens are imposed on the Public beyond those existing already in Laws criminalizing Kidnap and Resisting Lawful Arrest."
('Narrow' is about the highest praise possible when it comes to legal drafting, as befits her burgeoning egomania.)
"I think it will seem - trickier - to the floor than the version we started with, but if having consulted other lawyers it in fact does what we mean then it's acceptable to me. Does anyone have further thoughts before we vote?"
The suspicion of legal drafting is unfortunate but understandable given the state of the country, and maybe passing an unambiguously good law like this will help turn things around a bit. It's just a matter of surviving the coming days having called Bellumar's bluff.
"All right, let's hold the vote to bring this to the floor then. All in favor?"
View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
