Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Following the attempted assassination of the Prince of Orange, the Chamber of Representatives scrambled to handle the numerous issues raised by different MPs during its session, most of them related to the recent assassination attempt, the failure of the Prince's bodyguards and overall security detail to prevent the attempt or the security of Emperor-King Richard II during his state visit in Mordusia. Nonetheless, the Houses of Parliament continued debating on the Felonies and Penalties Bill. The aforementioned law proposal was introduced by the Justice Secretary, Mathilde Plundell and was aimed at strengthening the penalties inflicted on criminals who committed a felony.

The bill's objective of harsher penalties was introduced as a "necessity" by the Justice Secretary in her opening remarks when introducing it in the Second Chamber of Parliament. She insisted on the "recent issues" such as the incident in Middenhall being  a "decisive factor" in her decision to introduce the bill, saying that the "current sensation of instability, with criminals roaming the streets, unfazed by police presence" was unacceptable and that "only an increased focus upon our sentencing system" will both slow and contain this new phenomenon.

Introduced in November 5696, the debates for the bill in both Houses of Parliament were slowed down by the Hallowtide holidays and subsquent recess of both the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, which convened once again in January, nonetheless, the attempted assassination of the Crown Prince by Thomas Lawrence (21), a disgruntled student worker has been credited with having accelerated the debate on the Felonies Bill, as more and more MPs joined the government in support of the bill, as public opinion radically shifted from division to firm support following the attempted assassination. 

Coupled to this is the infamous Treason and Sedition Bill, introduced by the Home Secretary in a press conference recently, this Act, which is yet to be formally introduced in the Chamber of Representatives, but is already source of controversy among left-wing and far-right circles, who fear that the bill would be a repeat of the Democratic Process Stabilisation Act, where for two centuries, far-left and far-right political parties were excluded from the democratic process following the "Troubling Century" (5302-5406).

While the Treason Bill is, at first glance, opposed by some parts of the Luthorian political spectrum, the Felonies and Penalties Act was only opposed by the Communist Party of Luthori and the Radical Democratic Party, they were both following by a segment of the Labour Party's left-wing MPs, who argued against the bill as they wished for a "humane and not a repressive form of justice", Communist Chamber leader, Tom Pell, stated to the Guardian that the "[the Bill] is a sham, it doesn't answer to the needs of the Luthorian people, it merely targets the most unfortunate in our society to lock them for longer periods of time in prison", Labour Party MP, Robert Miller, who were one of the few to vote against the Bill expressed his "abberation" at the bill's content and his "profound sadness" at his party's support of it.

The National Labour Party rallied behind the Bill following the shift in public opinion following the Prince of Orange's near death in February. The Leader of the Opposition has according to sources wished to place himself in the "center" of the "incoming security vs. liberty debate" that will come with the commencement of debate on the Treason Bill, having been vocal about his opposition to the aforementioned bill, Mr. Pat Holland seems willing to compromise on his values to shield himself from potential Conservative attacks come the debate.

The bill is focused around the strengthening and expansion of different penalties for varying crimes, depending on their degree of intensity, as well as the harmonisation into one bill of the different penalties current enforced through different various Acts of Parliament voted throughout the years. It sets increased minimum sentences for acts of burglary, manslaughter, murder, rape, agression and other crimes.

The Bill passed with a resounding 399 votes in favor, with both the Labour and Green parties instructing their MPs to vote in favor and with only 25 MPs opposing it in the lower house, 2 MPs weren't present at the time of voting. It then passed with similar results in the Senate before being made into law.