The Council of State said that Bill 8049 contained a large number of ambiguities. Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne (archives)

The Council of State said that Bill 8049 contained a large number of ambiguities. Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne (archives)

The Council of State has issued a critical opinion on Bill 8049, the so-called “Dieschbourg law”, due to a large number of ambiguities. The bill is now to be reviewed by a parliamentary committee.

While the opposition recently expressed surprise at the delay in voting on the “Dieschbourg law”, the state council issued a critical opinion on Tuesday 29 November on Bill 8049 relating to the so-called ‘, Luxembourg’s former environment minister (Green party). 

After a careful examination of the bill, which deals with the criminal liability of cabinet ministers, the council found that the legislative text contains a large number of ambiguities. The text will therefore have to be revised in parliamentary committee.

, the state council stressed that it questions “the scope of the substance of this provision, which is not free of ambiguity. The first question concerns the very notion of ‘investigation’. Is it already a preliminary investigation which is only intended to verify the existence of possible offences, in particular if the cabinet minister is the subject of a denunciation to the state prosecutor, and whose seriousness is to be established in a first stage? Secondly, does this provision mean that authorisation must be sought before a preliminary investigation is opened against such a named person, or does it have to be submitted at an earlier stage if a cabinet minister could only be involved in such an investigation? What if the Chamber of Deputies does not respond to the request made by the state prosecutor or if it gives a negative response, even if the file contains sufficient incriminating elements?”

This new setback risks complicating the legislative process, which is facing a tight schedule. The proposal, tabled on 18 July, has been slow to materialise. The timetable is essential: the new constitution, which is due to come into force during the first half of 2023, would modify the current system of criminal proceedings against cabinet ministers by making it subject to ordinary law.

The main aim was to have this law, tailored to the Dieschbourg case, adopted as soon as parliament resumed sitting, so that the courts could hear the former minister as early as October or November, before the new constitution came into force and election campaigns began.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.