Given the recent ruling in Germany, RTL Radio's Eric Ewald took a closer look at a draft bill submitted by then-Minister of Justice Felix Braz. Two and a half years ago, Braz submitted draft bill 7204 on 'deliberately endangering others'. The last trace of the draft bill on the Chamber of Deputies website was a meeting with the parliamentary commission on justice in January 2019. At that meeting, the president of the commission Charel Margue was named the rapporteur of the project once he'd received reports from the Luxembourg Bar, the public prosecutor's office, and other justice authorities.
However, the minutes of the meeting mentioned the reticence of the government council and other legal authorities in enshrining such an infraction in Luxembourgish criminal law. Whilst no parties were categorically against the draft bill, concerns surrounding proving the infractions were raised.
Braz had presented the draft bill in November 2017, naming the following example to justify such a law: "Somebody speeding through a village at 130 km/h during the day endangers the lives of children playing on the pavements, as well as the lives of police officers forced to pursue the driver. These types of motorists basically take the lives of others hostage and only coincidence plays a role in whether or not there are ramifications of speeding!"
The law was consequently designed to punish highly reckless and dangerous wrongdoing, which could either result in no consequences for others or in the risk of death or injury. Braz's draft bill proposed sentences of up to three years in prison and €5,000 fines. He added that elements to ensure the infraction does not apply to all types of carelessness would also be clearly defined.
French law has defined such behaviour as a criminal offence since 1992. It looks like it will take some time for this law to pass in Luxembourg for various reasons. However, the draft bill has not completely dropped off the radar.
