Verley Resolution
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| Verley Resolution Résolution de Verley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 31st National Assembly of AInin | |
| A Joint Resolution concerning the administration of justice | |
| Enacted by | House of Censure |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill introduced in the | House of Censure |
| Introduced by | Samuel Verley (PS-Linaque) |
| First reading | 2 September 1955 |
| Second reading | 1 November 1955 |
| Third reading | Failed 87-109 on 15 December 1955 |
| Bill introduced in the House of Censure | House of Deputies |
| Introduced by | Julie Provost (PS-Huimont-2nd) |
| First reading | 18 September 1955 |
| Second reading | Waived |
| Third reading | 12 December 1955 |
| Status: Not passed | |
The Verley Resolution (French: Résolution de Verley) is the name commonly given to a resolution of the National Assembly of Ainin regarding capital punishment in Ainin. It was introduced by President Samuel Verley in the House of Censure, where he was seated ex officio as a censor for his native Linaque, upon his Socialist Party coming to power in the 1955 election on a platform of national unity and judicial reform. A corresponding bill was introduced in the House of Deputies by Julie Provost, veteran deputy for Huimont's 2nd district and Ainin's first female lawmaker.
The resolution directed the Ministry of Justice to revise its prosecutorial guidelines in order to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in peacetime. It further directed the Ministry of Justice to suspend all previously-scheduled executions until all claims of miscarriage of justice are "fully and thoroughly investigated." The bill easily passed through the House of Deputies, which had a Socialist majority and was therefore heavily amenable to the government's proposed resolution, and passed its final enactment in the lower house on 12 December 1955 on a party-line vote of 210-184, with all Socialist deputies voting in favour and all National deputies voting against. However, as the House of Censure is appointed by provincial premiers and with National Party control of the populous provinces of Jaspère and Bounèsque, the resolution ran into heavy resistance. While it passed through its first and second readings as a result of procedural tricks, it failed its third reading on a 87-109 vote and died.
Upon the failure of the resolution, the government of Verley and Prime Minister Paul Travert implemented its provisions nonetheless through liberal application of executive powers. Verley used his rarely-used reserve power to commute the sentences of all criminals sentenced to death to 50 years' imprisonment instead, while Travert directed the Ministry of Justice to issue the revised guidelines and declared a moratorium on capital punishment. Since then, all Aininian governments have accepted the moratorium as a fait accompli and respected its provisions, despite capital punishment remaining on the books for many crimes in Ainin.
Public opinion on the death penalty is divided, with support running around 45%, so no government since has moved to entirely abolish capital punishment from the Penal Code of Ainin and several individual members' attempts to do so have failed. However, the Ministry of Justice's nonpartisan prosecutors have also refused to undertake capital cases as a result of the Ministry's guidelines, allowing for the uneasy moratorium to continue uninterrupted for over 60 years.