cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/445597
A ban on politicians lying will be brought in before the 2026 Senedd [the Welsh parliament] elections, the Welsh government has promised.
Counsel General Mick Antoniw […] promised that the law would disqualify Senedd politicians and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception from being a Member of the Senedd (MS). […] It is not yet clear whether the proposed law would make lying a criminal offence or a civil sanction. […] Mr. Antoniw said it was a “matter that goes to the heart of everyone”.
As much as I like the spirit of the idea, it honestly sounds pretty hard to enforce. What constitutes a mistake, bad memory, or a polished turd of a statement versus an act of deception?
That’s for the courts to deci-- oh, fuck.
I guess all public statements would essentially be “under oath” and would be held to that standard. So the questions would be 1) which statements are public and 2) what constitutes a lie.
It can be proven that someone has lied - for instance, if they have said something on the record previously that indicates they had foreknowledge that what they said was false. It’d be a large administrative burden, so I imagine that only consequential lies would be prosecuted. But the law would also be ripe for abuse - an opposing political faction could scrutinize everything a public official says, sue them for everything that wasn’t true, and tie them up with court appearances and fees for a long time.
Anyway, it’d be very difficult to consistently enforce this law and prevent it from being abused.