More humane, clearer and modernised: the Federal Government has agreed on a proposal to implement a new Criminal Code, aimed at bringing current Belgian legislation into the 21st century, Belgium’s Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, announced on Sunday.
More than 1,000 pages long, this new Penal Code is set to replace the existing one, which is currently more than 150 years old and has become very complex, according to professionals. The new code will remove distinctions between offences, misdemeanours, and crimes. In the future, the Penal Code will speak only of “crimes”, which will be divided into eight degrees of punishments, according to their seriousness.
Tiered offences
For the lightest offences (known as level 1), prison sentences will be abolished, with the Ministry of Justice report citing scientific studies which state that these sentences served no purpose. Instead, judges will impose alternative sentences such as community service, fines, probation, confiscation, or others.
Some of these light offences will include minor vandalism, contempt, insult, breach of privacy, or accidental fire damage due to negligence.
For level 2 offences, which include crimes such as discrimination, slum land-lording, leaking evidence, and forgery, a prison sentence of up to three years will be imposed, but additional sentences will also be available. If a judge opts for jail time, he will need to be able to justify why jail is more suitable than the other available punishments.
For more serious offences (levels 3-8), prison sentences will almost always remain the most common sentence.
Certain penalties will be expanded to encompass a greater number of criminal offences. For example, driving bans can be enforced for crimes other than traffic offences. This will likely be used when a vehicle serves as the link between the suspect and the crime, such as the use of cars by drug couriers, or burglars who travel by car.
Getting tough on domestic violence
Belgium's new Penal Code will also get tougher on domestic violence, creating a new category of crime for homicide within the family unit. When an individual kills their partner as a result of domestic violence, the penalty will now be prosecuted at the same level as murder. This act will be punishable by life imprisonment (level 8).
Penalties for attacks against Belgian healthcare workers will also be strengthened under the new code. Until recently, those who committed violent acts against healthcare workers faced minor punishments, sometimes as low as several months behind bars. Under the new legislation, penalties will be strengthened, with maximum sentencing rising to five years in jail.
Absent from Belgium’s previous Penal Code, incitement to suicide will also now be included in the code, especially in the context of terrorism.
The glorification of terrorism, especially online, will also be punishment by a maximum of 15 years in prison. Carrying out terrorist acts will still be punishable by life in prison, but the preparation of terrorist acts will be more severely punished in the future. There will also be stricter punishment for incitement, recruitment, and training for terrorist acts.
Closing loopholes
New criminal categories will also make a first appearance in the new Penal Code. Ecocide- causing serious and lasting damage to the environment on a large scale- has now been included and will carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years of imprisonment.
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The inclusion of ecocide has long been advocated for by Environment Minister Zakia Khattabi, who wants to create a coalition of progressive countries to include the definition within the Rome Statute as a crime against peace and security. “I am delighted that Belgium is joining the leading group in this matter,” she said.
The Penal Code will also seek to address other long-running legal loopholes. The desecration of corpses and having a hidden compartment in a vehicle to hide illegal items are also set to be criminalised.
The new draft Penal Code will soon be submitted for opinion to the Council of State. The Minister of Justice hopes that the document will be submitted for approval by the Federal Parliament sometime next year.
