Active and former members of the military will soon be able to benefit from legal assistance, like civilians suspects, in the event that they are suspected of a criminal offence in the exercise of their duties, reports La Libre Belgique.
Soldiers will now have the right to the immediate assistance of a lawyer in the event of an offence, even during a mission.
The Salduz Judgement, made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2008 in the case of Kurdish activist Salduz versus the State of Turkey, establishes the right for citizens to have access to a lawyer as soon as they are accused of a crime, to prevent forced confessions before they appear before the courts.
In Belgium, the so-called Salduz law was adopted in 2012 and expanded in 2016. In the context of Belgium, the law guarantees that anyone suspected of a crime (with a few exceptions) is entitled to free assistance from a lawyer from the time he is first questioned, whether by police or an investigating judge or prosecutor.
However, this guarantee was not expanded to members of the military. As such, Defence Minister Ludivine Dedoner has now tabled a bill in the Chamber of Representatives to address this exception.
The bill aims to “broad the possibility of granting legal assistance to soldiers or former soldiers who are suspected of certain acts committed in the exercise of their functions,” the text said.
The minister says that the legal assistance, which will be provided at the expense of the Belgian State, will be beneficial given that “the military, in the exercise of their function, may be the subject of all kinds of complaints and possible prosecutions.”
Previous cases of military offences
While the reputation of the Belgian army is generally well regarded, soldiers from other countries have been prosecuted for serious offences committed on duty in foreign war zones.
Members of the Australian SAS have accused of executing non-combatants, US forces killed 16 civilians during the Kandahar massacre, and British Sergeant was sentenced for the murder of an injured Afghan solider in 2011. In these cases, the serious nature of offences warrants a greater legal defence and representation.
Despite the often serious nature of crimes alleged to be committed by soldiers, current Belgian legislation deprives members of the military of quick access to a lawyer. The current law provides free legal assistance “only from the moment when criminal proceedings are initiated.”
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For Dedonder, the expansion of this law aims to right what she perceives as an oversight in Belgian legislation and a deprivation of soldiers’ rights.
“The expansion of legal assistance consists of covering the costs of legal assistance for, on the one hand, soldiers or former soldiers who are suspected of offences… on the other hand, soldiers or former soldiers who are deprived of their liberty within the framework of the law concerning preventative detention or when the soldier is the subject of a warrant,” Dedonder specified.
This will equally extend to the soldiers facing European arrest warrants or detention extension warrants.
