2023-08-08 23:55:15
From now on, anyone prosecuted in Antwerp for financial, economic or environmental offenses will be offered to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.
It’s a well-known market in American detective series: suspects, in exchange for their confessions, have their sentences reduced. What is less known is that this system of plea bargaining also exists in our country.
The prior admission of guilt has existed since 2016, but the courts rarely use it. In Antwerp, a pilot project, which starts this summer, should change the situation. “So far, we have only applied the procedure on a case-by-case basis, explains the magistrate of the parquet floor Steven De Winter. From now on, we will systematically offer the option of a guilty plea to people who have to appear in court.”
Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) also wants the courts to apply the guilty plea more widely. He prepared a bill that simplifies the procedure and pays more attention to potential victims.
White collar crimes
For the time being, the Antwerp pilot project does not aim as environmental crimes, fraudulent bankruptcies, money laundering and tax evasion. “We start there because the files are more technical and less sensitive for the victims”, explains Steven De Winter.
In principle, anyone who has to appear before the Antwerp court for this type of offense is offered a trade, take it or leave it in the following month. In more complex cases, the prosecution offers to negotiate. Those who do not want to compromise follow the classic legal routethat is, appearance in court.
“Cases in which the physical integrity of a victim has been seriously compromised are excluded.”
The law excludes from pleading guilty facts punishable by more than five years in prison and cases such as murder, rape and sexual offenses involving minors. The prosecution adds its own criteria.
“Cases in which the physical integrity of a victim has been seriously compromised are excluded. These cases require the catharsis of a public trial, explains Steven De Winter. Cases in which people were arrested are also excluded. Finally, prosecutors themselves may find that a guilty plea is undesirable in a particular case, for example if there is a link to organized crime.”
Much faster trials
The prosecution hopes the pilot project will save prosecutors and judges time. If the prosecution reaches an agreement for a guilty plea, there will be no further trial on the merits in court. The judge will then simply assess whether the agreement was concluded correctly and whether the agreed sentence is proportionate.
“There is a public hearing. And the conviction will be on the criminal record.”
The conviction will appear in the criminal record. This is a significant difference from the extended penal transactionwhich allows suspects to buy out prosecutions, and thus stay under the radar since there is no trial and therefore no conviction.
Because of this discretion, the system seems conducive to political maneuvering, which has earned it its bad reputation today. Vincent Van Quickenborne wants to tackle that too, by now making transactions public. “But a guilty plea is completely different, reframes Steven De Winter, there is a public hearing. And the conviction appears in the criminal record.”
Stop chasing money from a conviction
Additional benefit: the person sentenced to a fine, reimbursement of a financial benefit or compensation for the victim must put this amount available in advance. Justice should no longer run following money, following a conviction.
If the pilot project proves successful, it should be extended to other prosecution services. “And other parquet floors are following our project with interest”, stresses Steven De Winter.
The summary
- From now on, people prosecuted in Antwerp for financial or environmental offenses will systematically be offered to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.
- The prosecution hopes in this way to drastically shorten the duration of the trials because the people will have already admitted their guilt.
- The possibility of closing a case with a “guilty plea” has existed for a long time in our country, but it remains little practiced.
- The Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) has prepared a bill intended to revive the interest of the procedure.
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