2023-10-11 20:12:41
The Superior Council of Justice, which was to propose its candidate for the post of attorney general of Brussels this Wednesday, was blocked by its Dutch-speaking magistrates. Ann Fransen will also be the future federal prosecutor.
Spectacular twist at the Superior Council of Justice (CSJ), the body responsible for proposing the candidacies of magistrates. We were to know, this Wednesday evening, the name of the future prosecutor general of Brussels, one of the highest magistrates in the public prosecutor’s office in Belgium. This is not the case: if Frédéric Van Leeuw and Paul Dhaeyer were heard, “no presentation might be made”, indicates the CSJ in the evening, in a press release, due to a collective decision of the Dutch-speaking magistrates.
“Indeed, the Dutch-speaking members of the commission in charge of appointments unanimously refused any presentation for the function,” continue the French-speaking members of the CSJ. The reason? The community problem around Laurence Massart, the current president of the Brussels Court of Appeal whose extension of mandate was refused by the Minister of Justice for reasons of linguistic alternation. “They (the Dutch-speaking members) declared following the vote, through a previously designated spokesperson, that as long as the first president of the Brussels Court of Appeal was French-speaking, they would not present any candidate. “
“Ils prefer to let Brussels justice fail“
“This deliberate and previously concerted decision paralyzes the action of the Superior Council of Justice in its constitutional mission.”
Unprecedented, the French-speaking members of the CSJ designation commission issued a joint statement, noting the explosion of a community crisis that it was difficult to see coming. “This deliberate and previously concerted decision paralyzes the action of the Superior Council of Justice in its constitutional missionwhich the French-speaking members in charge of appointments regret“, continues the press release. Which continues as follows: “This situation is detrimental to the proper functioning of justice, in the jurisdiction of the Brussels Court of Appeal, Brussels already deprived of a King’s prosecutor”.
Following this decision, several French-speaking magistrates protested to L’Echo, anonymously, mentioning for one of them “Flemish magistrates who are organizing themselves to fuel a linguistic conflict, preferring to let Brussels justice die. Shame on them, they even betray their constitutional oath over linguistic quarrels.”
This act occurs in a very complicated context in Brussels, where all senior judicial officials are now paralyzed, while calls for defederalization of justice are increasing mainly on the Dutch-speaking side.
In addition, the appointment of Ann Fransen as head of the federal prosecutor’s office was confirmed. She was the only candidate for this position.
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