2023-10-24 04:42:00
Former Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne had planned to pull out all the stops for the end of his mandate. Reform of the Penal Code, reform of criminal investigation, reform of the Civil Code, reform of the functioning of bailiffs, reform of the legal profession, etc.
This is in particular what was to be voted on under the Van Quick era no later than January 31, 2024. “From February, it is current affairs, according to custom, we no longer vote on anything”, describes the deputy MR Philippe Pivin, Vice-President of the Justice Commission.
Would Van Quickenborne have succeeded? “It’s short. We have almost finished all the hearings in Committee, all this will still have to be debated between MEPs. The debates will be long, the matters are heavy and sensitive,” introduces Philippe Pivin. “But yes, he would have succeeded. It’s not for nothing that he is nicknamed ‘Quicky’. He’s a hard worker.”
Will Van Tigchelt succeed? “There, I would answer ‘perhaps, it’s possible’. That said, he was still deputy director of the Van Quick firm. He participated in the drafting of bills. And the firm will keep the same collaborators.”
The main points of the reform of the Penal Code are imprisonment as a last resort, new and heavier incriminations and penalties for new offenses. It introduces the notion of grading penalties, from 1 to 8, and will determine which offenses will go into which categories. The incriminations and the amount of penalties have been adapted to contemporary values and standards. This is the case, for example, with cases of domestic violence for which there will be a more severe reaction. This is how the criminalization of domestic homicide was introduced, which is considered as murder and carries a strong penalty. For various offenses such as torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, the penalty is always increased by one level if they take place in an intra-family context.
“What we are doing within the framework of this reform of the Penal Code, we are doing it first and foremost for the victims”
The reform affecting bailiffs attacks the fees and procedures of the debt “industry”.
Abusive practices of bailiffs: a disciplinary council will come into force next year
The main lines of the bill on the legal profession are the introduction of the status of employed lawyer, improved and more objective disciplinary law and the adaptation of the internship to today’s reality.
The Civil Code will be amended in matters of “couples’ property relations” and “inheritances, donations and wills”. This is a bill from the previous minister Koen Van Geens, now a member of parliament.
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