Examining the Inefficiencies of Belgian Justice: Insights from Luc Hennart

2023-10-24 08:09:00

A week after the terrorist attack which took place in the streets of Brussels, Luc Hennart returned to the role of the State and Justice in confronting threats of attack.

For him, Justice can be effective if we distinguish between the potential of Justice and the way it functions today. “In the current state, we can ask ourselves questions. Justice is not efficient because there is an organizational problem due to two elements: the political world towards which we send all the flags and, internally, difficulties in terms of organization. he explains into Maxime Binet’s microphone.

Following the numerous elements revealed on the sidelines of the attack of October 16, the Superior Council of Justice decided, this Monday, to open a specific investigation into the functioning of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office. The goal ? Determine whether there were any dysfunctions in the processing of Abdesalem Lassoued’s case, particularly regarding his extradition to Tunisia.

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The Superior Council of Justice spends much more time doing work to justify its own existence than truly providing a solution to the problem.

Luc Hennart did not hide his serious doubts as to the usefulness of this institution, which is, according to him, one of the many slices of the institutional “lasagna” that is Belgian Justice. “Like many other institutions that supervise Justice, the Superior Council spends much more time doing work to justify its own existence than truly providing a solution to the problem. Instead of controlling each other and arguing, if these institutions made judgments or handled cases, we would have fewer difficulties.”

After Van Quickenborne, other resignations within Justice?

In the context of Abdesalem Lassoued’s file, the conclusion drawn is that a file was not processed. The now ex-Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, took political responsibility and resigned from his position. But should other resignations also take place, notably in Justice and more particularly at the Brussels public prosecutor’s office?

”I’m not going to make friends by saying it but it’s a hierarchical structure and there are bosses inside who, like the Minister of Justice, should ask themselves the question of knowing whether there is a personal responsibility to take. This is something that must be left to them and perhaps the useless work of the High Council will allow us to reach a conclusion in this regard,” says the honorary president of the Brussels court of first instance.

During the last weekend, the acting King’s Prosecutor of Brussels explained that the lack of resources did not explain everything. But what are the working conditions for Justice in Brussels, particularly in the prosecution?

”The conditions are difficult and there is no denying it. We can multiply the forces of the prosecution but if the courts are not capable of absorbing it, it is of no use. During the last state reform, we carried out an assessment of the workload and this led to an increase in the number of managers. In the meantime, the executives have withered away and, the extraordinary paradox, is that we are announcing a strengthening of executives with 5 additional magistrates. Perhaps we should first ask ourselves the question of filling the existing frameworks.”

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The decisions of the kern? “Powder in the eyes”

And for good reason, during the KERN last Saturday, the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister decided to strengthen the Brussels public prosecutor’s office by 5 magistrates, to officially appoint the Brussels king’s prosecutor after 9 years of legal uncertainty and to allocate 50 additional full-time equivalents to the judicial police.

Once again, Luc Hennart pulls no punches in discussing this measure. “It’s nothing more than window dressing. After the Dutroux affair and that of the Brabant killings, what did we do? The ship sinks and chewing gum is used to plug the holes but the boat does not hold. This is the big problem today. We need to think globally. When we decide that the frameworks must be what they are, let us fill them and not amuse ourselves by adding 5 magistrates. This is making fun of the world and it will not provide solutions to the difficulties that this prosecution may experience.”

Concerning Abdesalem Lassoued, a file was lost in the cabinet of current files. This revelation raises questions about the state of digitalization within the world of Justice. “The observation is distressing but, once again, the responsibilities do not lie exclusively in the political world. I would like my colleagues to be able to return to their real work, that is to say: writing judgments for some and processing cases for others. Today, there are many members of the prosecution or the bench who are busy with other things. All this perhaps has the scent of Justice but it is not the Justice that the citizen needs,” concludes Luc Hennart.

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