2023-12-01 19:04:00
Laurence Massart, president of the Assize Court during the Brussels attacks trial, wins a first round of litigation once morest the Belgian state
“No margin of appreciation”
As a reminder, the woman who – notably – chaired the Assize Court responsible for judging the attacks of March 22, 2016, was refused the extension of her mandate by the (now former) Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne ( Open VLD).
Due to linguistic alternation, the position of first president of the court of appeal must in principle fall to a Dutch speaker at the end of the year. This is why Vincent Van Quickenborne refused Laurence Massart’s request. Contesting this decision, the magistrate filed two appeals: one before the Council of State and another in civil proceedings, in summary proceedings, before the Brussels Court of First Instance.
In September, Madame Massart won her case at the court of first instance, which ruled that the Minister of Justice might not oppose the magistrate’s extension. For what ? In 2018, Laurence Massart’s predecessor, also French-speaking, reached the end of his term and did not ask to be extended. Linguistic alternation being in force, a Dutch speaker should have occupied the position, but there was no candidate under this linguistic regime. Laurence Massart, although French-speaking, was therefore able to occupy the position. And the law allows him to make a request for an extension within specific deadlines, by sending a letter to the Minister of Justice who, then, must transmit the application to the Superior Council of Justice (CSJ), the only one authorized to decide. But the liberal did not want to forward the file to the CSJ.
In its order issued in September, the court of first instance explained that the Minister of Justice has “no margin of appreciation” when it comes to a request for extension of mandate, and that his role consists to simply forward requests in this matter to the CSJ.
This Thursday, the Council of State rendered a judgment which goes in the same direction: it also considers that the Minister of Justice is without jurisdiction to refuse to transmit the request for renewal of the mandate to the CSJ.
Who will be the new bosses at the Brussels public prosecutor’s office and the federal public prosecutor’s office?
An ad interim with another ad interim?
This victory for Laurence Massart might not be without consequences for other key positions in Brussels justice. Because the position of first president of the Court of Appeal of Brussels is closely linked to the position of attorney general of Brussels. If one of the positions is occupied by a French speaker, the other should be occupied by a Dutch speaker.
And therefore, if Laurence Massart is extended in her role as first president of the court of appeal, a Dutch speaker should, logically, be appointed attorney general of Brussels. Currently, Johan Delmulle holds the position. He is at the end of his term. To succeed him, there are two candidates: the current federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw and the current president of the Brussels Enterprise Court, Paul Dhaeyer. These are two figures from the world of justice. Small downside: they are both French speaking…
On October 11, the two candidates were to be heard by the CSJ with a view to replacing Johan Delmulle. But, to everyone’s surprise, neither candidate was nominated. “In fact, the Dutch-speaking members of the commission responsible for appointments unanimously refused any presentation for the position,” the CSJ indicated in a press release. Implicitly, we understood that this non-nomination was in fact linked to the Massart saga.
Several questions now arise: what will happen if Laurence Massart is reappointed? Who will be attorney general of Brussels? One of the options is to maintain, ad interim, Johan Delmulle. If this happens, the Brussels justice system will then only have, at its head, “acting”, since at the Brussels King’s Prosecutor’s Office, it is still Tim de Wolf who runs the house, as prosecutor. ad interim…
Soon a King’s Prosecutor at the Brussels public prosecutor’s office?
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