News item | 12-07-2022 | 12:20
The cabinet is structurally earmarking more than €155 million for the judiciary to recruit more judges and other staff, among other things. This should lead to shorter processing times and a reduction in the workload among judges. The money is also for initiatives to bring the law closer to people, such as district justice. People are then helped by a judge in their area.
More and more judges are retiring and the turnaround time for a lawsuit is often long. The result is that people who go to court have to wait longer for their case to be settled, while the judiciary is faced with a high workload. The pressure on the judiciary has also been increased by unforeseen situations such as the outbreak of the corona crisis, lawsuits that are becoming increasingly complex and the aftermath of the childcare allowance affair.
“Judiciary should be accessible and approachable for everyone. The challenges faced by the judiciary do not sufficiently allow for this. That is why we are going to structurally invest in the Judiciary,” says Minister Franc Weerwind for Legal Protection. “I am delighted that we have been able to reach price agreements with the Council for the Judiciary for the period 2023-2025. With the increase in the overall budget, the Judiciary can address these challenges, so that access to justice remains possible for everyone.”
In order to reduce the backlog in the long term, efforts are also being made to innovate and digitize. The structural money is also used to make the administration of justice more digitally accessible to everyone. In addition, the cabinet wants to use the millions to better manage major lawsuits related to organized crime.