Flemish Minister of Justice Zuhal Demir is starting discussions with her fellow ministers at other levels about a possible defederalization of Justice. She will announce this on Thursday.
Earlier this year, Demir had a study made on defederalization by constitutional specialists Stefan Sottiaux and Arvid Rochtus (KU Leuven). In that study, Sottiaux said that Belgium is the big exception compared to similar countries. “Belgium still has a very unitary justice system and is an outsider among federal states,” he said. At the same time, he spoke of a “democratic deficit” in the states. “They have two of the three legs of the trias politica: the legislative and the executive. But the judiciary has been forgotten along the way. This creates a situation in which states remain dependent on the federal level for the enforcement of their policies, for example regarding the environment. And the federal justice minister cannot be held regionally accountable for his choices.”
Flemish Minister of Justice Zuhal Demir sees the research as proof that a defederalization of justice is necessary. She will therefore consult with Vincent Van Quickenborne (federal), Antonios Antoniadis (German-speaking community) and Françoise Bertieaux (French community). Federal Minister responsible for Institutional Reforms David Clarinval is also involved. Annelies Verlinden also has that authority, but she did not yet accept the invitation, Demir initially reported. The Verlinden cabinet has now announced that the minister is willing to consult. “We always want to sit around the table.” The discussions will initially take place at cabinet level.
Bertieaux’s cabinet is now nuanced. “The cabinets have regular contact about the houses of justice,” her cabinet said. “A hypothetical defederalization was never discussed there. For us, defederalization is out of the question.”
“Bad idea and wrong priority”
Green MP and justice specialist Stefaan Van Hecke finds Demir’s move incomprehensible. “Working on the defederalization of Justice is a very bad idea and the wrong priority. Belgians really don’t want three different sets of rules for inheritances, marriages, divorces and liability,” he says. “The justice system has been underfunded for decades, has outdated buildings and a large backlog in digitalization. People deserve better services and faster procedures. But splitting things up will not ensure that, on the contrary, it will be a legal nightmare for ordinary citizens and companies.”
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