Advanced Search

An Act To Amend The Act Of 19 December 1950 Establishing The College Of Physicians Veterinarians (1)

Original Language Title: Loi modifiant la loi du 19 décembre 1950 créant l'Ordre des Médecins Vétérinaires (1)

Subscribe to a Global-Regulation Premium Membership Today!

Key Benefits:

Subscribe Now for only USD$40 per month.
belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

19 MARCH 2014. - An Act to amend the Act of 19 December 1950 creating the Order of Veterinary Physicians (1)



PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Section 2 of the Act of 19 December 1950 creating the Order of Veterinary Physicians is replaced by the following:
"Art. 2. § 1er. The Order of Veterinary Doctors includes:
1° any natural person who holds a degree, certificate or other title to practise veterinary medicine in the territory, referred to below as a veterinary physician, who wishes to practise veterinary medicine and who has obtained his registration in one of the tables of veterinary physicians referred to in section 5;
2° any veterinary legal person who has been registered in one of the tables of the veterinary legal persons referred to in Article 5.
The veterinary legal entity is the legal person with a legal personality, having a registered office or defaulting office in Belgium, registered with a company number at the Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises and meeting the following conditions:
1° all managers, administrators, members of the steering committee are natural persons authorized to practise the profession of veterinary physician in accordance with section 4 of the Act of 28 August 1991 on the exercise of veterinary medicine;
2° its object and activity are limited to the provision of services related to the exercise of the veterinary profession and cannot be incompatible with it;
3° if it is constituted in the form of an anonymous corporation or a partnership sponsored by shares, its shares are nominal;
4° shares or shares as well as voting rights are held directly or indirectly by veterinary doctors exercising veterinary medicine within the veterinary body. However, 33% of the shares or shares may be held by holders of the rights of societal veterinary physicians, other veterinary doctors or veterinary legal persons;
5° the veterinary legal entity may not hold any interest in other corporations or legal entities whose social object or activities may be incompatible with the exercise of veterinary medicine.
If the corporation no longer meets the requirements to retain its registration in the College's table, it has a period of six months to comply with these conditions. This period may be extended by the relevant regional council.
§ 2. Veterinary physicians prior to the effective exercise of veterinary medicine obtain their registration in one of the tables of veterinary physicians referred to in section 5. They apply to the relevant regional council for their professional residence. The administrative professional home of a natural person is the operating seat of his or her veterinary activity in Belgium that can be confused with his or her legal domicile. All veterinary physicians who request their registration in one of the College's tables communicate at the same time the address of their legal domicile.
Veterinary doctors who are legally established in another Member State of the European Union to practise veterinary medicine and who wish to practise it on a temporary and occasional basis in Belgium request their registration in the special register referred to in Article 5 on the terms and conditions established by the King.
§ 3. Veterinary legal persons obtain before the effective exercise of veterinary medicine their registration in one of the tables of veterinary legal persons referred to in Article 5. They apply to the competent regional council on the basis of their head office or in the absence of their headquarters in Belgium.
§ 4. The competent Order's Regional Council may not refuse to register for any of the College's tables unless the applicant is temporarily or permanently prohibited from exercising veterinary medicine in Belgium or in the country of origin at the time of application.
The applicant who persists in his or her application may require that he or she be heard in person before the College Council. He has the right to be assisted by one or more advice. The College's Council makes a reasoned sentence. The rules of territorial jurisdiction set out in this Act, those relating to the use of languages, such as those relating to appeal and appeal for cassation, are similarly respected. ".
Art. 3. In section 5 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1° the first sentence is replaced by the following:
§ 1er. The Order's paintings are composed by:
- the table of veterinary physicians;
- the table of veterinary legal persons;
- the special register.
§ 2. The College's regional councils draw up their tables and maintain a table of veterinary physicians, a table of veterinary legal persons and a special register. The veterinary doctor referred to in section 2, paragraph 2, shall choose the regional council of which he or she depends at the time of his application for registration in the special register."
2° in paragraph 2, whose current text will form § 2, paragraph 2, the words "They shall provide" are replaced by the words "Regional councils shall provide";
3° the current text of paragraph 3 shall form § 2, paragraph 3;
4° paragraphs 4 and 5 are repealed.
Art. 4. Section 6 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 6. Without prejudice to anti-discrimination legislation, any interference of the College in matters of professional associations is prohibited."
Art. 5. In section 7 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1st paragraph 1er is replaced by the following:
"Regional councils are composed of actual members and alternate members listed in the table of physical persons and elected by veterinarians in the same table. ";
2° in paragraph 5, the words ", apart from the suspension and the final prohibition of the practice of veterinary medicine" are repealed;
3° in paragraph 6, the words "determined" are inserted between the words "demission" and "or death";
4° in the Dutch text of paragraph 6, the words "werkelijk lid" are replaced by the words "effectief lid".
Art. 6. Section 8 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 8. The members of the regional councils, effective and alternate, are elected for six years among veterinarians, registered for at least five years at one of the College's tables.
The regional councils are renewed by half every three years according to the terms set by the King.
The effective members of the regional councils are not immediately eligible for re-election."
Art. 7. Section 9 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 9. Any member of a council of the Order who, duly summoned, refrained from attending three consecutive sessions without legitimate reason, is punishable by warning or reprimand.
The serious breaches of the laws and regulations governing the Order of Veterinary Physicians, the rules of procedure, the actions or words that might impart the honesty or consideration of the College, are acts that may lead to the termination of the term of an effective member or an alternate member. This decision falls within the jurisdiction of the Board of Appeal. The Council shall be seized by a decision of the Superior Council. ".
Art. 8. Section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 10. The College's regional council shall elect a president, vice-president and secretary in his office.
Each regional council, the office of the regional council and the investigative college, as provided for in section 13, shall be assisted by a magistrate of first instance, either of the public prosecutor's office or of the office, of office, of office or of honorary, who shall be appointed by the King and having an advisory voice. The King also designates, under the same conditions, an alternate assessor."
Art. 9. In section 11 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1° in paragraph 2, the first sentence is replaced by the following: "The King completes the Superior Council by appointing in each of the veterinary faculties of the universities of Ghent and Liege an effective delegate and an alternate delegate. ";
2° Paragraph 3 is supplemented by the following:
"The delegate of the veterinary faculty of the University of Ghent sits in the Dutch Expression Section and the delegate of the veterinary faculty of the University of Liege sits in the French Expression Section. The Superior Council is assisted by the assessors of the regional councils who have an advisory voice."
3° in the Dutch text of paragraph 4, the words "voorzitters van Kamer" are replaced by the word "Kamervoorzitters";
Paragraph 6, 5°, is replaced by the following:
"5° To control the general activity of regional councils and to paste their sentences. He may charge the regional councils to instruct all matters of their jurisdiction."
5° Paragraph 6 is supplemented by the 6°, as follows:
"6° To bring to the Court of Cassation the sentences handed down by the mixed appeal councils";
6° in paragraph 7, the words ", mixed appeal councils" are deleted.
Art. 10. In section 12 of the Act, as amended by the Acts of 20 January 1961 and 15 July 1970, the following amendments are made:
1° in paragraph 1er, the words "and three veterinarians designated by lot among the members of the Council of the Regional Order whose decision is in question and excluding those who have rendered it" are replaced by the words "and three effective veterinarians elected for three years among the veterinary physicians registered for at least five years at the College's table and who are not members of the Regional Council. After their three-year term, they are immediately eligible for re-election to the Joint Appeals Board or eligible for election to the Regional Council";
2° Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
"The mixed appeal board is seized of the whole cause. The joint appeal board may increase the penalty even on the sole appeal of the veterinarian concerned. The final decisions made by the mixed appeal board may be referred to the Court of Cassation by the comparator or the Superior Council for contravention of the law or for violation of the forms either substantial or limited to nullity. ";
3° the Dutch text of paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
"In geval van cassatie, wordt de zaak teruggewezen naar de anders samengestelde gemengde raad van beroep. Dit rechtscollege voegt zich naar de uitspraak van het Hof van Cassatie wat de rechtsvragen betreft waarover dit Hof uitspraak heeft gedaan".
Art. 11. In section 13 of the Act, replaced by the Act of 26 January 1999 and amended by the Act of 10 November 2000, the following amendments are made:
1st paragraph 1er is replaced by the following:
"The Office of the Regional Council shall receive information, complaints, declarations, requests and shall, if any, designate a veterinarian from among its members or from the Regional Council who shall investigate the causes of the Office's jurisdiction";
2° paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following paragraphs:
"The minutes of conciliation or non-conciliation established, the president reports to the regional council office.
The instruction completed, the instructor reports to an investigative college composed of three members designated in and by the regional council. This college elects a president. The judge is assisted by the judge referred to in Article 10 and may designate a clerk. The College decides either, from the classification without further action, and may request the Chair of the Regional Council to address the veterinary doctor a paternal admonestation, or the appearance of the veterinary doctor before the Regional Council and to prepare the preventions.
The member or members of the board or office who have completed the training mission or who have served in the investigative college may not participate in the deliberations or disciplinary decision. ".
Art. 12. Section 14 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 14. § 1er. The sanctions available to the Order's Council are: the warning, reprimand, the suspension of the right to practise veterinary medicine for a term that cannot exceed two years and the removal of the Order's tables, leading to the final ban on the practice of veterinary medicine in Belgium.
Disciplinary sanctions are also applicable to veterinary legal persons.
When a disciplinary penalty is imposed on a veterinary legal entity, a disciplinary penalty may also be applied to natural persons listed in the College's tables whose intervention is the cause of the facts for which the legal person is disciplined.
Moral sanctions, i.e. warning and reprimand, are the subject of a breakdown after a five-year period.
The custodial penalty, i.e. the suspension of the right to practise veterinary medicine, may be erased upon request from the veterinary doctor concerned with the joint appeal board. This application can only be filed once and after a period of ten years after the suspension has ended.
Veterinary doctors who have been struck by a decision cast in force of a measure deemed to be suspended are permanently deprived of the right of eligibility except in case of deletion and, during the period of suspension, of the right to participate in the elections of the College's Council.
The actual or alternate members of the College's councils convicted by a decision cast in force of a matter deemed by the head of an offence relating to the exercise of veterinary medicine or with any disciplinary penalty shall be discharged in full right of their term.
Offences against radiation and suspension sanctions may be prosecuted by the illegal conductor of veterinary medicine.
§ 2. The College's superior council may, by an administrative decision, suspend the right to practise veterinary medicine or subordinate its continued acceptance by the person concerned of limitations imposed on it, when it is established in the opinion of medical experts appointed by the College of Veterinary Physicians' superior council, that a veterinary physician no longer collects physical or psychic skills to pursue without risk the exercise of his profession.
This veterinary doctor is not free to deliberately avoid the examination of experts. In the latter case, the College's superior council may, by unanimous decision, suspend the right to practise veterinary medicine or subordinate its continued acceptance by the interested party of the limitations it imposes during the period necessary to obtain expert advice. This period can never be more than three months, renewable as many times as necessary.
When its physical or mental inability is such that it fears serious consequences for both humans and animals, the College's superior council may, by unanimous decision, suspend the right to practise veterinary medicine or subordinate its continued acceptance by the person concerned of the limitations it imposes, for a period necessary to obtain expert advice. This period can never be more than two months, renewable as many times as necessary.
The suspension or conditional maintenance of the right to practise veterinary medicine shall end as soon as the College's superior council has finally ruled.
The administrative decisions referred to in this subsection do not apply to the veterinary corporation".
Art. 13. In article 15, paragraph 2, of the Act, the words "articles 44 to 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure" are replaced by the words "of the Judicial Code".
Art. 14. In section 16 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1° in paragraph 1er, the word "regional" is inserted between the words "counsel" and "the Order";
2° Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
"The College's Superior Council shall only deliberate validly if two thirds of its members, presided over by the designated magistrate as president in accordance with Article 11, are present. ";
3° in the Dutch text of paragraph 4, the word "getroffen" is replaced by the word "genomen".
Art. 15. In article 17, paragraph 1er, of the same law, replaced by the law of 1er March 2007, the word "regional" is inserted between the words "counsel" and "in the 30 days".
Art. 16. In Article 20 (1)er, in the same law, the word "regional" is inserted between the words "advices" and "of the Order".
Art. 17. In section 21 of the Act, the words "Members of the Councils of the Order" are replaced by the words "Without prejudice to the criminal provisions provided for in section 458 of the Criminal Code, members of the Regional Councils of the Order".
Art. 18. Section 22 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 22. Only the Superior Council acts in court. He can serve one of his members. ".
Art. 19. In section 23 of the Act, the following amendments are made:
1st paragraph 1er is replaced by the following:
"The superior council and regional councils may not own or otherwise have other buildings than those necessary for their operation. ";
2° Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
"The College's Superior Council sets out the amount of the contributions of veterinary physicians and veterinary legal persons required for the operation of the College's organs. Regional councils receive contributions from members of their respective boards."
Art. 20. Section 24 of the Act is replaced by the following:
"Art. 24. The King fixes after consultation with the Superior Council of the Order of Veterinary Doctors:
- the number of effective and alternate members to be designated for each Council of the College;
- the conditions and modalities of the elections: the forms and time limits of appeal against the elections and the authority responsible for deciding on these appeals. ".
Art. 21. In articles 1er, 3, 4, 5, 7, paragraph 3, 11, 16, 20 and 21 of the same law, the word "der" is each time replaced by the words "van de" in the Dutch text.
Art. 22. In the Dutch text of articles 5, 11, 16 and 18 of the same law, the words "veeartsenijkundig" and "veeartsenijkunde" are each replaced by the words "diergeneeskundig" and "diergeneeskunde".
Art. 23. In articles 11 and 12 of the same law, the word "regelen" is each time replaced by the word "regels" in the Dutch text.
Art. 24. In articles 11, 12 and 19 of the same law, the word "verbreking" is each time replaced by the word "cassacy" in the Dutch text.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 19 March 2014.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
The Minister of Public Health,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
Minister of Agriculture,
Mrs. S. LARUELLE
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be)
Documents: 53-186 - 3266
Full report: 13 February 2014
Senate (www.senate.be)
Documents: 5-2491
Annales of the Senate: March 11, 2014