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7 JANVIER 2014. - An Act to amend the statute of judicial officers

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER 1^er. - General provision
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER 2. - Amendments to the Judicial Code
Art. 2. Part II, Book IV, of the Judicial Code, comprising sections 509 to 555quater, is replaced by the following:
"LIVRE IV. - Judicial officers
CHAPTER I^er - Title, status, appointment,
of the oath and establishment
Art. 509. § 1^er. The judicial officers are public officials and departmental officers in the exercise of official duties assigned to them or reserved by law, decree, order or royal decree.
They give authenticity to their acts in accordance with Article 1317 of the Civil Code.
There are judicial officers in each judicial district. They are appointed to life by the King among the candidates presented according to the rules laid down in Article 515.
§ 2. A judicial officer who has resigned honorablely may bear the title of Honorary Judicial Officer, if conferred upon him by the King.
Art. 510. § 1^er. Each year, the King appoints a specified number of judicial officers.
§ 2. After receiving the opinion of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers, the King shall determine each year the number, by language, of judicial candidates to be appointed. This number is set by the King according to the number of judicial officers to be appointed, the number of previous sessions that have not yet been appointed and the need for additional judicial candidates. The linguistic role is determined by the language of the degree.
Royal order made under paragraph 1^er as well as a call to candidates are published annually to the Belgian Monitor.
§ 3. In order to be appointed as a judicial officer, the individual must:
1° be a graduate of a doctor, graduate or master in law;
2° be able to produce an extract from the criminal record whose date is after the publication of the appeal to the candidates referred to in § 2, paragraph 2;
3° be Belgian and enjoy civil and political rights;
4° be holder of the internship certificate provided for in Article 511;
5° appear on the final list referred to in Article 513, § 5.
Art. 511. § 1^er. To obtain an internship certificate, the individual must have completed an effective two-year internship not interrupted in one or more of the judicial officer-master's degree studies. The internship manager is a judicial officer who has served for at least five full years and has not incurred any high discipline.
§ 2. The internship period can only begin to run from the moment when the individual graduated from a doctor, graduate or master's degree in law.
§ 3. Do not constitute a cause of interruption, but only a cause of suspension of the internship:
1° the annual holidays of up to thirty calendar days;
2° absences due to illness justified by medical certificates and a total duration not exceeding six months during the period of the internship;
3° parental leave;
4° absences due to circumstances of force majeure allowed by the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
§ 4. The King sets out the content and modalities for organizing the internship and the number of hours of permanent training, relevant to the exercise of the profession of judicial officer, to be followed. The conditions to be met are set by the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
The duration and content of the internship shall be derived from the internship notebook prepared by the internship master(s). The internship book is prepared in two copies. A copy is provided to the trainee against receipt. The second is transmitted to the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
Upon receipt of the internship notebook and verification of its compliance with the conditions set out in this article, the National Chamber of Judicial Officers shall issue the internship certificate to the trainee.
Art. 512. § 1^er. It is established a commission to appoint French-language judicial officers and a commission to appoint Dutch-language judicial officers. These two commissions together form the appointment committees of judicial officers.
The Dutch Language Appointment Commission is competent to:
- the classification of the candidates most suitable for an appointment as a judicial officer, whose language of the degree referred to in Article 510, § 3, 1°, is Dutch;
- the classification of candidates for an appointment of judicial officer in the judicial districts where neither the French-language appointment board nor the appointment boards brought together are competent.
The French-language appointment board shall be competent to:
- the classification of the candidates most suitable for an appointment as a judicial officer, whose language of the diploma referred to in 510, § 3, 1°, is French;
- the classification of candidates for an appointment of judicial officer in the judicial districts located in the Walloon Region.
The appointing committees shall be competent to:
- the classification of candidates for an appointment of judicial officer in the Brussels judicial district;
- the drafting of the admission examination program referred to in section 513.
§ 2. Each appointing committee shall be composed of:
1° a magistrate chosen from the judges of the courts and tribunals and the magistrates of the public ministry;
2 ° three judicial officers from three different judicial districts, one of which is less than three years old at the time of his appointment;
3° a professor or lecturer with a law faculty of a Belgian university, who is not a judicial officer or a judicial officer;
4° an external member with a useful professional experience for the mission.
§ 3. The Minister of Justice appoints the members of the appointment boards.
The judicial officers are appointed upon presentation of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
Each member is designated to be a member of either of the appointing committee, according to their linguistic role. The linguistic role is determined for judicial officers, lecturers and teachers, by the language of their degree. At least one member of the French-language appointment board or an alternate must justify the knowledge of German, in accordance with Articles 45, § 2, and 43quinquies of the Law of 15 June 1935 concerning the use of languages in judicial matters.
An alternate shall be designated for each member who meets the same conditions.
A term of office within a commission of appointment is incompatible with a political mandate.
Members of an appointing committee shall serve for a term of four years; an outgoing member can be renamed once. An effective member who is unable to continue to exercise his or her mandate is replaced by his or her alternate, who completes his or her mandate. The Chairperson requested that a new alternate be appointed to complete the term of the alternate member.
§ 4. Each appointing committee shall elect, by a simple majority, a president, a vice-president and a secretary from among its effective members.
The chairing of the appointment commissions is held for a period of two years alternately by the respective chairs of the French-speaking and Dutch-speaking appointment boards. During the first two years, the presidency was entrusted to the oldest of the two.
§ 5. In order for the commission of appointment to be able to deliberate and rule validly, all its members must be present. In the event of absence or incapacity of an effective member, the alternate shall replace the member.
Decisions are made by a simple majority of votes. In the event of a parity, the vote of the chair of the appointing committee or the vice-president who replaces it is a preponderant.
§ 6. Members of an appointing committee are prohibited from participating in a deliberation or decision in which they have a personal, direct or indirect interest.
§ 7. The terms and conditions for the functioning of the appointment commissions and the attendance tokens of the members shall be fixed by the King. Appointment commissions may establish rules of procedure that must be approved by the King. Appointment commissions use a list of uniform evaluation criteria. The regulation and the list are approved by the King.
Art. 513. § 1^er. The holder of an internship certificate referred to in Article 511, who wishes to become a judicial officer, must, as soon as it is due, apply to the Minister of Justice, in accordance with the terms fixed by the King, within one month of the publication to the Belgian Monitor of the Royal Decree referred to in Article 510, § 2, paragraph 2.
In order to be admissible, each application for an appointment as a judicial officer must contain the annexes determined by the King.
§ 2. Each candidate who meets the requirements of Article 510, § 3, 1° to 4°, shall, according to his or her linguistic role, be referred to one or the other appointing commission referred to in Article 512.
Each appointing board shall assess the knowledge, maturity and practical abilities of candidates, required for the performance of the judicial officer function, and classify the candidates most suitable for their abilities and abilities. The classification is based on a contest that includes a written test and an oral test and on the basis of a review of the notices provided in § 3. Only candidates who have obtained at least 60% of the written test points are admitted to the oral test. The oral test takes place before the members of the appointing committee were able to read the opinions provided in § 3. The candidate must have obtained at least 50% of the oral test points.
The written part and the oral part are taken into account in the same proportion for the final result of the contest.
The written and oral examination programme is prepared by the appointment commissions. It is approved by the Minister of Justice by ministerial decree and published in the Belgian Monitor.
§ 3. In the noon days from the publication to the Belgian Monitor of the royal decree referred to in Article 510, § 2, the appointing commission summons the candidates admitted to the oral examination. At the same time, the appointing committee requests the Minister of Justice to obtain advice on these candidates from the district attorney in which the candidate is domiciled. These notices are the result of a survey of the candidate's environment and background.
The proceeding that was requested to render a notice shall, within forty-five days of the application, transmit this notice to the Minister of Justice, using a standard form established by the King and in accordance with the terms and conditions established by the King. In the absence of a notice within the prescribed time limit, the notice shall be deemed to be neither favourable nor unfavourable and the candidate concerned shall be informed.
§ 4. Within sixty days after the summons of the candidates to the oral test, the appointing committee shall prepare a provisional classification of the most suitable candidates based on the results obtained in the written and oral examinations.
The Minister of Justice shall promptly send the notices requested to the Chairman of the appointing committee after it has forwarded the preliminary classification.
After reviewing the notices, the appointing committee shall, within fourteen days of receiving the notices, establish the final classification of the candidates. The provisional classification may only be amended if the notice contains negative indications on the candidate concerned. The appointing committee shall send, in accordance with the terms defined by the King, the final list of candidates classified for appointment to the Minister of Justice and a substantiated record signed by the President and by the secretary of the appointing committee concerned. The appointing committee also includes the files of the classified candidates. The number of candidates classified shall not exceed the number of places of judicial candidates to be filled, as mentioned in the Royal Decree published in the Belgian Monitor, in accordance with Article 510, § 2, paragraph 2, with the appeal to the candidates for the admission contest of which it is concerned.
§ 5. In the month of the transmission of the final list of candidates classified, the King appoints interested candidates to judicial officers. These appointments are published to the Belgian Monitor.
§ 6. Each candidate may, upon written request to the appointing committee, obtain within eight days a copy of the portion of the record that concerns him or her and of the portion of the nomination.
§ 7. Within fourteen days of the publication to the Belgian Monitor, each appointing committee sends to the National Chamber of the judicial officers concerned the list of the judicial officers appointed for their inclusion in the table of the judicial officers, which the latter holds up to date.
§ 8. The judicial officer candidate in this table is subject to the authority of the professional bodies of judicial officers.
Art. 514. § 1^er. When a judicial officer no longer performs his principal professional activity in a study of judicial officer for at least six months, his registration in the table referred to in section 513, § 8, is deleted at the request of the King's Attorney or the Board of the District Court where the judicial officer is affiliated and is listed in the table. However, for serious reasons, a judicial officer may request the continuation of his registration in the table. The judicial officer candidate is heard.
The decision of the board of the borough Chamber is motivated and notified in the month to the judicial candidate. The latter may, within one month of the date of notification, lodge an appeal against this decision with the National Chamber of Judicial Officers, in accordance with the terms set by the King.
The steering committee referred to in section 555, § 2, shall hear the judicial candidate and make its decision within two months of the introduction of the appeal. The reasoned decision is notified as soon as possible to the judicial officer candidate and the board of the district board concerned.
§ 2. A judicial officer who puts an end to his work in a judicial officer's study may apply to the council of the borough board for the deletion of his registration in the table.
§ 3. A judicial candidate who, pursuant to § 1^er or § 2 has been removed from the table may at any time request its re-registration to the council of the district branch of the jurisdiction where it again exercises its principal professional activity in a study of judicial officer. The judicial officer candidate is heard. The decision of the board of the borough Chamber is motivated and notified in the month to the judicial candidate. An appeal against refusal to re-registration may be brought to the National Chamber of Judicial Officers in accordance with the rules laid down in § 1^er.
Art. 515. § 1^er. To be appointed judicial officer, the individual must be a judicial officer for at least five years. The candidate for judicial officer who applies for a vacant position of judicial officer must, as soon as he is due, apply, in accordance with the terms defined by the King, to the Minister of Justice within one month of the publication to the Belgian Monitor of the vacant position. Annexes determined by the King must be attached to this nomination.
The vacancy is published no later than twelve months before it occurs.
§ 2. Before the appointment is made, the Minister of Justice shall request, within forty-five days from the date of the publication to the Belgian Monitor of the vacant position, the written notice of the candidates:
1° to the Crown Prosecutor of the borough in which the candidate is domiciled, the notice given being the result of an investigation into the environment in which the candidate evolves and the background of the candidate;
2° to the council of the board of the court bailiffs of the judicial district in which the candidate practises or last exercised his professional activity as judicial officer.
The King defines the conditions of form and content to which the advice of the council of the borough chamber must satisfy.
In the non-ante days from the above-mentioned publication to the Belgian Monitor, the notices must be forwarded to the Minister of Justice, in accordance with the terms defined by the King, and a copy, by registered mail, to the candidates concerned. A copy of the evidence of this recommended consignment is sent to the Minister of Justice as defined by the King. In the absence of a notice within the prescribed time limit or in the absence of the use of the standard form, the notice shall be deemed to be neither favourable nor unfavourable and the candidate concerned shall be informed.
Within a period of one hundred days from the date of such publication to the Belgian Monitor or no later than fifteen days from the date of notification of notice, candidates may transmit, by registered mail, their comments to the proceeding that rendered the notice and to the Minister of Justice.
§ 3. The Minister of Justice shall, no later than 30 days after the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 2, paragraph 4, transmit to the competent appointing board a nomination file for each candidate.
This appointment file includes:
1° the application and its annexes referred to in § 1^er;
2° written notices and any observations referred to in § 2, paragraph 4.
§ 4. The appointing committee hears the candidates and then sets out a ranking of the three most suitable candidates. If the appointment board is required to render a notice of less than three candidates, the list is limited to the only candidate or the only two candidates.
The classification is based on criteria for the ability and suitability of candidates for the exercise of the function of judicial officer.
§ 5. The classification is the subject of a substantiated record signed by the president and the secretary of the appointment board. If a candidate is categorized first by unanimous vote, it is mentioned.
Within thirty days of the expiry of the period referred to in § 3, the chair of the appointing board shall send the list of candidates classified and the record to the Minister of Justice and a copy of the list to the candidates classified. The King appoints the judicial officer on the proposal of the Minister of Justice among the candidates classified by the appointing committee.
Any candidate who has not been appointed may, upon written request addressed to the appointing committee, consult and obtain a copy of the portion of the record relating to him or her and the portion of the nominee.
§ 6. Members of an appointment board shall be held incommunicado. Article 458 of the Criminal Code applies to them.
Art. 516. The judicial borough in which the judicial officer will act and be required to establish his study is determined by the Royal Appointment Order.
The judicial officer prepares his study in the municipality designated by the Minister of Justice. This designation may be amended at the request of the interested party.
The judicial officer can only act in the judicial district determined by the royal appointment order.
The provisions relating to territorial jurisdiction provided for in Article 633, § 2, apply by analogy to judicial officers.
The judicial officers who have their studies in the cantons of Limburg-Aubel, Malmédy-Spa-Stavelot, Verviers-Herve and Verviers or in the judicial district of Eupen can draw up all exploits in these territorial districts. The judicial officers who have their residence in the cantons of Limburg-Aubel, Malmedy-Spa-Stavelot, Verviers-Herve and Verviers, and who wish to instrument in the judicial district of Eupen, however, must demonstrate their knowledge of the German language, in accordance with the provisions of article 2 of the royal decree of 29 November 1993 determining the conditions of candidates
Art. 517. § 1^er. The judicial officer shall be present in the month following the notification made to him of the appointment order, at the public hearing of the court of first instance of the judicial district in which he shall act; He took an oath of fidelity to the King and of obedience to the Constitution and laws of the Belgian people, as well as to comply with the laws and regulations concerning his ministry and to perform his duties with accuracy and probity.
§ 2. Immediately after his oath, the judicial officer shall file his signature and paraphrase with the Registry and with the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
§ 3. The judicial officer shall not make any act before it is satisfied with the provisions of §§ 1^er and 2.
Art. 518. The King sets out the number of judicial officers by judicial district after taking the advice of the Attorney General near the Court of Appeal, the Crown Prosecutor and the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
The number of judicial officers appointed by the King does not include those who have exceeded the age of 70.
If the number of judicial officers in office exceeds the number of judicial officers arrested by the King, the reduction to the latter number only occurs by death, resignation or dismissal.
CHAPTER II. - Missions and competencies of the judicial officer
Art. 519. § 1^er. The judicial officers are responsible for missions for which they are solely competent and in relation to which they are required to exercise their ministry.
These missions are:
1° to establish and serve all exploits and to enforce judicial decisions and all acts or titles in enforceable form;
2° to make, at the request of magistrates, and at the request of individuals, purely material findings, exclusive of any opinion on the causes and consequences of fact or law that may result, as well as the findings required by the legal missions they perform; these findings are authentic with respect to the material facts and data that the judicial officer can see by sensory perception;
3° Protest against a letter of exchange, a promissory note and a bank cheque;
4° the public sale of movable goods and ships in the context of forced execution;
5° the judicial sale to amicable of movable property in accordance with Article 1526bis;
6° the voluntary public sales of movable goods, a monopoly they share with the notaries;
7th take note of notices of opposition, command, seizure, delegation, assignment, collective settlement of debt and protest, monopoly they share with the persons mentioned in Article 1391, § 1^er;
8° file, delete and amend notices of opposition, command, seizure, delegation, assignment, collective settlement of debt and prostrate in the missions entrusted to them or in which they were appointed.
§ 2. Judicial officers have residual skills for which they do not have a monopoly or obligation to exercise their ministry, including:
1° to lift the shipments, copies and excerpts of all trial documents to the registry and to introduce the requests that the law allows them to sign, and to file any other requests to the registry;
2° certify the conformity of copies and translations of documents in their possession;
3° to write extracts of all acts from their ministry;
4° intervene as a sequester;
5° ensure amicable debt recovery;
6° intervene as liquidator;
7° to be committed as a business mediator or legal agent under the Act of 31 January 2009 on business continuity;
8° exercising the judicial mandate of a provisional administrator;
9° carry out furniture and household effects and provide assistance to curators with regard to the inventory and realization of bankruptcy;
10° intervene as an amicable debt mediator and as a debt mediator within the framework of the collective debt settlement;
11° intervene as a family mediator and as a mediator in the context of alternative dispute resolution;
12° intervene as a curator of vacant successions;
13° render legal advice concerning the rights, obligations and charges arising from legal acts involving judicial officers;
14° conduct solvency investigations, establish and issue heritage reports;
15° issue tax certificates on uncollectable claims;
16° monitor authorized lotteries and contests.
§ 3. The judicial officer has a general duty of information to the appellant and to the debtor. Thus, in the event of a debtor's insolvency risk, the debtor will inform the creditor in order to allow the debtor to properly assess the opportunity to carry out enforcement measures and will inform the debtor of the possibilities offered by the collective debt settlement.
The judicial officer shall, where appropriate, inform each applicant of the obligations and charges and the costs arising from the exploits, executions of judicial decisions, acts or titles.
Art. 520. § 1^er. Judicial officers are required to exercise their ministry in the context of monopoly missions referred to in Article 519, § 1^er, whenever required and for all applicants except:
1° if there are legal obstacles;
2° if their personal situation does not reasonably require that of them;
3° if the appellant is not willing to pay the provision required for the performance of the act in the performance of their duties, if the deadlines are exceeded, if the legal act cannot reasonably be completed within the specified time limit or if the record is incomplete;
4° if the judicial officer considers that the mission is contrary to public order or good morals or would disproportionately harm the interests of one of the parties concerned.
§ 2. With respect to all of their missions, judicial officers may not act against themselves or for themselves, their spouse or partner with whom they cohabit, or against or for their direct-line parents and allies or those of their spouse or partner with whom they cohabit, or against or for their collateral parents and allies to the fourth degree or those of their spouse or partner with whom they cohabit.
§ 3. With respect to all of their missions, judicial officers may not act against or for a legal person in respect of which they know or were supposed to know that the persons referred to in § 2 hold the majority of the shares or perform the functions of manager, delegate to the daily management or president of the board of directors.
§ 4. The acts performed in the performance of their duties in violation of § 2 are null and void; the acts performed in the performance of their duties in violation of § 3 may be cancelled.
CHAPTER III. - Incompatibility
Art. 521. It is prohibited for any judicial officer and any judicial officer candidate to exercise, himself or by an interposed person, any other profession, except for teaching or research missions as assistant, lecturer, teacher or author.
The Attorney General near the Court of Appeal may, in special cases, after taking the advice of the Crown Prosecutor and the Board of the District Court, authorize the judicial officer or the judicial officer candidate to be a director of a commercial corporation without however being allowed to be manager, managing director or liquidator.
CHAPTER IV. - Tariff, accounting, third-party funds and quality account
Art. 522. § 1^er. The King sets the tariff for all acts and official missions of judicial officers. When the tariff is not set by the King, the National Chamber of Judicial Officers may impose a minimum tariff.
The judicial officers must mention on the original and on each copy of their acts the amounts charged and the details of all the positions of the total compensation.
§ 2. The judicial officers have an obligation to hold an accounting whose model is fixed by the King.
In cases where judicial officers practise their profession in association, in the form of a society or not, only one accounting is held.
Art. 522/1. § 1^er. Every judicial officer distinguishes between his own funds and third-party funds.
Funds received by judicial officers in the exercise of their profession for the benefit of clients or third parties are paid on one or more accounts opened to their name or in the name of their legal officer company, with mention of their quality or quality. These accounts are open in accordance with the rules to be established by the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
The judicial officer handles the funds of clients or third parties through this account. It always asks customers and third parties to pay exclusively on this account.
This account is managed exclusively by the judicial officer, without prejudice to the additional rules regarding the handling of client funds or third parties established by the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
§ 2. The accounts referred to in § 1^er include third party accounts and rubricated accounts.
The third party account is a global account on which funds are received or managed that must be transferred to customers or third parties.
The rubricized account is an individualized account opened in a specific folder or for a specific client.
§ 3. The third party account and the rubricized account are accounts that are open to an institution approved by the National Bank of Belgium on the basis of the Act of 22 March 1993 on the Status and Control of Credit Institutions or the Caisse des dépots et consignations and which meet at least the following conditions:
1° the third party account and the rubricized account can never be debited;
2° no credit, in any form, may be made on a third party account or on a rubricized account; they can never serve as a security;
3° any compensation, merger, or stipulation of an account between the third party account, the rubricized account and other bank accounts is excluded; no netting agreement may apply to these accounts. The National Chamber of Judicial Officers may establish additional rules regarding the handling of client funds or third parties.
§ 4. Except in exceptional circumstances, the judicial officer shall transfer the funds received on his third-party account as soon as possible.
If, for substantiated reasons, the judicial officer cannot transfer the funds to the recipient within the time limit set out in the National Chamber of Judicial Officers' Regulations and, at the latest, within two months of receiving the funds, he pays them on a rubricized account.
Without prejudice to the application of mandatory legal rules, paragraph 2 is not applicable where the total of the funds received either on behalf of the same person or on the occasion of the same transaction or on file does not exceed 2.500 euros. The King can adapt this amount every two years taking into account the economic situation. This adaptation comes into force on 1^er January of the year following the publication of the adaptation order.
§ 5. The National Chamber of Judicial Officers introduces and organizes a decisive control regime at least by which, on what, when and how control is exercised with respect to the provisions of § 1^er 4. This control regime specifically determines the sanctions and measures that may be taken in the event of an offence. It does not prejudice other legal provisions that provide for control of the funds deposited on the accounts referred to in § 2.
§ 6. The judicial officer shall pay in the Fund all deposits and consignations, regardless of the amount, that have not been claimed by the person entitled or have not been paid to him within two years of the closing of the record in which they were received by the judicial officer. The deadline is suspended as long as these amounts are subject to judicial proceedings.
These deposits are registered on behalf of the entitled person designated by the judicial officer. The Caisse des dépôts et consignations shall be held at the disposal of the person entitled until the expiry of the period referred to in section 25 of Royal Decree No. 150 of 18 March 1935, which shall coordinate the laws relating to the organization and operation of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations and make amendments thereto under the Act of 31 July 1934.
Art. 522/2. § 1^er. The titles and values of the bearer entrusted to the judicial officer on the occasion of a particular case are, within the time limit provided by the regulations of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers and, at the latest, within three months, deposited uncovered, under a separate section open to an institution approved by the National Bank of Belgium on the basis of the law of 22 March 1993 relating to the status and control of the credit institutions,
§ 2. They shall be transmitted to the Caisse of deposits and consignations by the judicial officer, in accordance with Article 5 of the ministerial order of execution of Royal Decree No. 150 of 18 March 1935 coordinating the laws relating to the organization and operation of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations and making amendments thereto under the law of 31 July 1934, all titles and values to the holder who are not
These deposits are registered on behalf of the entitled person designated by the judicial officer. Without prejudice to Article 4, paragraph 1^er, of the Act of 14 December 2005 deleting titles to the holder, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations shall make such deposits available to the holder until the expiry of the period provided for in article 26 of Royal Decree No. 150 of 18 March 1935.
CHAPTER V. - The continuity of public service, the continuation of activity, the transmission of records and other elements of the study of a judicial officer
Art. 523. § 1^er. If a judicial officer dies or resigns without notice, the District Attorney shall designate, in consultation with the Council of the District Chamber and not later than ten days after the death or resignation, a judicial officer candidate as a judicial officer acting.
If the deceased or resigned judicial officer is part of an association of several judicial officers, it is not designated, by derogation from the preceding paragraph, of a judicial officer acting. Continuity is ensured by the other partner or other partners.
In the event of an association between a incumbent judicial officer and a judicial officer candidate, the associate judicial officer candidate is, if any, designated as a judicial officer acting.
If it is a non-associated judicial officer, the judicial officer nominee appointed as a functioning judicial officer will be the one who, at the time of death or resignation, has worked for the longest time as a judicial officer in the study.
§ 2. If a judicial officer is removed or a suspension is pronounced in respect of the Crown, the territorially competent prosecutor shall, in consultation with the council of the borough chamber and not later than ten days after the dismissal or suspension, a judicial officer or a judicial officer who shall be held as a judicial officer acting.
§ 3. The functioning judicial officer is responsible for the overall management and maintenance of the study, performs the administrative acts required to ensure continuity of the study, keeps the directories up-to-date and assumes all the functions of the judicial officer replaced during the suspension period or, where applicable, until the swearing-in of the newly appointed judicial officer under the supervision of the trustee.
The King defines the terms and conditions for the retribution of the judicial officer acting and the counting between the substituted judicial officer or his successors, the judicial officer acting and, where applicable, the newly appointed judicial officer after his oath.
§ 4. A functioning judicial officer has the same rights and obligations as a incumbent judicial officer.
In any professional act, the functioning judicial officer mentions his quality and the identity and place of establishment of the judicial officer he replaces.
Art. 524. § 1^er. The judicial officer who is appointed to succeed a deceased, destitute or resigned judicial officer shall, in full right, take up these obligations of the judicial officer to whom he succeeds, as long as they exist or are maintained those obligations that result from the contracts of work and leases, contracts of supply, renting and current financing. All debts that do not result from contracts of work and leases, contracts of supply, renting and current financial lease cannot be transferred.
The successor is obligatoryly resuming, at his book value, the infrastructure of the study, such as tangible property, software, equipment, ICTs, which belongs to the judicial officer to whom he succeeds. Real property is excluded.
Where applicable, the successor takes over the quality accounts of the judicial officer to whom he succeeds.
§ 2. The King specifies the terms and conditions for the recovery of leases, supply contracts, renting and leasing and the infrastructure of the study referred to in § 1^er and sets out the rules of communication to judicial candidates of the obligations referred to in § 1^er and the infrastructure of the study and the amount of the allowance.
The obligations or infrastructure of the study that are not included in the communication referred to in paragraph 1 cannot be transferred.
Art. 525. Where applicable, minutes, directories, large files, filings, execution files and all current missions shall be transmitted immediately, pursuant to section 524, by the judicial officer replaced or by his or her heirs, to the judicial officer appointed as replacement.
The judicial officer appointed as a replacement shall be in full charge of judicial missions for which his predecessor was appointed by judicial decision, without prejudice to the power of the court to appoint another judicial officer at the request of a party concerned or the Crown Prosecutor.
CHAPTER VI. - Of the mercy
Art. 526. A judicial officer may be replaced by an alternate judicial officer in the following cases:
1° force majeure;
2° leave, with a maximum of 60 calendar days per year;
3° organization of the study or recycling.
Except in the event of a major force, the appeals by an alternate judicial officer shall be limited to a maximum of 180 calendar days per year.
Art. 527. The substitute court officer must appear on the panel of judicial candidates and is appointed by the King's Prosecutor. He may exercise his or her office only after having fulfilled the conditions set out in section 517.
During the period of his suppleance, he enjoys the same rights and prerogatives, has the same powers, assumes the same obligations and is subject to the same discipline as the judicial officer he pleaded.
Art. 528. The petition for the purpose of pleading by a judicial officer candidate is addressed to the King's Prosecutor, to the intervention of the borough Chamber trustee.
The judicial officer attached to his application the declaration of the substitute judicial officer by which he accepts the plea and indicates in his application the reason why he requests to be replaced.
If the judicial officer fails to submit the request for a plea by an alternate judicial officer or is not in a position to do so, or if the King's prosecutor refuses to grant the plea, the application is made by the syndic to the president of the court of first instance who decides on the conclusions of the public ministry, the judicial officer and his trustee heard or called.
Art. 529. § 1^er. The decision sets the time limit for which the plea will be exercised. It may be reported at any time, either at the request of the court bailiff or the judicial officer-suppleant, or at the request of the court officer.
The duration of the appeal may be extended by the Crown Prosecutor or, as the case may be, by the President of the Court of First Instance.
§ 2. The judicial officer and the alternate judicial officer shall record on the day, in an ad-hoc register opened on behalf of the judicial officer in the National Chamber, the days when the judicial officer is replaced and the reason for the replacement, as well as the identity of the alternate judicial officer who is responsible for the replacement. This registry may be held electronically.
The King defines the procedure for consulting the registry.
Art. 530. Under penalty of disciplinary sanctions, the judicial officer is prohibited from exercising his official duties during the period of the plea.
An alternate who performs an act under the Ministry of the Judicial Officer after the expiry of the term prescribed is liable to penalties provided for in section 262 of the Criminal Code.
Failure to comply with these prohibitions does not result in the invalidity of the act concerned.
Art. 531. The oath taken by the substitute judicial officer is valid for all subsequent pleas.
Art. 532. The substitute judicial officer appointed under section 526 shall maintain, for the duration of the plea, the directories of the judicial officer that he or she begged.
In all acts that he signs, the substitute judicial officer mentions his status as an alternate and the name of the judicial officer he begged.
CHAPTER VII. - Discipline
Section I^re. - Disciplinary penalties
Art. 533. § 1^er. Any judicial officer or judicial officer who, by his behaviour, violates the dignity of the body of judicial officers or who fails to perform his duties may be subject to disciplinary penalties provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3.
§ 2. Minor disciplinary penalties are:
1° in respect of judicial officers and judicial officers:
(a) the order reminder;
(b) blame;
(c) a disciplinary fine of 250 to 5,000 euros that is paid to the Treasury;
(d) the exclusion of the general assembly and board of the borough, general assembly and steering committee of the National Chamber, disciplinary board and appointment board for up to five years, the first time, and ten years, in the event of recidivism.
The president of the court of first instance of the judicial district in which the person concerned lastly exercises or exercised his professional activities declares enforceable the disciplinary decision imposing a fine, on a unilateral request of the disciplinary commission represented by his president.
Disciplinary fines can be imposed at the same time as another penalty.
2° in respect of judicial candidates, the prohibition of making pleas for a maximum period of six months, the first time, and twelve months, in the event of recidivism.
§ 3. High discipline penalties are:
1° in respect of judicial officers and judicial officers:
(a) a disciplinary fine of more than 5,000 to 25,000 euros that is paid to the Treasury;
(b) suspension;
(c) dismissal.
2° in respect of candidates- judicial officers, the prohibition of making pleas for a period of more than twelve months that can go to life.
Disciplinary fines can be imposed at the same time as another penalty.
Section II. - Disciplinary proceedings
Disciplinary Committee
Art. 534. § 1^er. There is a disciplinary commission within the jurisdiction of each court of appeal. Its seat is established at the place where the court of appeal has its seat. The commission may sit on the head of each judicial district in the competent jurisdiction. The Disciplinary Commission is competent to investigate complaints against judicial officers and judicial officers in the districts of their jurisdiction. The Brussels disciplinary committee consists of a French-speaking room and a Dutch-speaking room.
When a complaint is filed against a judicial officer or a judicial officer in the Brussels judicial district, the language in which the disciplinary proceedings are based is determined by the linguistic role of the judicial officer or the judicial officer in question.
Each disciplinary commission is composed of four members, including a magistrate who chairs the commission, two judicial officers and an external member who has relevant professional experience in this matter.
§ 2. The first president of the Court of Appeal shall annually designate a magistrate as a judge of the seat of the courts and tribunals and shall immediately notify the Minister of Justice.
The National Chamber of Judicial Officers shall elect for each disciplinary committee a pool of at least ten judicial officers for a term of four years. These judicial officers are re-elected and come from at least three different districts. The National Chamber shall communicate the list of these pools within fifteen days to the Minister of Justice.
The King determines a pool of at least three external members for each disciplinary committee and sets out the terms and conditions for that designation and the conditions to which these members must meet.
The Minister of Justice publishes to the Belgian Monitor the pool of elected judicial officers and external members.
§ 3. For each disciplinary case, the chair of the disciplinary commission composed the commission by drawing from the pool of elected judicial officers and the pool of external members. He also designates, among the pool of judicial officers, a non-recusable secretary-general who does not participate in debate and deliberation.
In order to compose the commission, the chair ensures that the designated judicial officers do not have their study in the judicial district where the member concerned has his or her study or has provided the plea concerned.
§ 4. The King determines the presence tokens of the members of the committees.
Art. 535. The Board of the Board of the Judicial Officers hears disciplinary cases at the intervention of the syndic, either on its own or on a complaint, or on the written denunciations of the Crown Prosecutor or the Rapporteur of the National Chamber.
Art. 536. The member concerned is informed by the trustee, by registered mail, in the month following the knowledge of the fact by the trustee. This letter is signed by the syndic and sent by the secretary, who takes note of it. It describes the fact that the interested person is questioned and informs the person of the place and the hours in which he or she may be aware of the file.
The interested person may make his remarks verbally or in writing and ask to be heard. The trustee may intercede and attempt to reconcile the parties. The competent rapporteur instructed the file and drafted a report.
Art. 537. § 1^er. If the Board considers that the fact is a disciplinary proceeding, it shall forward the file to the disciplinary board.
§ 2. If the Board considers that the fact does not result in disciplinary proceedings, a reasoned decision is established. The board shall communicate its decision by registered mail to the complainant, if the referral of the board was the result of a complaint, to the interested party and to the competent king's attorney and to the rapporteur of the National Chamber. The procurator of the competent King is the head of the judicial district where the judicial officer concerned has his residence.
If the complainant cannot acquiesce in the decision under paragraph 1^er, it is permissible for him to ask the trustee, within fifteen days of the recommended sending of the decision, to submit the file to the disciplinary board for the investigation of the complaint.
The King's Prosecutor or the National Chamber's Rapporteur may request a referral to the Disciplinary Committee within fifteen days of the decision being sent.
Art. 538. The Secretary of the Disciplinary Board quotes the member in question before the Board. In the summons, he mentions the fact that the member is being questioned, as well as the place and times when the member is aware of the file. It also indicates the composition of the disciplinary commission. A copy of this summons is sent at the same time to the competent King's Prosecutor. The member may be assisted by a judicial officer or a lawyer. The member involved and the King's Prosecutor may request, no later than fifteen days after the summons, that witnesses be called by the disciplinary committee at the meeting for the proceedings. They may also file supporting documents within the same timeframe.
The disciplinary committee may convene, to be heard, members of the board who are parties to the case and interested third parties who have expressed their wish. Each of them can be assisted by a judicial officer or a lawyer.
The disciplinary committee may hear the rapporteur or a member of the board of the district concerned. It may also call on the judicial officers concerned.
Art. 539. The member in question may, for the reasons set out in section 828, exercise his right of recusal against each member of the disciplinary committee who is called to rule on him.
In order to do so, he shall, within eight days of the summons, issue a letter to the chair of the disciplinary commission concerned, mentioning the name of the member(s) he wishes to challenge, and the reasons for the objection.
The Disciplinary Commission shall decide, within fifteen days of the receipt of the letter, on the merits of the recusal and on any action to be given to it. Les membres récusés ne participer ni au vote. They are replaced by eligible members drawn by lot.
The secretary shall notify the decision, by registered mail, of the member involved within fifteen days of the decision. This decision is not subject to appeal.
Art. 540. The session devoted to the proceedings shall be decided by the disciplinary committee within a period of not less than fifteen days after the date fixed for the appearance of the member in question before that committee. In the event of a recussion, this period is extended to 30 days.
The Disciplinary Commission examines cases in public hearings. However, the person concerned may ask the disciplinary committee to examine the matter in camera. The disciplinary committee shall grant this request, unless it considers that the general interest is opposed to it. The disciplinary committee may also sit in private for the whole or part of the proceedings, in the interest of morality or public order, where the interests of minors or the protection of the privacy of the member involved or of third parties require it, or to the extent deemed strictly necessary by the disciplinary commission in certain circumstances, in the event that the advertisement would be in a manner that would affect the proper administration of justice.
The complainant or his lawyer and the King's Attorney are heard at the hearing if they apply.
At this hearing, the member concerned has the right, himself or by the voice of the person referred to in section 538, paragraph 1^er, who kills him, to expose his defences. Witnesses summoned may be questioned both by the member involved and by the disciplinary committee.
Art. 541. When the disciplinary board considers that there may be indications that the judicial officer or the substitute court officer has performed procedural or other acts that have resulted in unnecessary costs, the secretary of the disciplinary board shall file the disciplinary file with the court of competent seizures. The latter sets the day and time of the instruction, after hearing the respondent member, the complainant and any other interested persons, summoned by the clerk.
Art. 542. The disciplinary committee shall make its decision by secret ballot, by an absolute majority. It may impose disciplinary sanctions under Article 533, § 2.
The decision is made in public hearings during the closing of the proceedings.
The decision is motivated, recorded in the register for this purpose and signed by members on a minute during the session itself.
Each decision mentions the names of the members present.
Art. 543. Within fifteen days of the decision, the decision shall be notified, by registered mail, to the member concerned and to the procurator of the competent King.
The notice of the decision to the member concerned refers to the possibility of appeal, as provided for in Article 544, and the time limit within which the appeal may be appealed.
A copy of the decision and file is forwarded to the borough Chamber trustee who has referred the case to the disciplinary committee.
A member of the borough board who has referred the case to the disciplinary board or the chair of the disciplinary board may provide the complainant verbally or in writing, if the complainant so requests, the information that he considers appropriate with respect to the decision taken and the remedies available to him.
The records of the disciplinary commission are kept in the National Chamber.
Art. 544. The decision of the disciplinary board is subject to appeal, in the month of its notification, to the court of first instance of the court of the jurisdiction in which the person concerned has his residence. The appeal is open to the member concerned, to the rapporteur of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers and to the Crown Prosecutor. He's suspensive.
The court before it shall finalize its decision in public hearing.
It may only inflict the penalties provided for in Article 533, § 2, or pay the member involved.
Section III. - Disciplinary proceedings
Civil Court
Art. 545. The Crown Attorney or Disciplinary Board may bring a case before the Court of First Instance if they consider that a complaint warrants a high-disciplinary sentence, unless the Disciplinary Board has already issued a disciplinary sentence for the same facts.
The competent court of first instance is seized by the summons of the member in question, served on the request of the King's Prosecutor or the disciplinary commission represented by his president.
The summons that is served at the request of the disciplinary commission is denounced to the procurator of the competent King. The summons to appear before the court defers the disciplinary commission.
The competent court is that of the judicial district where the member in question has his or her residence, or lastly performs or exercises his or her professional activities.
Art. 546. § 1^er. The court may impose disciplinary penalties under section 533.
§ 2. The decision of the court of first instance is subject to appeal to the court of appeal. The appeal has a suspensive effect, without prejudice to the application of Article 548, § 4.
§ 3. If the court pronounced the suspension, the person concerned shall no longer perform any administrative acts during the period of the suspension. In the event of an offence under this provision, section 262 of the Criminal Code is applicable.
During the period of the suspension, he cannot attend the meetings of the chambers of judicial officers and he cannot be elected a member of the board of judicial officers. If the person concerned has already been elected to one of the above-mentioned functions, he or she may not exercise it for the duration of the suspension and he or she must be replaced for that period.
Any judicial officer or judicial officer shall cease the exercise of his or her profession, barely of all damages and, if any, other convictions provided by law, which are directed against the destituted officials who continue to perform their duties.
The provisions of subparagraphs 1^er to 3 are applicable as soon as the decision making the disciplinary penalty is final.
Art. 547. Judicial officers and substitute judicial officers may not adjugate themselves or their society, either directly or indirectly, the movable property entrusted to them for sale.
Any contravention of this provision shall be punished by a three-month suspension and a fine of two hundred and fifty euros for each item purchased, without prejudice to the application of criminal laws.
Recidivism always leads to dismissal. The King may adapt the amount referred to in paragraph 2.
Section IV. - Preventive suspension
Art. 548. § 1^er. A judicial officer or a judicial officer who is the subject of a criminal prosecution or disciplinary proceeding because of acts that are punishable by high discipline may be suspended preventively, in accordance with the terms set out in paragraphs 2 and 3.
The person concerned is referred to the president of the competent court of first instance, either by the disciplinary commission represented by his president or by the King's Prosecutor. In the latter case, the president of the court of first instance seeks the advice of the disciplinary committee. If the summons is presented at the request of the disciplinary commission, denunciation is made to the competent King's Prosecutor.
If there are serious presumptions of the merits of the alleged facts and if there is a clear danger that the continuation of the exercise of its professional activity is likely to cause serious harm to third parties or to cause a noticeable violation of the dignity of the body of judicial officers, the judicial officer or judicial officer concerned may be pre-trially suspended by the president of the competent court of first instance for the purpose The order is enforceable on a minute as soon as it is pronounced, notwithstanding any opposition or appeal.
§ 2. Any judicial officer or candidate- judicial officer may be suspended similar to that provided in § 1^er by the president of the court of first instance, even before a disciplinary or criminal procedure has been instituted against him, if it results from complaints that there is a clear danger that the continued exercise of his professional activity is likely to cause serious harm to third parties or to make a noticeable violation of the dignity of the body of judicial officers. The action is introduced in the manner defined in § 1^er. The measure can only be imposed for a maximum of one month. The order is enforceable on a minute as soon as it is pronounced, notwithstanding any opposition or appeal.
§ 3. The measure may be waived at any time by the president of the competent court of first instance, upon request of the King's prosecutor, the board of the board of the judicial officers or the interested party.
§ 4. For the duration of this measure, the judicial officer or the judicial officer who is temporarily suspended may not perform his duties.
§ 5. Section 262 of the Criminal Code applies to the judicial officer or to the judicial officer who is subject to a preventive suspension measure.
CHAPTER VIII. - Borough rooms
of judicial officers
Art. 549. § 1^er. Each borough chamber is organized by a division of the court or by the court of the judicial district. It is composed of judicial officers and judicial candidates with their territory of activity near the division or near the court. She has the legal personality. Judiciary candidates join the borough branch office where they operate mainly.
However, there is only one common borough room in Verviers and Eupen. She has the title "bedroom of Verviers and Eupen", and has her seat in Verviers. It is composed of judicial officers and judicial candidates from the Eupen district and the cantons of Limburg-Aubel, Malmedy-Spa-Stavelot, Verviers-Herve and Verviers. She has the legal personality. For the purposes of § 2, their number of judicial officers is common.
§ 2. The borough is administered by a council, whose number of members is fixed, depending on the number of judicial officers in each borough, determined by Royal Decree, as follows:
1° nine, in their territory of activity which counts more than fifty judicial officers;
2° 7 in their territory of activity where the number of judicial officers is thirty to fifty;
3° 5 in their territory of activity where the number of judicial officers is greater than ten and less than thirty;
4° four, in their territory of activity where the number of judicial officers is five to ten;
5° a unit less than the total number of judicial officers provided for in the district, where the number is four or less.
Art. 550. The General Assembly of the Borrowing Chamber of the Judicial Officers is responsible for:
1° to elect a council within it;
2° fixing each year the budget and approving the accounts submitted to it by the board;
3° to establish each year the dependant contribution of the members of the board;
4° to draft a rules of procedure and to enact the practical rules of professional practice that must be respected by its members. In this regard, it cannot prejudice the jurisdiction of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
Decisions shall be taken by an absolute majority of the members present.
Art. 551. § 1^er. The members of the council of the borough chamber are elected annually by the general assembly convened and chaired by the syndic.
§ 2. The council of the borough chamber is composed of the trustee, the rapporteur, the treasurer, the secretary and members of the ordinary council, within the limits of Article 549, § 2. The trustee, the rapporteur, the treasurer and the secretary are elected from among the judicial officers. The other members of the Council are elected from all members of the General Assembly, on the understanding that at least one member of the Council must be a judicial officer candidate, and that the judicial officer candidates may not form the majority of the members of the Council.
When the number of members of the borough Chamber is less than four, the functions of secretary and treasurer may be accumulated.
§ 3. The election of members of the council of the borough chamber shall be by secret ballot. It takes place every year in June.
The Council was first formed, without the attribution of functions.
Then, by special ballots, the election of the syndic, the rapporteur, the secretary and the treasurer.
If, in the first ballot, no candidate meets the majority of the votes of the members present, a new ballot shall be taken between the two candidates who obtained the most votes; in the event of parity of the vote, the oldest nominee is preferred.
All elections shall be by an absolute majority of the votes of the members present.
§ 4. Council members take office on 1^er September.
Outgoing members may be re-elected, without a member serving more than three years without interruption on the board.
§ 5. The council shall meet at least once a month, at the convocation of the trustee.
An extraordinary assembly shall be convened by the syndic when he deems it appropriate, at the motivated request of two other members, or at the request of the president of the court of first instance or the Crown Prosecutor.
Art. 552. § 1^er. The board of the borough room is charged:
1° to ensure the maintenance of order and discipline among the judicial officers and the (candidates-) substitutes of justice of the borough, as well as the enforcement of laws, decrees and regulations concerning them;
2° to prevent or reconcile any disputes that may arise between judicial officers and substitute judicial officers in respect of their rights, duties and duties;
3° to prevent or, if possible, to reconcile any third party complaints and claims against members of the board with respect to the exercise of their profession;
4° to examine the complaints submitted to him and, if necessary, to refer them to the disciplinary committee;
5° ensure the proper application of the tariff, the accounting, the rubricated accounts of studies and the transfer of funds from third parties;
6° to control, in parallel with the National Chamber, the correct application of the system of suppleances by its members;
7° to advise on the disputes concerning the payment of fees and the costs of the members of the board;
8° to establish the role of judicial officers responsible for the meaning of acts in law enforcement;
9° to give its opinion whenever it is required by the courts and tribunals, by the Attorney General or by the King's Prosecutor, in particular regarding any disputes that may arise, either between judicial officers or between them and their constituents, or any complaints or claims relating to misconduct or negligence committed by judicial officers or substitute judicial officers in the performance of their duties;
10° to collect from its members the contributions voted by the General Assembly, if necessary by means of a constraint referred to in 555;
11° to manage the funds of the chamber and, in the agreement of the Chamber, to dispose of it as a solidarity fund for the benefit of judicial officers or legal officers, of judicial candidates, of their widows or widows and orphans;
12° to manage or control the sales room of judicial officers and to fix the radius in which the use of this room is mandatory;
13° to execute the decisions of the general assembly of the borough chamber;
14° to represent the chamber in all matters relating to the rights and common interests of its members in respect of any power and institution, both in court and in the public and private spheres.
§ 2. The board maintains a table for each of the borough room membership categories. This table is also electronically maintained with the National Chamber in accordance with Article 555/1, 15°.
Each amendment to the table is communicated immediately to the National Chamber of Judicial Officers. The court advises the Minister of Justice within fifteen days.
Art. 553. § 1^er. The trustee presides over the council and exercises the police of the council.
He proposed deliberation topics, proceeded with the counting of votes and pronounced the result.
He directs all actions and proceedings to be carried out by counsel and acts in all cases on his or her behalf, in accordance with his or her deliberation.
He is the only person authorized to correspond, on behalf of the borough chamber and the council, with the president of the courts, the Attorney General and the King's Prosecutor, unless his delegation was given to the rapporteur for reasons of incapacity.
§ 2. The rapporteur examines the complaints. It collects facts, may hear the parties and reports to the board. He may submit to the board the facts that are liable to a disciplinary penalty.
It replaces the trustee when the trustee is absent or prevented.
In cases where it is impossible to comply with the provisions referred to in paragraph 1^er and 2, the rapporteur is replaced by the deputy rapporteur. In this case, he has the same powers as the rapporteur. He is elected annually by the General Assembly. He cannot be a member of the board of the borough.
§ 3. The secretary prepares the Board's deliberations.
These deliberations are recorded in a register marked and approved by the trustee and are signed by all the members involved in it.
The secretary is the record keeper. He delivers shipments under his signature.
§ 4. Persons who are to be heard or asked to be heard about claims or complaints addressed to the board of the board of the board of the board of the board of the board of the board of the board of the board are summoned by the rapporteur by registered mail who mentions the reason for the summons. The summons is set at eight. The parties may appear at the board meetings voluntarily and without being convened, after having notified the trustee at least three working days before the meeting.
§ 5. The council may not make a decision or give an opinion on any matter until the rapporteur has heard it.
It can only deliberate validly if at least two thirds of its members participate in the vote.
The proceedings shall be taken by an absolute majority of votes. The syndic has a preponderant voice in case of voice-sharing.
§ 6. The board shall submit to the Attorney General or the Crown Prosecutor, whenever they so request, the records of its proceedings, and any other documents filed in its archives.
Art. 554. If a member of the borough board fails to pay its annual contribution, the board may issue a constraint signed by the treasurer. In the event of forced recovery, the constraint is declared enforceable by the president of the competent court of first instance on a unilateral request of the council.
An appeal may be brought against the declaration of enforceable force in the month of the meaning of the declared enforceable constraint.
CHAPTER IX. - National Chamber of Judicial Officers
Art. 555. § 1^er. The National Chamber of Judicial Officers is a public law institution with legal personality. She has her seat in the judicial district of Brussels.
§ 2. The organs of the National Chamber are:
1st General Assembly;
2nd the steering committee.
§ 3. The General Assembly is composed of representatives of the borough chambers or, in their absence, of their alternates.
The general assembly of each borough chamber chooses as representatives:
- among its judicial officers, a judicial officer in a court of ten judicial officers, with a minimum of one representative and a maximum of five representatives;
- among its candidate judicial officers, a judicial officer candidate with at least five years' experience as a judicial officer.
The term of office of representative and alternate shall be three years and renewable once.
A representative or alternate elected to replace a representative or alternate in the course of a term of office shall terminate the term of his predecessor but shall not be re-elected immediately.
The General Assembly shall make its decisions by an absolute majority of the members present.
§ 4. The General Assembly elects a steering committee within it. This steering committee is composed of a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary and an assistant secretary, a rapporteur and a deputy rapporteur, a treasurer and an assistant treasurer.
The members of the steering committee are designated for a term of two years. In the event of a resignation, death, suspension or revocation of an elected member of the steering committee, an acting member shall be elected for the remainder of his term by the other members of the steering committee.
The members of the steering committee are elected directly by the members of the general assembly to the position to which they are candidates.
Outgoing members may be re-elected, without a member being able to sit for more than six years without interruption on the steering committee.
§ 5. The Executive Committee shall communicate the agenda of its meetings to all members at least ten working days in advance by regular or electronic mail. The minutes are also sent to all members, by regular or electronic mail, ten working days after the meeting.
§ 6. The steering committee convenes a general meeting of members every six months. Extraordinary general assemblies are convened as often as the steering committee deems it necessary and whenever twenty-five members introduce to this effect an application signed by them in which the subjects to be examined are mentioned.
The minutes of the General Meetings of Members are sent to all members, within 10 working days, by regular or electronic mail. The approved regulations come into force ten days after the minutes are sent.
§ 7. The steering committee of the National Chamber deliberates in French and Dutch. Reports and resolutions are prepared in each of these languages, without pre-eminence of a text on the other.
§ 8. If a member of the National Chamber fails to pay the annual fee, the steering committee may issue a constraint signed by the treasurer or deputy treasurer. In the event of forced recovery, the constraint is declared enforceable by the president of the court of first instance of the judicial district where the judicial officer has his study, upon request of the steering committee introduced through the competent trustee.
An appeal may be brought against the declaration of enforceable force in the month of the meaning of the declared enforceable constraint.
Art. 555/1. In addition to those entrusted to it by other provisions, the National Chamber has the following tasks:
1° to establish the general rules of ethics;
2° to ensure the uniformity of discipline and ethics among its members and the enforcement of laws and regulations concerning them;
3° to take any measures to meet, within the limits and conditions it determines, the obligations resulting from the professional responsibility of judicial officers;
4° to organize the issuance of the internship book;
5° to organize the permanent training of judicial officers, judicial candidates, interns, and their collaborators. The King determines the number of hours of permanent training, relevant to the exercise of the profession of judicial officer, to be followed;
6° to ensure, in parallel with the board of the borough chambers, the control of the correct application of the tariff, accounting, quality accounts of studies and the transfer of funds from third parties;
7° to control, in parallel with the council of the borough chamber, the correct application of the system of suppleances by its members;
8° to issue, on initiative or upon request, to any public authorities, notices relating to any matters of general interest relating to the exercise of the profession of judicial officer;
9° to represent, within the limits of its powers, all members of the boroughs of the Kingdom with respect to any authority and institution;
10° to judge, both by asking and by defending, in any case involving the profession of judicial officer as a whole;
11° to approve annually the accounts submitted to it by its steering committee, as well as the budget;
12° to approve the regulations proposed by its steering committee concerning the operation and competence of the steering committee and concerning the organization of their general assemblies;
13° to manage the infrastructure and organize its secretariat, appointment and discipline commissions;
14° to establish guidelines and to develop and organize a control regime with respect to the quality account of studies and the management of third-party funds;
15° to establish an electronic list of judicial officers and judicial candidates and to ensure its permanent update. The King determines the modalities for the creation, conservation and consultation of the King. The National Chamber is authorized to collect from the only judicial officers and judicial officers their national registry number, in order to verify their identity;
16° to organize the elections of the members of its steering committee;
17° to elect the members of the commissions of appointment and discipline;
18° to approve the practical rules in professional matters that apply to all members.
The missions defined in paragraph 1^er, 2°, 3°, 4°, 5°, 6°, 7°, 8°, 9°, 10°, 13° and 15° are exercised by their steering committee. The missions defined in paragraph 1^er, 1°, 11°, 12°, 14°, 16°, 17° and 18° are exercised by its general assembly.
Art. 3. Article 571, paragraph 1^er, of the same Code, replaced by the Act of 4 May 1999, is replaced by the following:
"In accordance with Article 544, the Court of First Instance shall hear in its appeal the appeals against the decisions of the disciplinary commission of the judicial officers who impose a penalty of discipline and shall, in the first instance, pronounce the sentences of high discipline in respect of judicial officers and judicial officers. ".
Art. 4. In article 1389bis/2 of the same Code, inserted by the law of 29 May 2000 and amended by the law of 14 January 2013, the number "549" is replaced by the number "555".
CHAPTER 3. - Abrogatory provision
Art. 5. The Royal Decree of 30 June 1993 relating to the training of the judicial officer candidate and the registration of the course is repealed.
CHAPTER 4. - Transitional provisions and entry into force
Art. 6. Trainees who, on the date of entry into force of this Act, have completed their internship time may obtain a National Chamber internship certificate. The application must be submitted to the National Chamber no later than six months after its composition. This application is accompanied by the rationale for the internship period. Trainees who, on the date of this Act's entry into force, have not yet completed their internship, continue their internship. The probation period already completed deducts the period referred to in section 511.
Art. 7. Whoever, on the date of entry into force of this Act, pursuant to Article 17 of the Royal Decree of 30 June 1993 relating to the internship of the candidate-securator of justice and to the approval of this internship, is the title of candidate-securator of justice shall be appointed as a candidate-securator of justice by the King. Such appointments shall be effective on the day on which this Act comes into force.
Art. 8. At the time of the coming into force of this Act, the councils of the borough chambers shall organize without delay a general assembly for the election of representatives of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers in accordance with Article 555, § 3. The permanent council of the National Chamber organizes a general assembly within two months, where the newly elected representatives of the borough chambers are invited. The standing council also appeals to candidates for the functions of the members of the steering committee and for members of the disciplinary and appointment boards. Nominations should be addressed to the Chair on the basis of the Standing Council of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers in the month following the appeal to candidates. Within two weeks of the closing of the nominations, the chair in office will once again call on the newly formed general assemblies of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers and simultaneously communicate the list of candidates. The general assemblies immediately proceed to the election of members. At the same time, they propose members for appointment commissions to the Minister of Justice for their appointment.
Members who sit on the boards of the borough chambers remain members for the duration of their initial mandate.
Art. 9. Sections 509, 510 and 512 of the Judicial Code as they were in force at the time of the coming into force of this Act remain applicable to the current appointment procedures at that time.
Art. 10. By derogation from section 526, paragraph 2, of the same Code, judicial officers may, for a period of two years from the coming into force of this Act, be replaced without limitation on the number of calendar days.
Art. 11. The disclipse authorities referred to in sections 531, 531bis and 532 of the same Code as they were in force at the time of the coming into force of this Act shall remain competent for the disciplinary proceedings that have been brought before them until that time. These disciplinary proceedings are dealt with in accordance with sections 531 to 534 of the same Code as they were in force at the time this Act came into force.
The disciplinary authority referred to in section 534 of the same Code as it was in force at the time of the coming into force of this Act immediately seizes the disciplinary committee referred to in section 534 of the same Code of Other Disciplinary Procedures in progress.
Art. 12. This Act comes into force on the tenth day following that of its publication to the Belgian Monitor, with the exception of section 516, paragraph 5, second sentence, of the Judicial Code, as replaced by section 2 of this Act, which comes into force on the date determined by the King and no later than 1^er April 2014.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 7 January 2014.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be):
Documents: 53-2937
Full report: 24 October 2013
Senate (www.senate.be):
Documents: 5-2315
Annales du Sénat : 18 et 19 décembre 2013