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30 JULY 2013. - Act respecting the resale of access to events (1)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. For the purposes of this Act and its enforcement orders, the following means:
1° access title: document, message or code, regardless of form and support, attesting to obtaining from the producer, organizer, owner of the operating rights or any other accredited seller of the right to attend a cultural, sports or commercial event or a live show;
2° initial sale: first bet on the market, against payment, of access securities by one of the persons referred to in 1°;
3° original seller: any natural or legal person who makes an initial sale;
4° resale: any sale and offer on sale of an access title that does not emanate from the original seller;
5° reseller: the physical or legal person who makes an act of resale;
6° the final price: the price as indicated in Article 6 of the Act of 6 April 2010 on market practices and consumer protection;
7° the Minister: the Minister who has the Economy in his powers.
Art. 3. This Act does not prejudice other legal or regulatory provisions applicable to the sale of access securities.
Art. 4. § 1^er. The original seller always communicates the final price of the access title, whatever its form, at the proposed transaction.
The price is mentioned on the access title in an unequivocal and clearly legible manner.
§ 2. Price supplements and optional or variable fees are communicated in a clear, transparent and unequivocal manner and are accepted by the buyer on a "opt-in" basis during the purchase process.
§ 3. Specific business practices such as, in particular, privileged access titles or promotional access titles as well as their possible gracefulness must be mentioned on the access title in an unequivocal and clearly legible manner.
Art. 5. § 1^er. Usually resale is prohibited.
The fact of exposing for resale in an ordinary way, and the provision of the means that will be used for resale in an ordinary way, is prohibited.
§ 2. Occasional resale at a higher price as defined in Article 4, § 1^er, is forbidden.
The fact of exposing for resale on an occasional basis, and providing the means that will be used for resale on occasional basis, are also prohibited if it is a resale at a higher price as defined in Article 4, § 1^er.
§ 3. Resale before the start of the initial sale is prohibited.
Exposing for resale and providing the means that will be used for resale are also prohibited before the initial sale begins.
§ 4. The sale of a privileged access title and a promotional access title, which has not been the subject of an initial sale, is prohibited.
The disclosure for resale and the provision of the means that will be used for resale are also prohibited for the sale of a privileged access title and a promotional access title that has not been the subject of an initial sale.
Art. 6. Notwithstanding any clause contrary to and without prejudice to the application of Article 1116 of the Civil Code, any difference in the price of payment of a resale exceeding the amount determined in Article 4, § 1^er, is considered an undue payment and the purchaser is entitled to claim the amount paid in excess from the dealer concerned, regardless of whether a previous dealer has already committed an offence under Article 5, § 2.
Art. 7. § 1^er. The King organizes the regular dialogue between the parties concerned, namely the producers and organizers of shows, distributors, showrooms, exchange platforms and consumer representatives, in order to carry out a continuous evaluation of the law and the establishment of good practices.
§ 2. An assessment report is submitted by the King to the House of Representatives every two years.
Art. 8. Following the discussion by the House of Representatives of the report referred to in Article 7, § 2, the King shall, if any, take appropriate measures.
Art. 9. Offences under Articles 4 and 5 are subject to the penalties referred to in Article 124 of the Act of 6 April 2010 on market practices and consumer protection.
Art. 10. The provisions of Book I^er the Criminal Code, including Chapter 7 and Article 85, shall apply to offences covered by this Act.
Art. 11. § 1^er. Without prejudice to the powers conferred on judicial police officers, officers commissioned by the Minister are competent to search for and determine the offences covered by this Act.
The minutes issued by these officers are held to prove the contrary. A copy is sent to the offender by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt within 30 days of the date of the findings.
§ 2. In the exercise of their function, the agents referred to in § 1^er may:
1° enter, during the usual hours of opening or working, in the premises and rooms whose access is necessary for the fulfilment of their mission;
2to make all useful findings, to be provided without charge all the information necessary for their research and findings, to be produced on site and on first requisition, the documents, documents or books required for their research and findings and to take a copy and this without charge;
3° seize, against receipt, the documents, documents, books or holders of information that are necessary to prove an offence or to search for co-authors or accomplices of offenders; the seizure is waived in full right without confirmation by the Crown Prosecutor within ten working days;
4° if they have reason to believe that an offence exists, enter the inhabited premises, with the prior authorization of the judge of the police court. Visits to manned premises must be conducted between eight and eighteen hours and be made jointly by at least two officers. However, do not violate the home that enters it with the prior written permission of the inhabitant.
§ 3. In the exercise of their function, the agents referred to in § 1^er may require assistance from the police services.
§ 4. The authorized officers shall exercise their powers under this section under the supervision of the Attorney General, without prejudice to their subordination to their superiors in the administration.
§ 5. In the event of application of section 13, the minutes shall be transmitted to the King's Prosecutor only when the offender has not accepted the proposed transaction.
The payment made within the specified time-limit extinguishes the public action, unless, in the past, a complaint has been addressed to the King's Prosecutor, the investigating judge has been required to instruct or the court has been seized of the fact. In this case, the amounts paid are returned to the offender.
Art. 12. Where an offence to this Act or to any of its enforcement orders is found, the Minister or officer charged under section 11 may send a warning to the offender to terminate the act in question.
The notice shall be notified to the offender within three weeks of the date of the finding of the facts, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by a copy of the notice of the facts.
The warning mentions:
1° the facts charged and the legal provisions infringed;
2° the period in which it must be terminated;
3° the fact that, in the event that the warning is not being followed, the agents commissioned under sections 11 and 13 may, respectively, notify the Crown Prosecutor or apply the settlement by way of transaction referred to in section 13;
4° the fact that the offender's commitment to ending the offence may be made public.
Art. 13. Agents commissioned for this purpose by the Minister may, in the light of the minutes of an offence, make up by the agents referred to in section 11, propose to the offenders the payment of an amount that extinguishes public action. This sum may not exceed the maximum fine set out in section 9, plus additional decimals. The rates as well as the payment and collection modalities are fixed by the King.
Art. 14. § 1^er. The President of the Commercial Court finds the existence and orders the cessation of an act constituting an offence to section 5. Cessation action is on request:
1st of the Minister;
2° of the Director General of the Control and Mediation Branch of the SPF Economie, P.M.E., Average Classes and Energy;
3° of the interested.
The President of the Commercial Court may prescribe that his or her decision or summary of the decision is posted or communicated in any other manner during the time it determines and at the costs of the offender. However, these advertising measures may only be prescribed if they are likely to contribute to the termination of the offence or its effects.
§ 2. The action is formed and educated according to the forms of the referee.
It can be filed by request. It is filed in four copies at the Registry of the Commercial Court or sent to the Registry by recommended. The court clerk shall promptly notify the opposing party by judicial fold and invite him to appear at the earliest three days, no later than eight days after the pleading is sent, to which is attached a copy of the introductory request.
Under penalty of nullity, the request contains:
1° the indication of day, month and year;
2° the name, first name, occupation and domicile of the applicant;
3° the name and address of the legal or physical person against whom the application is made;
4° the object and presentation of the means of the application;
5° the lawyer's signature.
§ 3. It is decided on the action notwithstanding any prosecution due to the same facts before any other criminal court.
The judgment is enforceable by provision, notwithstanding any appeal and without bail.
Any decision made on an action based on this section shall, in the eighties, and the due diligence of the Registrar of the competent court, be communicated to the Minister, unless the decision has been made at his request.
In addition, the Clerk is required to promptly inform the Minister of the appeal against any decision rendered.
Art. 15. Section 589 of the Judiciary Code, last amended by the Act of 13 August 2011, is supplemented by a 19th drafted as follows:
"19° to Article 14 of the Act of 30 July 2013 on the sale of titles of access to events. "
Art. 16. This Act comes into force on the first day of the first month following the one in which it was published in the Belgian Monitor.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 30 July 2013.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Minister of Economy and Consumers,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
See:
Documents of the House of Representatives:
53-0656 - 2010/2011 :
001: Bill by Mr. Schiltz et al.
002 to 004: Amendments.
005: Report.
006: Text adopted by the Commission.
007: Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate.
Full report: 2 and 8 May 2013.
Documents of the Senate:
5-2081 - 2012/2013:
Number 1: Project referred to by the Senate.
No. 2: Amendments.
Number three: Report.
No. 4: Text amended by the commission.
No. 5: Text amended by the Senate and referred to the House of Representatives.
Annales du Sénat : 10 juillet 2013.
See also:
Documents of the House of Representatives:
53-0656 - 2010/2011 :
008: Draft amended by the Senate (without committee report).
009: Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent.
Full report: 17 July 2013.