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Law On Consent To The Cooperation Agreement Of December 13, 2006, Between The Federal State, The Flemish Community, The French Community, The German-Speaking Community And The Joint Community Commission On The Organization And Financing Of

Original Language Title: Loi portant assentiment à l'accord de coopération du 13 décembre 2006 entre l'Etat fédéral, la Communauté flamande, la Communauté française, la Communauté germanophone et la Commission communautaire commune portant sur l'organisation et le financement de

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10 MAI 2007. - Act to approve the cooperation agreement of 13 December 2006 between the Federal State, the Flemish Community, the French Community, the German-speaking Community and the Joint Community Commission on the organization and financing of the restorative offer referred to in the Act of 8 April 1965 on the protection of youth, the care of minors who have committed a qualified offence and the compensation of the damage caused by this fact (1)



ALBERT II, 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 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. It is assented to the Agreement of Cooperation of 13 December 2006 between the Federal State, the Flemish Community, the French Community, the German-speaking Community and the Joint Community Commission on the Organization and Financing of the Restorative Offer referred to in the Act of 8 April 1965 on the Protection of Youth, the Care of Minors who have committed a qualified offence and the reparation of the damage caused by this fact.
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 10 May 2007.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Justice,
Mrs. L. ONKELINX
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Mrs. L. ONKELINX
____
Notes
(1) 2006-2007 session:
Senate.
Documents. - 3-2085 - 001: Bill. - 3-2085 - 002: Report.
See also:
Annales. - 22 March 2007.
House of Representatives.
Documents. - 51 3020 - 001: Project transmitted by the Senate. - 51 3020 - 002: Report. - 51 3020 - 003: Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent.
See also:
Full report. - 24 and 25 April 2007.

Agreement on cooperation between the Federal State, the Flemish Community, the French Community, the German-speaking Community and the Joint Community Commission on the organization and financing of the restorative offer referred to in the Act of 8 April 1965 on the protection of youth, the care of minors who have committed a qualified offence and the reparation of the damage caused by this fact
See articles 128, § 1er, 130, § 1erand 135 of the Constitution;
Considering the special law of 8 August 1980 of institutional reforms, including articles 5, § 1er, II, 6°, amended by the special law of 8 August 1988 and 92 bis, § 1erinserted by the special law of 8 August 1988 and amended by the special laws of 16 July 1993 and 13 July 2001;
Considering the special law of 12 January 1989 on Brussels institutions, including Article 63;
Having regard to the law of 31 December 1983 of institutional reforms for the German-speaking Community, including articles 4, § 2, and 55 bis, inserted by the law of 18 July 1990 and amended by the law of 5 May 1993;
Having regard to the Act of 8 April 1965 on the Protection of Youth, Care for Minors who have committed a crime and compensation for the damage caused by this fact, as amended by the laws of 15 May 2006 and 13 June 2006, in particular articles 37 bis to 37quinquies, 45quater and 52quinquies;
Having regard to the decrees of the Flemish Community on special assistance to youth, coordinated on 4 April 1990, as amended by the decrees of 21 December 1990, 19 December 1991, 25 June 1992, 4 May 1994, 15 July 1997 and 7 May 2004;
Having regard to the decree of the French Community of 4 March 1991 on Aid for Youth, as amended by the decrees of 16 March 1998, 6 April 1998, 30 June 1998, 5 May 1999, 29 March 2001, 31 March 2004, 12 May 2004 and 19 May 2004;
Having regard to the decree of the German-speaking Community of 20 March 1995 on Aid for Youth, as amended by the decrees of 4 March 1996, 20 May 1997, 23 October 2000, 3 February 2003 and 1er March 2004;
Considering that cooperation is essential between the various competent authorities for the organization of the restorative offer referred to in the Act of 8 April 1965 on the protection of youth, the care of minors who have committed an offence and the repair of the damage caused by this fact;
Come on.
1. The federal state, represented by its government in the person of Laurette Onkelinx, the Minister of Justice,
2. The Flemish Community, represented by its Government, in the person of Yves Leterme, the Minister-President, and in the person of Inge Vervotte, the Flemish Minister of Welfare, Public Health and the Family,
3. The French Community, represented by its Government, in the person of Marie Arena, the Minister-President and in the person of Catherine Fonck, the Minister of Children, Youth and Health,
4. The German-speaking Community, represented by its Government, in the person of Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the Minister-President and in the person of Bernd Gentges, the Vice-President, the Minister of Training and Employment, Social Affairs and Tourism,
5. The Joint Community Commission, represented by the College in the person of Charles Picqué, the Chair of the College, in the person of Pascal Smet, gathered the member of the College in charge of the Policy of Aid to Persons and the Public Service and in the person of Evelyne Huytebroeck, the member of the College in charge of the Policy of Aid to Persons, Finance, Budget and External Relations,
based on their respective competencies, the following was agreed:
Article 1er. This cooperation agreement deals with the structural cooperation between the services of the Federal Public Service Justice and the services recognized by the competent authorities, organized by or meeting the conditions set by the communities, as part of the implementation of the restorative offer referred to in articles 37bis to 37quinquies, 45quater and 52quinquies of the law of 8 April 1965 on the protection of the youth, to the treatment of minors who have committed a qualified offence.
Art. 2. For the purposes of this cooperation agreement, the following must be understood:
1° offers restauratrice : the offer relating to mediation or the group restauratrice dialogue proposed by the youth judge, the youth court or the King's attorney;
2° mediation: the dialogue between the person suspected of having committed an offence, the persons who exercise parental authority in respect of him or her, the persons who have custody of him or her in law or in fact, and the victim in order to consider together and with the help of a neutral mediator, the possibilities of meeting the inter alia relational and material consequences of a qualified offence;
3° group restorative dialogue: the dialogue between the person who is suspected of having committed a crime, the victim, their social entourage and all useful persons, with a view to considering, in a group and with the help of a neutral mediator, agreed solutions on how to resolve the conflict resulting from the fact qualified offence, in particular taking into account the relational and material consequences resulting from the qualified offence;
4° Mediation service: the service recognized by the competent authorities, organized by or meeting the conditions established by the communities, which is responsible for mediation;
5° group restorative consultation service: the service recognized by the competent authorities, organized by the communities or meeting the conditions set by them, which is responsible for the group restorative dialogue;
6° persons concerned: the person suspected of having committed an offence, persons who exercise parental authority in respect of him, persons who have custody of him or her in law or in fact, and the victim.
Under common civil law, the minor victim is assisted by persons who exercise parental authority in relation to the minor victim.
7° victim: the person who claims to have suffered moral and/or material damage resulting from a qualified offence.
Art. 3. Within fifteen days of the entry into force of this Agreement, the Minister of a Community or the Joint Community Commission who is competent for the protection of youth, shall communicate to the Minister of Justice the list of services implementing the restorative offer. Any modification to this list will be communicated promptly to the Minister of Justice by the Minister of a Community or the Joint Community Commission who is competent for the protection of youth.
The Communities undertake to execute the decisions of the judiciary proposing a restorative offer, if the language of the procedure corresponds to that of the Community concerned, without prejudice to Article 37, § 1, last paragraph of the Act of 8 April 1965, as amended by the law of 13 June 2006.
Art. 4. As part of the mediation proposed by the King's Prosecutor, the mediation services are:
1° to contact the persons concerned if they have not taken any steps towards the service concerned within eight working days of receiving the copy of the written proposal of the King's Prosecutor;
2° to ensure, throughout the mediation of the express and unreserved membership of the persons participating in it;
3° to notify the Crown Prosecutor as soon as it turns out that mediation is not or more possible, without delay and no later than within one month. In this case, the department shall send a brief report to the Crown Prosecutor, which shall include one of the following:
- or mediation will not be started because:
a. one of the persons concerned could not be joined;
b. one of the persons concerned does not wish it to be started;
c. the persons concerned have already entered into an agreement or the victim no longer makes a requirement;
d. is no longer fulfilled one of the three legal conditions for mediation, referred to in Article 45quater, § 1er, second paragraph, of the Act of 8 April 1965 on the Protection of Youth, the Care of Minors who have committed a crime and the Compensation for the Damage caused by this fact.
- that the mediation did not give any results. In this case, the report states:
a. the names of the persons concerned who were contacted, with the information that no agreement was found between them;
b. any other information whose communication is signed for agreement by all concerned.
Information that may prejudice the person suspected of committing an offence or the victim is not repeated.
4° to address, within two months of their appointment by the King's Prosecutor, a brief report on the status of the mediation, which states that the mediation has been initiated, but has not yet been completed.
Information that may prejudice the person suspected of committing a crime or the victim is not repeated.
5° transmit, if the mediation results, the agreement signed by the persons concerned, to the King's Prosecutor for approval by the King.
6° write a report on the execution of the agreement and send it to the King's attorney.
The report is discussed with persons who exercise parental authority in respect of the person suspected of having committed an offence and with persons who have custody of it in law or in fact. Thus, they are invited to make their comments which are attached to the report.
Art. 5. § 1er. As part of the mediation proposed by the youth judge or the youth court, the mediation services are:
1° to contact the persons concerned if they have not taken any steps towards the service concerned within eight working days of receiving the copy of the proposal of the youth judge or youth court;
2° to ensure, throughout the mediation of the express and unreserved membership of the persons participating in it;
3° to notify the youth judge or youth court as soon as it turns out that mediation is not or more possible, without delay and no later than within one month. In this case, the department shall send a brief report to the youth judge or youth court, which shall include one of the following:
- or mediation will not be started because:
a. one of the persons concerned could not be joined;
b. one of the persons concerned does not wish it to be started;
c. the persons concerned have already entered into an agreement or the victim no longer makes a requirement;
d. is no longer fulfilled one of the three legal conditions for mediation, referred to in Article 37bis, § 1er, first paragraph, of the Act of 8 April 1965 on the Protection of Youth, the Care of Minors who have committed a crime and the Compensation for the Damage caused by this fact.
- that the mediation did not give any results. In this case, the report states:
a. the name of the persons concerned who have been contacted, with the information that no agreement has been reached between them;
b. any other information whose communication is signed for agreement by all concerned.
Information that may prejudice the person suspected of committing an offence is not repeated.
4th transmit the agreement signed by the persons concerned, the youth judge or the youth court to be approved by the youth court.
5° prepare a brief report on the execution of the agreement and its outcome, and send it to the youth judge or youth court.
The report is discussed with persons who exercise parental authority in respect of the person suspected of having committed an offence and with persons who have custody of it in law or in fact. Thus, they are invited to make their comments which are attached to the report.
§ 2. As part of the group restorative dialogue proposed by the youth judge or the youth court, the group restorative consultation services are:
1° to contact the persons concerned if they have not taken any steps towards the service concerned within eight working days of receiving a copy of the decision of the youth judge or youth court;
2° to ensure, throughout the restorative dialogue in the group of the express and unconditional membership of the persons participating in it;
3° to prevent the youth judge or youth court as soon as it turns out that the group restorative dialogue is not or more possible. In this case, the department shall send a brief report to the youth judge or youth court, which shall include one of the following:
- whether the group restorative dialogue will not be started because:
a. one of the persons concerned could not be joined;
b. one of the persons concerned does not wish it to be started;
c. the persons concerned have already entered into an agreement or the victim no longer makes a requirement;
d. is no longer fulfilled one of the three legal conditions for a group restorative dialogue, referred to in Article 37bis, § 1er, first paragraph, of the Act of 8 April 1965 on the Protection of Youth, the Care of Minors who have committed a crime and the Compensation for the Damage caused by this fact.
- either the group restorative dialogue gave no results. In this case, the report states:
a. the names of the persons concerned who were contacted, with the information that no agreement was found between them;
b. any other information whose communication is signed for agreement by all concerned.
Information that may prejudice the person suspected of committing an offence is not repeated.
4° if the group restorative consultation results, transmit the agreement signed by the persons concerned, the youth judge or the youth court to be approved by the youth court. A statement of intent of the person suspected of committing a crime is also included. It explains the concrete steps it will undertake to restore the relational and material damage and damage suffered by the community and to prevent further developments in the future. The declaration of intent is signed for agreement by all concerned.
5° prepare a brief report on the execution of the agreement and its outcome and send it to the youth judge or youth court.
The report is discussed with the parents. Thus, they are invited to make their comments which are attached to the report.
Art. 6. The juvenile judge, youth court or prosecutor ' s office, as applicable:
1° transmits, to the group restorative mediation and consultation services, the identity of the persons concerned and the copy of the written proposal to initiate a group restorative mediation or consultation procedure;
2° does not intervene in the functioning of the group restorative mediation and consultation services and respects their independence;
3° does not use, in the event of the failure of the mediation or the restorative dialogue in a group, or the recognition of the materiality of the facts by the young person or the outcome of the mediation or the restorative dialogue in a group, to the prejudice of the young person.
Art. 7. The Minister of Justice undertakes to:
1° co-finance the mediation proposed by the King's Prosecutor and implemented by the mediation services up to an annual indexed amount of:
- 3.000,000 euros for the Flemish Community;
- 2.000.000 euros for the French Community;
- 25,000 euros for the German-speaking Community;
For the year 2007, federal funding will be proportional to the number of months in which this agreement is implemented in 2007.
Mediation services tend to at least 45 cases initiated per year by ETP.
The amounts mentioned in this cooperation agreement shall be indexed annually to 1er January based on the evolution of the health index of the year elapsed according to the following formula:
(basic value x new index)/basic index
The base index is the one in force in December 2006.
The new index is the one that will be in force successively at 1er January of each year.
2° pay no later than 1er March of each year to the Communities, the indexed amount referred to in point 1°. However, the payment for the year 2007 will be made for the French Community and the German-speaking Community within 2 months of the coming into force of this Agreement. Payment to the Flemish Community will be divided into a first two-thirds payment of the amount within 2 months of the coming into force of this Agreement, and a third-party payment by the end of 2007.
3° make available to all prosecutors 27 criminologists who will, among other things, have a mission to propose to the persons concerned a mediation that will be organized by the mediation service.
Art. 8. This Agreement shall be entered into for a period of three years from its entry into force.
At the end of this period, this Agreement shall be amended annually unless it is denounced by one of the parties within a minimum period of nine months before the expiry of each current period, by registered letter to the other parties. In the event that the agreement is terminated by a party or the agreement is terminated against one of the parties, the agreement continues to produce its effects only among the other parts of the agreement.
Art. 9. An assessment of this cooperation agreement by the Parties shall be held no later than two years after its entry into force.
Art. 10. The competent ministers of each Party shall be entitled to jointly decide the disputes arising from the application of this Agreement.
Art. 11. This cooperation agreement is issued in full to the Belgian Monitor in the three national languages.
This cooperation agreement shall be effective on the same day as articles 37 bis to 37quinquies, 45quater and 52quinquies of the Youth Protection Act of 8 April 1965, the care of minors who have committed a crime and the compensation for the damage caused by this fact, as amended by the laws of 15 May 2006 and 13 June 2006.
Made in Brussels on 13 December 2006, in 5 original copies in French and Dutch.
A German translation of this agreement is carried out.
For the federal state:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
For the Flemish Community:
The Minister-President,
Y. LETERME
The Flemish Minister of Welfare,
Public Health and the Family,
Ms. I. VERVOTTE
For the French Community:
The Minister-President,
Ms. M. ARENA
The Minister of Childhood,
Youth and Health Assistance,
Ms. C. FONCK
For the German-speaking Community:
The Minister-President,
K.-H. LAMBERTZ
Deputy Minister-President, Minister of Training and Employment, Social Affairs and Tourism,
B. GENTGES
For the Joint Community Commission:
Chair of the College meeting
the Joint Community Commission,
Ch. PICQUE
Member of the College
competent for the Policy of Aid to Persons and Public Service,
P. SMET
Member of the College
competent for the Policy of Aid to Persons,
Finance, Budget and External Relations,
Ms. E. HUYTEBROECK