25 AVRIL 2007. - An Act to organize the relations between the public authorities and the trade union organizations of the Clerks of the Judicial Order, the referendums near the Court of Cassation, and the referendums and prosecutors close to the courts and tribunals

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - General provision
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER II. - Scope of application
Art. 2. This Act applies to:
1. Clerks of the Judicial Order
2. Referendum to the Court of Cassation
3. Referendums and prosecutors close to courts and tribunals.
CHAPTER III. - Negotiation
Art. 3. Except in the emergency cases determined by the King, the competent authorities shall not, without prior negotiations with the representative trade union organizations within the committee established for this purpose, take:
1° the preliminary bills or the basic regulations relating to:
(a) administrative status, including vacation and leave;
(b) Financial status;
(c) the pension plan;
(d) relations with trade union organizations;
2° the regulations, the internal measures of a general nature and the directives having the same character that are related to the subsequent fixation of staff executives, the duration of work and the organization of the staff.
The King shall determine the basic regulations referred to in paragraph 1^er, 1°, indicating either the materials that are the subject of it or the provisions that constitute it. The King determines what to hear by organization of work within the meaning of paragraph 1^erTwo.
Such orders shall be preceded by the negotiation prescribed by this article.
Art. 4. The King creates the negotiating committee for the Clerks, Referendaries and Prosecutors of the Judicial Order.
This committee is competent for the substances listed in section 3 that concern the personnel referred to in section 2.
Art. 5. The Bargaining Committee for Clerks, Referendaries and Prosecutors of the Judicial Order includes, on the one hand, a delegation of authority and, on the other, a delegation by representative union organization.
At the negotiating committee, the delegation of authority includes the Minister of Justice and the relevant Ministers for the Public Service and the Budget or their duly mandated delegates.
The King determines the composition and functioning of the negotiating committee. It also determines the rules for the negotiation procedure.
Art. 6. The conclusions of any negotiations are contained in a protocol that states:
1° the unanimous agreement of all delegations;
2° the agreement between the delegation of authority and the delegation of one or more trade union organizations and the position of the delegation of one or more trade union organizations;
3° the respective position of each delegation.
CHAPTER IV. - From dialogue
Art. 7. § 1^er. Except in the emergency cases determined by the King, the authority shall not, without prior consultation with the representative trade union organizations in the consultation committees established in accordance with Article 8 to that effect, take:
1° the decisions establishing the framework of the staff of the Clerks of the Judicial Order and the Referendums near the Court of Cassation, the Referendums and the Public Prosecutor's Legal Officers near the courts and tribunals, which are the subject of the consultation committee;
2° the regulations relating to the subjects referred to in Article 3 which the King did not consider as basic regulations as well as those relating to the duration of the work and the organization of the work which are specific to the categories of personnel who are members of the consultation committee of which it is concerned.
In addition, the order measures and directives relating to one of the objects referred to in paragraph 1 are subject to the same prior consultation^erTwo.
Committees may also be referred to, under the same terms, proposals to improve human relations or improve service.
§ 2. Consultation committees issue a reasoned opinion on the proposals introduced.
§ 3. The coordinating committees also exercise the responsibilities that in private companies are entrusted to the occupational prevention and protection committees. If one of these functions concerns more than one basic consultation committee, it may be referred to by the consultation committee at the request of each delegation.
Art. 8. § 1^er. The King creates a consultation committee for the Clerks, Referendars and Prosecutors of the Judicial Order.
The consultation committee includes, on the one hand, a delegation of authority and, on the other, a delegation by representative trade union organization.
At the consultation committee, the delegation of authority includes the Minister of Justice and the relevant Ministers for the Public Service and the Budget or their duly mandated delegates.
§ 2. Without prejudice to § 1^er, the King may, by the court of appeal, establish a basic consultation committee that is competent exclusively for matters not exceeding the jurisdiction.
At the basic consultation committee, the delegation of the authority includes the first president of the court of appeal or the court of work, the Attorney General near the court of appeal of the relevant jurisdiction, or their delegates.
§ 3. The trade union organizations represented in the Bargaining Committee of the Clerks, Referendaries and Prosecutors of the Judicial Order are empowered to present delegates to serve on the Consultation Committees.
The King specifies the composition and functioning of the committees of consultation. It also determines the modalities of the consultation procedure
CHAPTER V. - Membership and representativeness of trade union organizations
Art. 9. The trade union organizations of the personnel referred to in Article 2 shall be approved as soon as they have been made known to the Minister of Justice by sending a copy of their statutes and the list of their responsible leaders under the fold recommended to the post.
Accreditation is maintained only if they bring to the attention of the Minister of Justice the amendments they make to their statutes or to the list of their responsible leaders.
Art. 10. Only representative trade union organizations may sit on the bargaining committee and the consultation committees of the Clerks, Referendors and Prosecutors' Legal Officers of the Judicial Order.
Are considered representative to serve:
1° the registered trade union organizations that sit on the joint committee for all public services referred to in Article 3, § 1^erParagraph 1^er, 3° of the law of 19 December 1974 organizing relations between the public authorities and the unions of the agents under these authorities.
2° without prejudice to the 1°, the registered trade union organisations which, at the same time:
(a) defend the interests, either of all categories of Clerks of the Judiciary or of the Referendums near the Court of Cassation, or of all referenda and prosecutors close to the courts and tribunals, or of all categories of personnel listed above;
(b) have a number of contributors that represent at least 25 per cent of the total number of persons who make up each staff group they represent.
Art. 11. § 1^er. From a date fixed by the King, and then every six years, the control commission referred to in Article 14, § 1^er, of the above-mentioned Act of 19 December 1974, referred to as the "Commission", shall verify whether the trade union organizations that sit or request that they may sit in the negotiating committee and the consultation committees shall meet the criterion set out in Article 10, paragraph 2, 2°, b.
Trade union organizations referred to in paragraph 1^er produce to the Commission, at the request of the Commission, the evidence necessary for the application of the said paragraph.
At the request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the Minister of Justice is required to provide the updated list of the Registrars, Referendums near the Court of Cassation, and Referendums and Prosecutor ' s Legal Officers near the courts and tribunals.
Members of the commission and agents who may assist them are subject to the obligation of professional secrecy regarding information provided by trade union organizations.
A delegate from the interested trade union organization may attend any verification operation that concerns it.
§ 2. A trade union organization whose commission has found that it does not comply with the provisions referred to in § 1^erParagraph 1^er, may request a further review before the expiration of the six-year period, if it believes that since this finding it meets the criteria imposed.
If, as a result of this new review, it appears that the trade union organization meets the criteria, it may immediately sit on the negotiating committee and the consultation committees.
CHAPTER VI. - Prerogatives of trade union organizations
Art. 12. Chartered trade union organizations may, under the conditions established by the King and in accordance with the terms and conditions determined by the King:
1° intervene with the authorities authorized to make decisions, in the collective interest of the staff they represent or in the particular interest of a staff member.
2° to assist in his request a staff member called to justify his actions before the administrative authority;
3° display notices in the services premises;
4th receive general documentation regarding the management of the staff they represent.
Art. 13. Under the conditions established by the King and without prejudice to the other prerogatives conferred by this Act, representative trade union organizations may:
1° exercise the prerogatives of trade union organizations;
2° collect union dues in the premises during hours of service;
3° attend competitions and examinations for staff members, without prejudice to the prerogatives of the jury;
4° organize meetings in the premises.
CHAPTER VII. - Provision for union delegates
Art. 14. The King determines the rules valid for union delegates for their activities with the clerks, referees and prosecutors of the Judicial Order.
Staff members with this quality are entitled, in the cases determined by the King, to trade union leave for the period they spend on a trade union mission. This leave is assimilated to a period of service activity.
CHAPTER VIII. - Modificative and final provisions
Art. 15. Article 2, § 3, of the law of 1^er September 1980 on the award and payment of a trade union premium to certain public sector personnel, as amended by the Acts of 22 January 1985, 24 March 1999 and 15 January 2002, is supplemented as follows:
"7° in respect of the staff referred to in section 2 of the Act of 25 April 2007 organizing relations between the public authorities and the trade union organizations of the Registrars of the Judicial Order, the Referendums near the Court of Cassation, the Referendums and the Prosecutor's Legal Officers near the courts and tribunals, the organizations that meet the requirements of section 10 of this Act. »
Art. 16. For the first application of the verification of representativeness referred to in Article 11, § 1^er"Cotizing affiliate" means the employee who paid the union membership fee for each month of the reference period defined below in which the reference date falls.
For the purposes of this provision, the reference date is June 30 of the year preceding the effective date of this Act. The reference period for the application of this provision is the period of six months from the first day of the sixth month of the year in which the reference date is located.
For the purposes of this provision, the union contribution is that which, for the month in which the reference date falls, is at least 0.74 per cent of the indexed gross monthly salary, as applied to 1^er July of the year preceding the reference date.
It is calculated on the basis of the lowest amount set out in section 3 of the Royal Decree of 29 June 1973 granting a guaranteed remuneration to certain federal public service agents. For these calculations, only the final result of the monthly contribution is rounded so that, in case the calculated amount contains a fraction of a cent, it is rounded to the higher or lower cent depending on whether the fraction of a cent reaches or not half.
Art. 17. With the exception of this section, the King shall determine the effective date of this Act, no later than six months after publication to the Belgian Monitor.
Promulgation of this Act, order that it be coated with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor
Given in Brussels on 25 April 2007.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Justice
Ms. L. ONKELINX
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Note
Documents of the Senate:
3-2010 - 2006/2007
No. 1: Bill
No. 2: Amendments
No. 3: Report made on behalf of the Commission
No. 4: Text amended by the Commission
Annales du Sénat : 15 février 2007
Documents of the House of Representatives:
51-2923 - 2006/2007
No.1 Project transmitted by the Senate
N°.2 Report made on behalf of the Commission
No. 3 Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent
Full report: 29 March 2007