New Penal Code Comes Into Effect Tomorrow: "Taking a Deep Breath and Sighing a Lot Is the only Option"
9 Articles
9 Articles
A new penal code comes into force in Belgium today. With this, the country bids farewell to the old code from 1867, which dates back to the time of Napoleon. According to Julie Petersen, a lawyer at the Antwerp Bar and teaching assistant for the Institute of Criminal Law at KU Leuven, it was ‘certainly high time for Belgium to adopt a new penal code’.
In Belgium, a new penal code will come into effect tomorrow, the first complete revision since the time of Napoleon. The new code applies to all crimes committed from September 1st. This means that judges and lawyers will temporarily have to switch between two codes. One of the biggest changes is that only the term 'crime' is used, instead of the previous subdivision into crimes, misdemeanors, and infractions. The new code operates with eight l…
A new Criminal Code is a milestone. After more than a century and a half, Belgium deserved this renewal. But a modern criminal law without a thorough reform of the criminal procedure remains a singular construction: a house with a brand new façade, but whose foundations have an urgent need for reparation. ...
On September 1, the new Penal Code enters into force. It replaces the existing Penal Code, which dates back to 1810, the time of Napoleon. This day can therefore undoubtedly be considered historic. However, for our severely troubled justice system, the transition period entails a great deal of additional work: lawyers and magistrates will have to switch between both codes for years to come.
There are laws that transform institutions and there are laws that, by the matter they regulate, end up silently entering the lives of all. The new Penal Code belongs to this second category. It speaks of violence, integrity, property, intimacy, fraud, corruption, responsibility, digital security and protection of victims; but it also forces us to return to deeper questions: what it means to live under common rules, where our freedoms end when t…
The new Belgian Penal Code makes prison a last resort. But in order for this philosophy to be met, it is still necessary to strengthen the means of the courts, decipher a magistrate and a lawyer. ...
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