Promising Practice

Law of the 5th of May 2019 amending the Criminal Code

Loi du 5 mai 2019 portant modification le Code pénal afin de favoriser les mesures alternatives dans la prise en charge de la délinquance inspirée par le racisme ou la xénophobie et de mieux lutter contre la récidive en matière de discrimination/Wet van 5 mei 2019 houdende wijziging van het Strafwetboek, teneinde meer in te zetten op alternatieve maatregelen bij de beteugeling van door racisme of xenofobie ingegeven delinquentie, en in verband met discriminatie herhaling doeltreffender tegen te gaan
Law of 5 May 2019 amending the Criminal Code to increase the use of alternative measures to curb racist and xenophobic delinquency and combat recidivism related to discrimination more effectively.
Country
Belgium
Type
Encourage reporting

Organisation

Minister of Justice (Koen Geens) and Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

Start and end date

Start date:

The law came into force on 5 May 2019.

End date:

There is no end date.

Scope

National – law amending the Belgian Criminal Code.

Target group(s)

The courts and the public prosecutor’s office.

Funding

No funding for the practice.

Objectives

  • Increase the use of alternative measures to curb racist, discriminatory, sexist and negationist delinquency.
  • Combat recidivism related to discrimination and racism more effectively.

Outputs

Law text – amendment of the Belgian Criminal Code.

Description

The law amends the Criminal Code, to increase the use of alternative measures to curb racist and xenophobic delinquency and combat recidivism related to discrimination more effectively. The law gives judges, in cases of violations of the negationism law, the anti-racism law, the anti-discrimination law and the sexism law, the opportunity to give directions so that the interpretation of community service is related to the fight against negationism, racism, discrimination or sexism.

Critical success factors

  • The law allows judges to more frequently apply alternative measures in the framework of probationary measures that can be imposed following a conviction on the basis of the anti-racism, anti-discrimination, negationism or sexism law.
  • To make the law applicable in practice, the framework conditions should also be guaranteed. For example, sufficient resources must be provided to competent services (such as mediation services) so that specific projects on alternative measures can be developed and initiated with civil society organisations and other organisations. A pilot project has now been launched to explore the different options regarding alternative measures.

Actors involved in the design and implementation of the practice

Pilot projects are currently under way in which the public prosecutor’s office is looking at ways to implement these alternative measures in practice. The equality bodies and civil society organisations will also be consulted at a later stage.

Monitoring and evaluation

No monitoring or evaluation of the law has been carried out.

Publicly available contact details

Equal Opportunities Team, Federal Public Service Justice

Email: equal@just.fgov.be