Vlaams Belang files conflict of interest against Frenchification of Brussels court

The Vlaams Belang is filing a conflict of interest in the Flemish Parliament against a federal bill that guarantees that the most important Brussels judicial offices will be held by French speakers for years to come and also significantly weakens the existing Dutch language requirements. “This bill perpetuates the Frenchification of the Brussels judiciary and undermines the position of Dutch in Brussels,” says Flemish Member of Parliament Klaas Slootmans (Vlaams Belang).

See also: https://www.persinfo.org/nl/nieuws/artikelen/taalcompromis-van-tigchelt-over-brusselse-justitie-benadeelt-nederlandstaalen-in-brussel-halle-vilvoorde-en-vlaams-brabant/59696

In 2014, the Constitutional Court annulled a provision in the law of 19 July 2012 that aimed to reform the judicial district of Brussels. That annulled article stipulated that the public prosecutor and the labor prosecutor of the administrative district of Brussels-Capital could only be French speakers. According to the Constitutional Court, this creates discrimination between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking magistrates.

“This bill further undermines the position of Dutch in the capital of Flanders”

A new federal bill that should respond to the criticism of the Constitutional Court now stipulates that the most important offices will be held by French speakers for years to come. For example, the office of public prosecutor in Brussels will be reserved for a French-speaking person for at least another ten years. Together with the labor prosecutor, the attorney general, the federal prosecutor and the road safety prosecutor, they will no longer have to prove that they know Dutch thoroughly. The Dutch-speaking Association of Magistrates therefore also speaks of “a clear Frenchification of the Brussels courts”.

According to Flemish Member of Parliament Klaas Slootmans, this bill is “another slap in the face of the Flemish Brussels residents who are once again relegated to second-class citizens with this reform”. “An equal status of Dutch is essential for a fair legal process,” it said.

Slootmans is therefore filing a conflict of interest today in the Flemish Parliament to stop the bill. The main focus is on the voting behavior of N-VA. In the House – where she is in the opposition – she cast all her devils against this judicial reform, which she cataloged as ‘an insult to the Dutch speakers’. The question now is whether she will also honor that position in the Flemish Parliament, where she has a majority seat.