In a bid to modernise its system of cataloguing court rulings, largely unchanged since the 19th century, Belgium is updating how judgements and decisions can be consulted and will publish all court rulings online on one central database.
As is already the case in many other countries which use online databases, the judgements will first be made available to professionals before gradually being open to the general public, although all names will be replaced by pseudonyms.
"This is a crucial step in the digitalisation of justice. A swift justice system must make its judgments transparently and simply available
to the public," Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne wrote in a statement.
The central database can also be of value during judicial and criminal investigations, for example, by checking whether the names of certain suspects have appeared in earlier judgments or verdicts. Data analysis of all online judgements will also become possible, enabling society to monitor on what grounds the judiciary makes decisions.
Changing Constitution
As enshrined in the Belgian Constitution, the public must be able to check the judgments and motives of the judges.
Under the current system, judgments are pronounced orally and in criminal cases, in the publicly accessible courtroom. However, the printed copies are "scattered around the courts and tribunals."
This system was problematic when magistrates want to request judgments and decisions from other districts. Meanwhile, defendants, civil parties and lawyers still have to go to court to hear the verdict or have to wait for the judgement to be published in the registry for inspection.
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In April 2019, the Constitution was modified. Having previously stated that court judgments must always be delivered during a public hearing, it now simply reads 'in public'. By removing 'hearing', doors were opened for the publishing of decisions online.
Van Quickenborne submitted a bill on the creation of a central database for judgments to the Council of Ministers; this was approved last Friday. The proposed system is similar to the online database for judgments and decisions in the Netherlands.
The bill is expected to be approved by the summer so that the database can enter into force in early 2023. Initially, magistrates will be able to consult the judgments and decisions in this database. Lawyers, defendants, civil parties and experts will also be able to consult judgments appertaining to their specific files.
