The Constitutional Court in Belgium ruled in favour of a defendant who was initially denied being tried in French, but later won that right, with the case now being sent back to the first-instance court.
The case involved a French-speaking man convicted in Ninove (East Flanders) following a hit-and-run incident committed without a driving licence and as a repeat offender.
The East Flanders Police Tribunal had refused to transfer the case to the nearest French-speaking police tribunal and sentenced the defendant to two years in prison, an €8,000 fine, and a five-year driving ban.
On appeal, the East Flanders Correctional Tribunal accepted the language change request but forwarded the case to the French-speaking First Instance Tribunal in Brussels, treating it as an appellate matter. However, this tribunal declined to handle the case, arguing it should return to the first instance.
The dispute surrounding the language issue was escalated to the Court of Cassation and eventually referred to the Constitutional Court.
While the defendant’s right to two levels of jurisdiction was technically upheld, he could only defend himself in his chosen language during the appeal stage.
Illustration shows the name of the Ninove municipality on a road sign, Wednesday 16 May 2018. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
The Constitutional Court acknowledged this problem, stating that denying the defendant the opportunity to have their case heard in their language of choice in the first instance contradicts the purpose of the 1935 law on language use in judicial matters.
The court clarified that the language law remains constitutional as long as it is interpreted to require appeal courts to send such cases back to the first-instance level.
The Court of Cassation must now deliver its ruling based on this guidance.
What is the law?
According to Belgium's language laws, the territoriality principle of justice is nuanced. In the Brussels-Capital district, claims can be in either language.
In the municipalities in the periphery, and in the police courts of Halle and Vilvoorde, a request can be submitted before the start of the trial to refer the case to a French-speaking judge in Brussels.
Ninove is included as Brussels periphery.
