Presumed criminals placed under electronic surveillance could now be allowed to go free while waiting for their trial, due to new legislation. This is the direct consequence of a decree from the Supreme Court issued on Wednesday, La Dernière Heure reported on Friday. The law put in place on the 27th of December 2012, which introduced electronic surveillance as a preventative sentence, contains a large oversight: it doesn’t say which authority is responsible for overseeing the surveillance between its application and the person going back to court.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, which only rules on law, agreed with a lawyer who argued that his client’s electronic surveillance couldn’t be continued after the end of the investigation sessions. A decision that could see dozens of people set free.
The Justice Minister Koen Geens has been informed of the situation. “The minister has said legislative projects will be put in place to deal with this aspect in the penal code reform”, according to the spokesman.
(Source: Belga)
