- Austrian Court Judgment VGW-103/048/3227 / 2021-2 - English Translation
- Appealing against the court ruling is still possible, but as it concerns a summary judgment, an appeal would not suspend the execution of the judgment.
Belgium must lift ‘all Covid-19 measures’ within 30 days, Brussels court rules
The Belgian State has been ordered to lift “all coronavirus measures” within 30 days, as the legal basis for them is insufficient, a Brussels court ruled on Wednesday.
The League for Human Rights had filed the lawsuit several weeks ago and challenged Belgium’s system of implementing the measures using Ministerial Decrees, which means it is done without any input from parliament.
The judge gave the Belgian State 30 days to provide a sound legal basis, or face a penalty of €5,000 per day that this period is exceeded, with a maximum limit of €200,000, reports Le Soir.
The current coronavirus measures are based on the Civil Safety Act of 2007, which enable the State to react quickly in “exceptional circumstances,” but the judge has now ruled that these laws cannot serve as a basis for the Ministerial Decrees.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-all-news/162742/belgium-must-lift-all-covid-19-measures-withing-30-days-brussels-court-rules-verlinden-human-rights-league-ministerial-decree-penalty-civil-safety-act-pandemic-law-coronavirus/
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“The judge ruled that the principle of legality has been violated because the current way of working is not foreseeable enough,” Kati Verstrepen of the Human Rights League confirmed to VRT, adding the consequences are “not so dramatic” that from one day to the next, the measures would no longer be valid.
For the time being, the current coronavirus measures will not change, and the verdict is currently being studied by the office of Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, reports De Standaard.
Appealing against the court ruling is still possible, but as it concerns a summary judgment, an appeal would not suspend the execution of the judgment.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Chamber will debate Belgium’s upcoming pandemic law, which is supposed to provide “a permanent legal basis, for taking this kind of restrictive measures during a pandemic.”
Several legal experts already pressed the Belgian State to bring forward the law as soon as possible to avoid judges cancelling fines written out for violations of the measures, and this ruling only increases the pressure to quickly adopt it.
Maïthé Chini & Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
Belgium told to lift ‘all Covid measures’: what changes?
On Wednesday afternoon, a Brussels court ruled that Belgium’s current coronavirus measures do not have a sufficient legal basis, and gave the
State 30 days to provide that basis.
But what does that actually mean?
At the end of February, the Human Rights League took the Belgian State to court as it believed that the coronavirus measures were not taken in a democratic manner. On Wednesday, the court ruled in the League’s favour, stating that the measures are insufficiently justified by law.
Despite the eye-catching result, the ruling does not comment on the content of the measures and whether or not they are effective, it only states that the legal basis is not sufficient.
For now, this means that the pressure on the federal government to quickly adopt its “pandemic law” – which will provide a permanent legal basis, for taking this kind of restrictive measures during a pandemic – has only increased.
Here’s what you need to know.
Will the measures be lifted now?
No, the measures cannot be lifted so easily. The judge gave the federal government 30 days to clear up the matter.
“The judge ruled that it was not enough for the Interior Minister (Annelies Verlinden) to announce the measures by Ministerial Decree,” constitutional specialist Stefan Sottiaux (KU Leuven), who read the ruling, said on Flemish radio. “The judge is actually deciding what my colleagues and I have been complaining about for months: it is unacceptable that Parliament is being sidelined.”
In theory, this leaves the government two options: lift all measures (which is considered the unlikely option due to the current coronavirus situation), or provide a legal basis for the measures before the 30 days are up.
If the “illegal situation” continues after this period, the government has to pay a penalty of €5,000 for each day the measures remain in force.
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Info «Le Soir» - L’Etat condamné par le tribunal de Bruxelles qui juge les mesures covid «illégales»
Mis en ligne le 31/03/2021 à 12:27 par Laurence Wauters
Mis en ligne le 31/03/2021 à 12:27 par Laurence Wauters
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Austrian Court Judgment VGW-103/048/3227 / 2021-2 - English Translation
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