Belgium: Terrorism Risk Insurance
(July 2, 2008) The Belgian Law of April 1, 2007, on insurance against damages caused by terrorism went into effect on May 1, 2008. It applies to insurance of terrorism risks in Belgium. It was already mandatory for insurers to include terrorism coverage in certain types of insurance contracts, including workers' compensation, motor vehicle liability, […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2008-07-02
Article
Belgium: Terror Suspects Convicted, Sentenced
(May 13, 2010) It was reported on May 10, 2010, that eight people were convicted in Belgium for leading a terrorist group and recruiting people to fight for the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fighters were recruited from Belgium and France. (Belgium Convicts Eight on Terrorism Charges, BBC NEWS, May 10, 2010, […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2010-05-13
Article
Belgium: Draft Law on Nationality
(Apr. 21, 2010) On April 2, 2010, the Belgian Council of Ministers endorsed a draft law amending the Belgian Nationality Code. The proposal was presented to the Council by Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck. (Press Release, Premier Ministre de Belgique, Nationalité belge: adaptation des conditions pour l'obtention de la nationalité belge (Apr. 2, 2010), available […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2010-04-21
Article
Belgium; Luxembourg; Netherlands: New Treaty
(July 2, 2008) Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed a new Benelux Treaty on June 17, 2008, in The Hague. The new treaty revises the present treaty, signed in 1958, which will come to an end on October 31, 2010. Article 2 of the new treaty provides its main objectives: to protect the Benelux countries' […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2008-07-02
Article
Belgium: Class Action Lawsuits Introduced
(June 26, 2014) On March 28, 2014, the Federal Parliament of Belgium enacted a law adding a new section on “collective compensation action” to the Code of Economic Law. The new title on collective compensation action will be part of Book XVII, Special Jurisdictional Procedures of the Code. (Loi portant insertion d’un titre 2 “De […]
Belgium: List of Tax Havens Gazetted
(May 21, 2010) A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code 1992. The decree was published in the May 12, 2010, issue of the official gazette, MONITEUR […]
Contributor:
Zeldin, Wendy
Date:2010-05-21
Article
European Union: Belgium Assumes European Union Presidency
(July 2, 2010) July 1, 2010, marks the beginning of Belgium's assumption, for the next six months, of the rotating Presidency of the European Union, taking over that office from Spain. Belgium, one of the original six founding members of what was once the European Community, has a caretaker government amidst domestic problems including the […]
Contributor:
Papademetriou, Theresa
Date:2010-07-02
Article
Netherlands: Belgian Employees May Lose Tax Deferral
(Dec. 30, 2011) The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the “30% rule,” whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary from payment of Dutch taxes. Employees of Belgian companies who work in both Belgium and the […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2011-12-30
Article
Belgium: Compensation of Holocaust Survivors
(Apr. 2, 2008) The Commission on Restitution for Holocaust Victims (Commission pour le dédommagement des membres de la Communauté juive de Belgique) issued its final report on February 4, 2008. The Commission reviewed 5,620 claims and awarded compensation in 5,210 cases, for a total amount of €35.2 million (about US$55.4 million). One hundred sixty-two awards […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2008-04-02
Article
Belgium: Employment of Bulgarian and Romanian Nationals
(Dec. 16, 2008) On December 5, 2008, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved a draft royal regulation that keeps barriers in place against the hiring of Bulgarian and Romanian workers for three more years, from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2011, because of the risk of unemployment due to the economic crisis. The government, […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2008-12-16
Article
Belgium: Court Rules Tax Haven Requirements Constitutional
(Feb. 4, 2016) Belgium’s Constitutional Court issued a decision on January 21, 2016, on the question of whether tax havens are unconstitutional. The decision, No. 11/2016, was in response to a request for a preliminary ruling sent by a lower court in Antwerp. The request asked whether the rules prohibiting tax deductibility and imposing reporting […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2016-02-04
Article
Belgium: Removal of Age Restriction for Euthanasia
(Mar. 11, 2014) On March 2, 2014, Belgium’s King Philippe signed into law an amendment to that country’s euthanasia law that would open the medically assisted suicide option to children. (Christian Laporte, Le Roi a signé la loi sur l’extension de l’euthanasie [The King Has Signed the Law Extending Euthanasia], LA LIBRE (updated Mar. 3, […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2014-03-11
Article
Belgium: Euthanasia Option May Be Extended to Children
(Dec. 17, 2013) On December 12, 2013, the Belgian Senate voted to permit euthanasia in cases of children who are terminally ill. The proposal had been approved by a Senate committee on November 27. (Jaclyn Belczyk, Belgium Senate Votes to Extend Euthanasia Law to Terminally Ill Minors, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST (Dec. 13, 2013); Proposition de […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2013-12-17
Article
Belgium: Rules for Hiring Out Labor Come into Force
(Mar. 4, 2013) A Belgian law of December 27, 2012, published in the State Gazette on December 31, became effective on January 10, 2013. Among its provisions are rules on the hiring out of workers to other companies. (Leen Holvoet, The New Programme Act, LEXGO.BE (last visited Feb. 28, 2013).) Belgium’s government defines the “hiring […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2013-03-04
Article
Belgium: New Obligation to Report Payments to Tax Havens
(Jan. 25, 2010) As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold is €100,000, and a tax haven is defined as either 1) a country considered by the […]
Contributor:
Johnson, Constance
Date:2010-01-25
Article
Belgium Adopts Confinement Measures to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus
(Mar. 19, 2020) On March 18, 2020, the Belgian minister of Security and the Interior issued an executive order imposing mandatory confinement measures in an effort to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents are required to stay home and are allowed to leave only for one of the following reasons: To go to […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2020-03-19
Article
Belgium: Ban on Islamic Headscarves in Flanders
(Oct. 6, 2009) Effective as of 2010, the Flanders Educational Council will implement a recently issued ban on the wearing of Islamic headscarves in public schools located in Flanders. The Council justified its decision by citing the great pressure exerted on Muslim students who do not wear scarves by those students who are wearing them. […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2009-10-06
Article
Belgium: Antwerp Attorney-General Calls for Comprehensive DNA Database
(Dec. 5, 2013) Yves Liégeois, the Attorney-General (Procureur-général) of Antwerp, has recently suggested that DNA samples be taken from all babies born in Belgium, as well as from all new immigrants, and entered into a database that could be used to solve future crimes. “I think it would be a good idea to collect DNA […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2013-12-05
Article
Belgium: Proposed Amendment on Removal of Abortion from Penal Code
(Aug. 23, 2018) On August 1, 2018, the Justice Commission of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives adopted a bill introduced by representatives of the Ecolo-Groen opposition party that would remove abortion from the Penal Code and place relevant provisions in a public health law. (Proposition de loi relative à l’interruption volontaire de grossesse (1er août […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2018-08-23
Article
Belgium: New Law on Compensation of Victims of No-Fault Medical Accidents
(May 4, 2010) Belgium's Law of March 31, 2010, on the Compensation for Damages Resulting from Medical Care, was published in the Moniteur Belge, Belgium's official gazette, on April 2, 2010. (Loi du 31 mars 2010 relative à l'indemnisation des dommages résultant de soins de santé, MONITEUR BELGE, Service Public Fédéral Justice website, available at […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2010-05-04
Article
Belgium: International Human Rights Organization to File Complaint over Treatment of Roma
(Sept. 29, 2010) The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues will file a complaint against Belgium before the Council of Europe Social Rights Committee over Belgium's treatment of Roma and “travelers” (La Belgique poursuivie au Conseil de l'Europe pour son traitement des roms, LEMONDE.FR (Sept. 20, 2010), http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2010/09/20/la-belgique-poursuivie-au-conseil-de-l-europe-pour-son-traitement-des-roms_1413475_3214.html). The complaint will be based on violation […]
Contributor:
Atwill, Nicole
Date:2010-09-29
Article
Belgium: Parliament Votes to Remove Statute of Limitations for Sexual Crimes Against Minors
(Dec. 19, 2019) On November 28, 2019, the Belgian Chamber of Representatives adopted a bill to remove the statute of limitations for “serious sexual crimes committed against minors” (délits sexuels graves commis sur des mineurs). Under articles 21 and 21bis of the current version of the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure, the statute of limitations […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2019-12-19
Article
European Court of Human Rights: Ruling Against Greece and Belgium on Asylum Procedure
(Jan. 24, 2011) On January 21, 2011, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered its judgment in the case of M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece and held that Greece and Belgium violated three articles of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms pertaining to right to life, prohibition […]
Contributor:
Papademetriou, Theresa
Date:2011-01-24
Article
Belgium: Report Reveals Euthanasia Commission Authorized Euthanasia of Three Minors in 2016–17
(Oct. 29, 2018) Belgium has the world’s only law allowing terminally ill minors in “unbearable suffering” to choose to die. (Henry Samuel, Belgium Authorized Euthanasia of a Terminally Ill Nine and 11-Year-Old in Youngest Cases Worldwide, TELEGRAPH (Aug. 7, 2018).) According to a report published on July 17, 2018, by the Commission fédérale de Contrôle […]
