the Belgian Government, by A. Snoecx, acting as Agent (C/01), Cologne) (C/01) and the Rechtbank van eerste aanleg te Veurne (Court of First under Netherlands law), which under the law of other Contracting States requires and, in particular, its relationship with Articles 55 and 58 of the CISA, as well as the.
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A lowering of the age at which sex is permitted is included in the federal government's coalition agreement and forms part of wider reforms of the penal code.
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The Open VLD's proposal has met with a lukewarm welcome from coalition partners. The N-VA nationalists and Flemish Christian democrats favour a change in the law, but believe that allowing a five year difference between a year-old child and a partner is not a good idea. Flemish nationalist lawmaker Sophie De Wit believes that experts in this field should first be heard. Christian democrat Raf Terwingen calls for the age differential to be limited to 4 years. Home News. Mon 05 Oct Wed 04 Sep Sun 04 Oct Antwerp Province Authorities insist Betty the Gnome put her clothes on! Update Mon 05 Oct Amendments to the law in April made it harder to bring a case where neither victim, plaintiff, nor accused were Belgian.
Bush were charged with war crimes under the law, relating to the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon , and the bombing of a civilian shelter in the Gulf War , respectively. Due to pressure from the United States , Belgian courts now may try only cases which involve charges against Belgian citizens or people resident in Belgium. The European Union was divided over the use of military force by the United States and UK in the months leading up to the war in Iraq that began on 19 March Belgium stood with France and Germany in opposing a military response to the crisis.
In , the far-right Vlaams Blok increased its share of the vote in regional and European elections. However, the Belgian High Court ruled that the party was racist and stripped it of the right to state funding and access to television. The party was subsequently reorganized under a new name, the Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Interest. In May , the government survived a confidence vote, enabling it to put to rest a dispute over the voting rights of French speakers in Dutch-speaking areas around Brussels.
This came after months of negotiations over the issue, which sparked demonstrations and riots and brought the government to the brink of collapse. Belgium is a hereditary monarchy governed under the constitution of This document has been frequently amended in recent years to grant recognition and autonomy to the Dutch- and French-speaking communities. Executive power is vested in the king, who appoints and removes ministers, civil servants, judges, and officers. In June , parliament approved a constitutional amendment to allow female members of the royal family to succeed to the throne.
The monarch, however, would continue to be known as king regardless of gender. With approval of parliament, the king has the power to declare war and conclude treaties; he is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. According to the constitution, the king's rights include conferring titles of nobility, granting pardons, and administering the coinage of money.
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However, none of the king's acts becomes effective unless countersigned by a minister, who assumes responsibility for such acts before parliament. Therefore, the king must choose ministers who represent the majority in parliament. Each ministry is created in response to necessity, and there is no fixed number of ministers. Legislative power is vested in the king and in the two-chamber parliament.
The Chamber of Representatives has members, who are elected for a four-year term through a system of proportional representation. The Senate has 71 members, with 40 directly elected and 31 indirectly elected or co-opted for a four-year term. All persons 18 years of age and older are entitled to vote in parliamentary elections, and those who fail to vote are subject to fines. In time of emergency, the king may convoke extraordinary sessions. The government and both chambers may introduce legislation, and both chambers have equal rights.
When a bill is introduced, a committee examines it and appoints a rapporteur, who reports on it before the full assembly. The king may dissolve the chambers either simultaneously or separately, but an election must be provided for within 40 days and a session of the new parliament must meet within two months. In accordance with the constitutional reform of , there are three communities: the Dutch-, the French-, and the German-speaking communities.
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They have, in a wholly autonomous manner, responsibility for cultural affairs, education, and for matters concerning the individual. There are also three regions Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels , which are responsible for the regional aspects of a broad range of concerns, including the economy, energy, public works and housing, employment, and environmental policy.
The institutions of the communities and regions are based on the same principles as those of the national political structure: each entity has a "regional parliament" the council , whose decisions are implemented by a "regional government" the executive. The council and the executive are directly elected and can only be brought down by a vote of no confidence.
Political parties in Belgium are organized along ethnolinguistic lines, with each group in Flanders having its Walloon counterpart. Although these changes in parties' names and new groupings have taken place in the last few years, the Belgian political landscape has not been seriously reorganized. The election ended the political career of Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, the Flemish Christian Democrat who led a center-left coalition of francophone and Flemish socialists and his francophone Christian Democratic Party throughout the s.
Six parties French-speaking and Dutch-speaking branches of the Liberal, Socialist, and Green parties reached a core agreement only three weeks after the election on forming a "blue-red-green" coalition government. It was Belgium's first government in 40 years not to include the Christian Democrats, the first to include the Greens, and the first since to be led by a Liberal prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. The presence of the Greens means a commitment to a progressive withdrawal from nuclear energy , starting with gradual decommissioning of nuclear power stations more than 40 years old.
However, the Greens were dealt a setback in the elections. In the 18 May elections, the party strength was distributed as follows: VLD, A-Spirit, Verhofstadt formed a center-left coalition government. Each of the provinces has a council of 50 to 90 members elected for four-year terms by direct suffrage and empowered to legislate in matters of local concern. A governor, appointed by the king, is the highest executive officer in each province.
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There are communes. Each municipality has a town council elected for a six-year term. The council elects an executive body called the board of aldermen. The head of the municipality is the burgomaster, who is appointed by the sovereign upon nomination by the town council. Recently, the number of municipalities has been greatly reduced through consolidation.
In , Brussels was established as a separate bilingual area, presided over by a proportionally elected metropolitan council. Linguistic parity was stipulated for the council's executive committee. Belgian law is modeled on the French legal system. The judiciary is an independent branch of government on an equal footing with the legislative and the executive branches.
Minor offenses are dealt with by justices of the peace and police tribunals. More serious offenses and civil lawsuits are brought before district courts of first instance. Other district courts are commerce and labor tribunals. All offenses punishable by prison sentences of more than five years must be dealt with by the 11 courts of assize one for each province and the city of Brussels , the only jury courts in Belgium. The highest courts are five civil and criminal courts of appeal and the supreme Court of Cassation. The latter's function is to verify that the law has been properly applied and interpreted.
The constitutionality of legislation is the province of the Council of State, an advisory legal group. When an error of procedure is found, the decision of the lower court is overruled and the case must be tried again. The death penalty was abolished for all crimes in Belgium in A system of military tribunals, including appellate courts, handles both military and commonlaw offenses involving military personnel.
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The government is considering narrowing the jurisdiction of these courts to military offenses. All military tribunals consist of four officers and a civilian judge. Detainees must be brought before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. Although there are provisions for bail, it is rarely granted. Defendants have right to be present, to have counsel, to confront witnesses, to present evidence, and to appeal.
Belgium's active armed forces in numbered 36,, with 18, reservists. In terms of personnel, the army is the largest, with 24, active members 4, reservists , followed by the air force with 6, active members 1, reservists , and the navy with 2, active personnel 1, reservists. Belgium also has an 1, active member medical service reservists and a Joint Service force of 1, active members 2, reservists. The army is equipped with 52 main battle tanks, armored infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and artillery pieces 48 self-propelled.
Belgium is a charter member of the UN, having joined on 27 December , and participates in ECE and all the nonregional specialized agencies. In , Belgium signed a treaty forming the Benelux Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg Economic Union, following a year period in which a customs union of the three countries was in effect.
Brussels, the seat of EU institutions, has become an important regional center for Western Europe. Belgium is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The country has offered support for UN efforts in Kosovo est. In relation to its size and population, Belgium is among the most highly industrialized countries in Europe.