JJustice
The High Council of Justice has discovered a case of fraud in a magistrates’ examination: a member of the examination committee, himself a magistrate and member of the High Council of Justice, had provided the assignment to a candidate in advance. He is the child of two other magistrates.
The Supreme Court transferred the file to the Attorney General of Ghent on Sunday with the request to start a criminal investigation.
The ball started rolling after rumors and a report of fraud. The Supreme Court of Justice subsequently initiated an investigation into the course of the Dutch-language criminal law magistrates’ examination of January this year. In recent days it came to light that a member of the examination committee, himself a magistrate and member of the Supreme Council of Justice, had provided the assignment to a candidate in advance. The jury member would also have kept the candidate informed of subtle changes to the assignment in the days leading up to the exam. An additional element is that the candidate is the child of two other magistrates, the Council explains in the communication.
The candidate and the jury member have now admitted the fraud in a conversation with the other members of the examination committee. The juror also immediately resigned from the Supreme Judicial Council.
The examination committee has decided to annul the written test in criminal law and law of obligations, taken in January 2024. In order not to cause delays in the selection of new magistrates, a new examination opportunity will be offered to the participants at short notice, from which the candidate concerned will be excluded.
The jury member involved has served on several examination committees over the past three years. At this point it cannot be ruled out that other candidates also had prior knowledge. The criminal investigation will have to reveal this, according to the Council for the Judiciary.
“We are deeply shocked and disappointed that the fraud could happen,” Hilde Melotte, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, said in the statement. “We have therefore asked the Attorney General of Ghent in our report to conduct his investigation as broadly as possible.” The Supreme Judicial Council will fully cooperate in all possible investigations.
