The coronavirus in Belgium has forced its citizens to containment. Despite the recommendations, many Belgians do not respect the measures taken by the government and leave their homes. For a little over two weeks, the police have been verbalizing these offenses for an amount of 250 euros. According to a specialist lawyer, these fines are not payable. This is not the opinion of a public prosecutor.
More and more Belgians are being verbalized by the police because they have not respected the rules of confinement. The fine amounts to 250 euros. But it is not certain that offenders will be punished …
According to Bruno Gysels, a lawyer specializing in road traffic, there is no point in paying: you can easily challenge your fine before the Council of State. “I would first like to clarify my point, which is in no way intended to invite anyone not to respect the rules of confinement. People receive a transaction proposal. Which means as the name suggests it is a proposal to pay a certain amount to stop any lawsuits. This in no way means that it is a compulsory payment for the roof. It is not a fine, the fine being a sum of money that a court decides to charge a citizen. This is not the case here. Is there a risk that the courts will take up the problem? I think not. From the moment when we know the congestion of justice and in particular the criminal courts, we cannot imagine that already 60,000 PVs have been drawn up. even if we take a figure of 10,000 people who do not pay the transaction, it is unimaginable, it is impracticable that the prosecution prosecute these people. So I do not encourage people not to pay, I enlighten them on the situation in which they find themselves“.
Ignacio de la Serna, Attorney General at the Mons Court of Appeal, did not like these statements. “At the level of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, instructions have been given so that these offenses are treated as a priority. It is true that there are many, but you should know that at the departmental level, they have set up a whole digitization system. All the processing will be automated. For the rest, in agreement with the presidents of the courts, there are hearings ‘Infractions Covid-19’ which have been set up and the public prosecutor’s offices will give priority to the most flagrant offenses and to the most obvious violations“.
> CORONAVIRUS in Belgium: all info
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