CHAPTER III
AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT OF 17 APRIL 1878 CONTAINING THE PRELIMINARY TITLE OF THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Article 18
The following amendments shall be made to article 12 bis of the same preliminary Title, inserted by the Act of 17 April 1986 and replaced by the Act of 18 July 2001:
(1) The words “The Belgian courts shall be competent” shall be replaced by the words “Except in the cases referred to in articles 6 to 11, the Belgian courts shall also be competent”.
(2) The words “international treaty” shall be replaced by “a rule of international treaty or customary law”.
(3) The words “this treaty” shall be replaced by the words “this rule”.
(4) The following paragraphs shall be added to the article:
“A prosecution, including the criminal investigation, may only be instituted on the application of the federal prosecutor who assesses any complaints. There shall be no legal remedy against such a decision.
If the federal prosecutor has been seized of a complaint in application of the preceding paragraphs, he or she shall request the investigating judge to institute an investigation of the complaint, except if:
(1) the complaint is manifestly unfounded; or
(2) the facts referred to in the complaint do not correspond with the definition of the offences laid down in
Book II, Title I bis of the Criminal Code; or
(3) the complaint cannot lead to an admissible prosecution; or
(4) it emerges from the specific circumstances of the case that, in the interests of the proper administration of justice and in the light of Belgium’s international obligations, the matter should be heard by the international courts, or by the courts of the place where the crimes were committed, or the courts of the State of which the accused is a national or the place where he or she may be found, provided the court in question meets the requirements of independence, impartiality and fairness, as can be established in particular from the relevant international instruments binding Belgium and the State in question.
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