2023-09-07 04:41:09
For a year, she has been at the center of the most important trial in Belgian judicial history. Hailed for her mastery of the hearings at the trial of the Brussels attacks, Laurence Massart finds herself before the Justice today. She brought an action against the Belgian State because the Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, refused to extend his mandate within the Court of Appeal. This deserves some explanation.
Laurence Massart has been the first president of the Brussels Court of Appeal since 2018. This is a 5-year term that can be extended once. His request for an extension was refused by the Minister of Justice. His professional skills are not in question. The problem is its linguistic identity.
In Brussels, the law requires that the public prosecutor and the first president of the court of appeal be perfectly bilingual, but also that one is Dutch-speaking and the other French-speaking. In addition, there must be a linguistic alternation in the succession to this function.
For the moment, the situation is balanced. The Attorney General of Brussels, Johan Delmulle, is Dutch-speaking. But he is coming to the end of his term and will have to give way to a French speaker. In turn, this means that the next president of the Brussels Court of Appeal will have to be Dutch-speaking. So it can’t be Laurence Massart.
This morning, his lawyer will present his arguments before the French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels. She will be at Justitia to preside over the Assize Court on the Brussels attacks.
Laurence Massart also lodged an appeal before the Council of State. For his part, the Minister of Justice considers that he is only applying the law.
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