Administrative law - Statute of limitations - Damages for criminal offences

The release by statute of limitations of five years of a civil claim for damages for criminal offences has been held unconstitutional by the Court of Arbitration.

The public action for criminal offences expires by statute of limitations after six months, five years or ten years depending on the nature of the criminal offence. The injured party has a civil claim for compensation for the damage caused by a criminal offence. This civil claim is released by statute of limitations five years after the criminal offence but never before the release of the public action itself.

This period is shorter than the normal period of statute of limitations of thirty years for claims for damages for torts.

Most environmental laws in Belgium being enforced with criminal sanctions, civil claims for damages for violation of such environmental law therefore often expired five years after the facts and not thirty years thereafter.

In a judgement of 21 March 1995, the Court of Arbitration, at the request of the Court of First Instance of Ghent, decided that this distinction violates the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination incorporated in articles 10 and 11 of the Belgian Constitution. The distinction made between the victim of a tort which is not a criminal offence and the victims of a tort which is also a criminal offence is objective, but its aim is not proportionate to the consequences for the victims of such offences. The distinction has in fact as a consequence that the victim of a crime is in a substantially worse position than the victim of a tort that is not a crime.

The question being raised on the occasion of a specific case by a court, the Court of Arbitration was not able to annul the distinction. The decision of the Court of Arbitration will therefore only apply to the case being considered at that time. Nevertheless, victims of criminal offences will be able to invoke this judgement to avoid the five-year statute of limitations The Federal and Regional Governments can now also request the Court of Arbitration to annul the legal rule making that distinction.

The content of this article is intended to provide general information on the subject matter. It is therefore not a substitute for specialist advice.

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