On Tuesday 17 June 2025, Van Olmen & Wynant, together with the Institute for Company Lawyers (IBJ/IJE) had the pleasure to organise an Employment Forum at De Warande, welcoming over 80 in-house counsels, HR experts and other professionals.
The Forum focused on the Act of 18 May 2024 regarding Private Investigations (Wet Private Opsporing / Loi sur la Recherche Privée) that entered into force on 16 December 2024. This Act replaced the old Private Detectives Act of 1991, but has a broader scope. Therefore, it seems to create a strict framework for certain workplace investigations. Unfortunately, the scope of the act is not very clear, leading to many discussions.
First, IJE/IBJ Vice President Hugo Vanneuville introduced the session with a critical remark from the organisation, explaining that IJE/IBJ has submitted an action for annulment before the Constitutional Court against the act, given that the act seems incompatible with the unique nature of the profession of a company lawyer (such as professional secrecy).
Next, VOW Partner Vincent Vuylsteke presented the context and scope of the act, and Senior Associate Sofya Buelens gave an overview of the formal procedure, allowed and prohibited investigation methods and the consequences for the evidence value of the investigations (when later used before a court).
Finally, Of Counsel Pieter Pecinovsky moderated a panel discussion with on the one hand Mr. Marc Moris, Prevention and Protection lead at Proximus and President of the Business Security Committee of the Belgian Federation of Enterprises (VBO/FEB), in which capacity he has been closely involved with the genesis of the act, and on the other hand Mr. Lode Barrezeele, co-founder of forensic fraud investigations bureau i-Force, who has over 20 years of experience regarding internal investigations and who is actively applying the new act into practice.
