Judges to protest pension cuts by delaying cases
Judges in East Flanders, West Flanders and Namur are taking action to protest against the government's plans for their pensions and the lack of resources in the judiciary. Starting on Monday, they will postpone hearing cases for the whole week.
On Wednesday, the public prosecutor's office of West Flanders, the public prosecutor's office of East Flanders and the labour inspectorate of Ghent announced protest measures. From Monday 5 May, they will ask all police magistrates in East and West Flanders to postpone most cases. The action will continue until the end of the week.
On Friday evening, the peace and police judges of the judicial district of Namur announced in a press release that they would join the protest. Speeding cases and appeals against payment orders will be postponed, as well as cases where the defendants are not present or represented. They also reserve the right to limit the number of cases heard at each hearing.
"Like their colleagues throughout the country, the peace and police magistrates of the judicial district of Namur were deeply shocked to learn of the significant changes the current government intends to make to the calculation of their pensions," the press release states.
Government talks unsuccessful
The judges are following in the footsteps of other Belgian magistrates who last month protested against the federal government's planned pension reforms. They say the reforms could reduce their purchasing power by 30 to 40 per cent. But the protests are also about increased workloads, poor working conditions and underfunding of the judiciary.
Despite the protests, talks with Pensions minister Jan Jambon continue. But their latest meeting on Tuesday failed to produce an agreement. Jambon's cabinet reiterated that the magistrates' calculation of purchasing power was based on a "false premise", while the magistrates accused the government of failing to make a concrete calculation of the impact of all the combined measures.
Jambon said on Wednesday that he regretted that the protests are going ahead while consultations were taking place. The minister stressed that the pension reform requires an effort from everyone, including magistrates. New rounds of talks will be held later in May and June.
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