Weapon confiscations at Antwerp courthouse highlight regional security gaps
At Antwerp’s Palace of Justice, more prohibited weapons have been discovered on visitors this year than in the whole of 2024. The building, known as the Butterfly Palace, is the only courthouse in Flanders equipped with a scanning system for visitors, higlighting potential security gaps in other courthouses across the region.
The courthouse features a "scanning street", an automated system that checks all visitors as they enter the building. In September alone, 19,270 people passed through the scanner, with weapons being seized every day. On some days, up to 30 prohibited items were confiscated.
Items intercepted have ranged from knives, pepper spray, machetes and boxing braces to other objects such as work equipment and files. So far in 2025, 43 incidents have been formally reported to the police, compared with 42 in all of 2024.
Risks across Flanders
The high number of confiscations at Antwerp highlights the risks faced by other courthouses in the Antwerp-Limburg jurisdiction that do not have similar screening measures. This includes facilities in Mechelen, Turnhout, Tongeren and Hasselt, and the Court of Appeal in Antwerp, according to Luc De Cleir, spokesperson for the Antwerp-Limburg regional courts.
De Cleir added that security challenges extended beyond major courthouses to smaller peace courts, where safety measures such as panic buttons often do not function properly. He noted that strengthening courthouse security is part of wider proposals aimed at making society safer and more just.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO WIM KEMPENAERS
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