Fiches Belges: Belgium
Sending and service of procedural documents (406) 1. MEASURE IMPLEMENTATION |
Is this measure possible in your Member State under International Judicial Cooperation? | Yes.
This measure allows the sending of convocations and other procedural documents concerning judicial proceedings, issued by competent judicial authorities to the attention of persons having their residenc in Belgium.
|
2. LEGAL FRAMEWORK |
International legal framework applicable for this measure in your Member State | 1959 Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters;
2000 Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union |
3. COMPETENT AUTHORITY TO: |
* receive the request/decision for judicial cooperation | The letter of request has to be sent to the local public prosecutor's office of the geographical area where the investigating measure has to be executed. if this area is not known, the letter of request has to be sent to the federal prosecutor's office - section of international cooperation.
| * execute/recognise the measure (if other than the receiving authority) | The public prosecutor
|
4. ACCEPTED LANGUAGES |
Accepted languages for the request/decision | Dutch, French and German
Important remarks: before the execution, the letter of request will be translated by the Belgian prosecutor if the language is not the language of the judicial area where the letter of request has to be executed.
It is recommended, when possible, to obtain previously the information about the correct language. |
5. EXECUTION DEADLINE |
Deadlines for the execution of the request/decision (where applicable) | There is no specific deadline foreseen by the Belgian law for the execution of letters of request.
If the requested deadline cannot be respected, the requesting state will be informed accordingly. |
6. CONCISE LEGAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION |
a. Special requirements | Principle: procedural documents are sent to the addressee directly by post. Notification via the Prosecutor / the Police is possible in one of the following cases:
- the address of the addressee is unknown or uncertain;
- the relevant procedural law of the requesting State requires proof of service of the document on the addressee, other than proof that can be obtained by post;
- impossibility of serving the document by post;
- the requesting State has justified reasons for considering that dispatch by post will be ineffective or is inappropriate. | b. Other useful information | N/A |
|