Fiches Belges

The seizure, even at post offices, of letters, packages, valuables, telegrams or any other mail, is permitted by law when there are substantial reasons to suspect that: a) the mail has been sent by the suspect or that he is the recipient under another name or via another person; b) it is a crime punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding 3 years, and c) that such a step may be useful in establishing the true facts or for the purposes of evidence. Seizure or any other form of interception of the mail between the accused and his/her lawyer is prohibited, unless the judge has a good reason to believe that it constitutes an object or an element of the crime. The seizure of mail is also allowed as a cautionary measure, when parcels or sealed values liable to be seized, if there is a reason to believe that they may contain information useful to the investigation of a criminal offence or that they may lead to its disclosure and that they could be lost in case of delay. Once seized the mail, the Criminal Police will forward it, intact, to the judge who authorized or ordered the measure. The judge who ordered the interception is the first person to examine the contents of it. If he/she deems the mail to be relevant as criminal evidence, he/she shall order it to be added to the criminal file; otherwise, he/she shall forward it to the addressee and it cannot be used as means of evidence. The judge is bound to secrecy in respect of all the information he/she received and is not taken in as evidence. When the seizure of mail is applied as cautionary measure, the Criminal Police informs the judge as quickly as possible. The judge may order such items to be opened forthwith. Once such grounds are established, the Criminal Police can order the suspension of all mail deliveries to post and telecommunication offices. If, within 48 hours, the order is not executed by reasoned order of the judge, the mail will be handed to the addressee. It can be performed when the investigations are about criminal offences punishable with imprisonment exceeding 3 years.

The examining judge is the competent authority to authorise/order this investigative measure. The seizure is ordered or authorized by a judge or during the investigation phase by the examining judge at the request of the Public Prosecutor. The Criminal Police can seize the evidence in case of urgency and submit it to the competent judicial authority for validation under the above circumstances.

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Domestic legal regime: articles 179º and 252º of the Criminal Procedural Code