Police tribunal (Belgium)
The police tribunal (Dutch: politierechtbank, French: tribunal de police, German: Polizeigericht) is the traffic court and trial court which tries minor contraventions in the judicial system of Belgium.
The defendants, as well as any victim seeking civil damages, can be assisted or represented by counsel, but this is not required.
The police tribunals have original jurisdiction over all contraventions (Dutch: overtreding, French: contravention, German: Übertretung), which are the least serious types of crimes under Belgian law (such as nightly noise nuisance or acts of violence that did not cause any injury).
In addition, the prosecutor can prosecute delicts (Dutch: wanbedrijf, French: délit, German: Vergehen), which is the category of crimes more serious than contraventions under Belgian law (comparable to misdemeanors or lesser felonies), as contraventions through the process of contraventionalisation.
The police tribunals can also impose traffic-specific penalties, such as a driver's license suspension.
However, even if the prosecutor does not bring any charges against the person responsible for a traffic accident, the police tribunal will still hear any civil action related to the case.
[1][4] Aside from establishing local ordinances of which the violation is punished as a contravention, Belgian law also allows municipalities to establish municipal administrative sanctions (Dutch: gemeentelijke administratieve sanctie, French: sanction administrative communale, German: kommunale Verwaltungssanktion) themselves.
[1][5][6] The police tribunals hear appeals against other kinds of administrative penalties as well, such as fines or stadium bans issued under the Belgian football law [nl].
[1][5] Lastly, the police tribunals are responsible for issuing search warrants related to the inspection and enforcement of specific laws, such as the laws on taxation, customs duties, gambling, animal welfare or environmental protection.
Additionally, the police tribunals decided on 364 search warrant requests in total as well in 2016.
