The Ghent Advocate General, who, as a member of the High Council of Justice, provided a candidate with the assignment for the magistrates’ examination in advance, appeared before the Attorney General in Ghent on Thursday in the context of the disciplinary investigation.
Pending the results of the criminal investigation, he would be faced with at least a suspension for the duration of the prosecution. The Ghent public prosecutor’s office will not officially communicate about this until Friday. The young trainee lawyer to whom he passed on the exam questions risks suspension or expulsion by the disciplinary board. This has not yet been officially announced, because the West Flanders Bar says it considers this “an internal matter”.
Shock waves
The High Council of Justice (HRJ) transferred the file to Attorney General Erwin Dernicourt on Sunday with the request to start a criminal investigation. That investigation has now been opened. However, following the rumors and reports of fraud, the Supreme Court of Justice had already started an investigation into the course of the Dutch-language criminal law magistrates’ examination, which took place in January.
The fact that a top magistrate commits exam fraud to please the son of a friendly magistrate couple (a department prosecutor in Bruges and a judge in Ypres) continues to cause shock waves in the judicial world. He would also have kept the candidate informed of subtle changes to the assignment in the days before the exam, the HRJ reported on Sunday.
Fraud admitted
The candidate and the jury member admitted the fraud in an interview with the members of the examination committee. The jury member resigned from the HRJ. Because the man has served on several examination committees over the past three years, the HRJ has asked the Attorney General to conduct the investigation “as broadly as possible”.
To ensure the impartiality of the investigation, the file has been transferred to the Court of Cassation via the Minister of Justice. That should determine whether the case moves to the Court of Appeal of Antwerp or Brussels, but the decision on this was not yet known on Thursday evening.
Referral to disciplinary court
In terms of disciplinary law, the Ghent attorney general still has a role as chief of police of the magistrate. The man appeared before the Attorney General on Thursday, but the Public Prosecutor’s Office will not communicate about the measure imposed until Friday. Luc Arnou, the attorney general’s lawyer, is also unavailable for comment. This probably concerns a suspension from office as a disciplinary measure for the duration of the prosecution. This lasts three months but can be extended until a final decision is made, and may be accompanied by a deduction of 20 percent of the gross salary.
As a disciplinary authority, the Attorney General himself can only impose a light disciplinary penalty (a reprimand or blame), but due to the seriousness of the case and the confessions, a “severe disciplinary penalty” is expected (as the law describes). To this end, the Attorney General will take the case to the disciplinary court, because it can only impose severe disciplinary penalties such as dismissal, dismissal or loss of salary. The disciplinary court in Ghent will then decide on the punishment and does not have to wait for a criminal decision. This also happened in the disciplinary case against the former East Flemish public prosecutor Johan Sabbe.
Parents and son also punished?
It has not yet been determined whether the trainee lawyer’s parents will also face criminal charges, but a disciplinary investigation has been started against them by their respective superiors as prosecutor and judge. A provisional suspension is also expected for them if there are sufficient indications of their involvement.
Their son also risks disciplinary punishment, but not from the court but from the bar as a trainee lawyer. The chairman of the bar can himself initiate disciplinary proceedings against a lawyer who is alleged to have violated the professional rules. The lawyer or trainee lawyer can be brought before the disciplinary board, which can impose a warning, a reprimand, a suspension or a disbarment. In the event of disbarment, the lawyer will be permanently banned from practicing the profession for life.
New exam
The HRJ previously announced that due to the fraud, the written test in criminal law and contract law was annulled for all candidates, and that the trainee lawyer is excluded from participating in new exams. The other candidates will be offered a new exam opportunity “at short notice”, but the HRJ cannot yet say on Thursday when that will happen.
