Committing serious crimes can now lead to loss of Belgian nationality
The federal government has approved a bill that will allow the state to revoke Belgian citizenship from people found guilty of serious crimes such as homicide and sexual assault.
Anyone who has acquired Belgian nationality in the last 15 years and is found guilty of a serious crime – including homicide, sexual assault and organized crime – can be stripped of their nationality. The wide expansion of an existing law that largely applied only to terrorism has been approved by the federal Chamber of Representatives following a proposal by federal justice minister Annelies Verlinden.
Previously this legislation was only applied to terrorism, but now it has been expanded to include other serious crimes. The criminal must have received a prison sentence of at least five years to be considered for the measure. Revoking citizenship is not automatically applied to every criminal; it will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The same cannot be said for terrorists who have double nationality: Under the new legislation, their Belgian citizenship will now be automatically revoked, whereas earlier that was also handled on a case-by-case basis.
The new legislation is “a powerful message,” says Verlinden, that “anyone guilty of grave crimes that undermine the foundations of our society, can lose his or her Belgian citizenship.”
Anyone guilty of grave crimes that undermine the foundations of our society, can lose his or her Belgian citizenship
Federal justice minister Annelies Verlinden
Tougher on vehicular manslaughter
The Chamber also approved a bill submitted by Verlinden last year that would toughen sentences for traffic accidents leading to deaths. The term verkeersdoodslag, or vehicular manslaughter, will now be used, whereas earlier this was simply “causing a deadly traffic accident”.
The tougher sentences – a maximum of 10 years in prison, up from five, and fines up to €16,000 rather than €10,000 – could be applied to repeat offenders or anyone driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
