FEDERAL PUBLIC JUSTICE
25 JANUARY 2005. - Joint Directive of the Minister of Justice and the Board of Procurators-General on the establishment, registration and prosecution of offenses relating to the possession of cannabis
A. Introduction
Following the judgment of the Constitutional Court of 20 October 2004, published in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2004, with Article 16 of the Law of 3 May 2003 amending the Law of 24 February 1921 on the marketing of toxic substances, sedatives and narcotics agents, disinfectants and antiseptics and substances that can be used for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was destroyed, were, in the recent past, within each jurisdiction, homonymous temporary guidelines distributed on prosecuting possession by adults , of very limited amounts of cannabis.
It concerns the following service letters:
• the Circular of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Brussels, dated December 16, 2004;
• the Circular of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Ghent, dated November 30, 2004;
• the Circular of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Bergen, dated December 27, 2004;
• the Circular of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Antwerp, dated December 17, 2004;
• the Circular of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal, Liège, dated October 29, 2004.
B. Scope
1. This common directive confirms the provisions of the circulars that were distributed. Distinguished by the attorney general
In order to facilitate the application of these provisions shall be replaced by the aforementioned circulars current common directive also complements implies about the mode of assessment and registration of certain breaches of the drug laws.
This common directive does not change the provisions of the Ministerial Directive of 16 May 2003 on the prosecution policy on hold and retail in illegal narcotics that are not related to Article 16 of the Law of May 3, 2003, annulled by the Court of Arbitration.
2. This common Directive shall enter into force on 1 February 2005.
C. Guidelines on prosecuting
1. To the possession, by an adult, an amount of cannabis for personal use, as given in the past, the lowest priority in the prosecution policy, except where the property is accompanied by aggravating circumstances or disturbance of public order.
2. As under the regime of the Ministerial Directive of 16 May 2003 on the prosecution policy on hold and retail in illegal narcotics, possession of a quantity of cannabis maximum of 3 grams or one cultivated plant, by an adult person, without any indication of sale or trade is present, deemed to be for personal use.
Useful sake can be made in this regard to Article 26bis, 2 ° of the Royal Decree of December 31, 1930 regulating the sedatives and narcotics and on risk reduction and therapeutic counseling, as inserted by the Royal Decree of 16 May 2003 that the crime determines that belong to the "first category", being the infringements on import, manufacture, transport, purchase and possession of narcotics and sleep, as well as the cultivation of cannabis plants for personal use.
3. The aggravating circumstances are those listed in Article 2a of the Act of February 24, 1921. The conditions that disrupt public order, are:
• possession of cannabis in a prison or in an institution for youth;
• possession of cannabis in an education or similar institution or in their immediate vicinity. These are the places where students gather or meet, such as a stop for public transport or park in the vicinity of a school;
• the ostentatious possession of cannabis in a public place or a place that is accessible to the public (eg a hospital).
The prosecutor will take into account local conditions and will, if necessary, about giving precise guidelines.
In order to ensure adequate maintenance of public order and taking into account the capacity of the police, a special directive are distributed in response to mass gatherings. By any prosecutor This temporary and specific directive must then seek a specific event and motivated by circumstances specific to the event itself (eg a rock festival).
D. Guidelines on identification and registration
1. The determination of the possession, by an adult, an amount of cannabis that 3 grams does not exceed or one cannabis plant for personal use without aggravating circumstance or disturbance of public order, will only lead to the establishment of a simplified process report (VPV). In all other cases an ordinary official report drawn up.
2. In the simplified protocol, only the following information:
• note number
• date and place of the facts
• nature of the facts (type and quantity of the product)
• full identity of the perpetrator
• summary of his version of the facts.
3. The simplified records will be kept within the police that the determination has been made. On an electronic device
4. The simplified reports shall be once a month, using a list submitted to the office of the place where the adoption was done.
5. The simplified records will not be imported. In the REA / TPI system Since no flooring business, they do not belong to the inflow, outflow of stock or the prosecutors. They are not counted in the statistics parquet.
6. The offenses which, in the context of this Directive, registered in VPV, give rise to a seizure of the drugs found. This may therefore remain in the possession of the person concerned. If the latter voluntarily renounces, these substances are destroyed immediately by the head of the police force. Designated purpose
Brussels, 25 January 2005.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice,
Mrs. L. ONKELINX
The Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Brussels, President of the Board of Procurators General,
A. OF OUDENHOVE
The Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Antwerp,
Mrs. Ch. DEKKERS
Mons, the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal
G. Ladrière
The Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Ghent,
F. Schins
The Attorney General at the Court of Appeal, Liège,
C. Visartpark the BOCARME
Source: Belgisch Staatsblad