Belgian Advocate Aptitude Test flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Legal personality

The capacity to hold rights and duties; in Belgian law it begins at birth for natural persons and on registration for legal persons such as companies and non-profits.

Abuse of rights

A doctrine allowing courts to sanction a right holder who exercises a right with the sole intent to harm another or beyond the reasonable purpose of that right.

Burden of proof

The rule that the party alleging a fact must prove it; under Belgian civil law the claimant bears the burden unless a legal presumption reverses it.

Kort geding

Summary proceedings before the president of the court of first instance allowing urgent provisional measures where delay would cause irreparable harm, without deciding the merits.

Legality principle

The rule that no crime or punishment exists without a prior statutory basis; it forbids analogy against the accused and requires clear, foreseeable criminal norms.

Salduz right

The right of a suspect to consult a lawyer before the first police interrogation, derived from the ECtHR Salduz judgment and codified in Belgian criminal procedure.

Partie civile

A victim who joins the criminal proceedings as a civil claimant to seek damages, allowing the criminal court to rule on the civil claim.

Prescription of prosecution

The time limit within which the prosecution must be brought: 20 years for crimes, 5 years for délits, and 6 months for contraventions, subject to suspension and interruption.

BV/SRL

The Belgian private limited company with no minimum capital, requiring a financial plan and liquidity and net-asset tests before distributions to shareholders.

Business judgment rule

A protection for directors who act in good faith, on an informed basis, and in the company's interest, shielding them from liability for unsuccessful business decisions.

Judicial reorganisation

A Belgian pre-insolvency procedure under Book XX of the Economic Code allowing a company to restructure debts under court supervision while continuing its activities.

Eenheidsstatuut

The 2014 unified statute aligning notice periods and severance for blue- and white-collar workers, scaling notice with seniority.

Dringende reden

Serious cause allowing immediate dismissal without notice or severance; the employer must notify the worker within three working days of learning the facts.

Paritair comité

A sectoral joint committee of employer and employee representatives that concludes collective agreements binding on all employers and workers in that sector.

Gunstigheidsbeginsel

The principle that a lower-level collective agreement may derogate from a higher-level one only if it is more favourable to the worker.

Constitutional Court

Belgium's court with twelve judges that reviews statutes, decrees, and ordinances for compliance with the Constitution and the distribution of competences.

Council of State

Belgium's supreme administrative court, whose administrative section annuls unlawful administrative acts and whose legislative section advises on draft legislation.

Beginselen van behoorlijk bestuur

General principles of good administration, including legality, proportionality, motivation, hearing the interested party, and care, used to review administrative action.

Lex mitior

The principle that a new, more lenient criminal law applies retroactively to offences committed before its entry into force.

VVPRbis

A Belgian regime reducing dividend withholding tax to 15% for SMEs that meet capital, contribution, and shareholding conditions.

Bedrijfsvoorheffing

Payroll tax withheld monthly by the employer from employee remuneration and remitted to the tax administration as an advance on personal income tax.

Taxatieprocedure

The administrative assessment procedure allowing the tax administration to audit and assess within three years, extendable for fraud, with an objection right for the taxpayer.

Beroepsgeheim

The professional secrecy of lawyers protected by Article 458 of the Penal Code, covering all information learned in the exercise of the profession.

Pactum de quota litis

An agreement making the lawyer's fee contingent on the outcome of the case; it is prohibited under Belgian professional ethics.

Hoge Raad voor de Justitie

The High Council of Justice, an independent body advising on judicial appointments and exercising disciplinary oversight over judges and prosecutors.

Direct effect

The capacity of EU law to create rights that individuals may invoke before national courts, fully for regulations and conditionally for directives.

Preliminary reference

The procedure under Article 267 TFEU allowing national courts to ask the Court of Justice to interpret EU law, obligatory for courts of last instance.

State aid

A selective advantage granted by a Member State that distorts competition; it is prohibited unless notified and approved or covered by an exemption.

Brussels I bis

The EU regulation on jurisdiction and recognition of judgments in civil and commercial matters, allowing suit at the defendant's domicile with limited special grounds.

Rome I

The EU regulation determining the law applicable to contractual obligations, permitting party autonomy and providing default rules where no choice is made.

Ordre public

The public policy exception allowing a Belgian court to refuse application of a foreign law or recognition of a foreign judgment manifestly incompatible with fundamental Belgian values.

IRAC method

A legal analysis structure identifying the Issue, stating the Rule, Applying it to the facts, and reaching a Conclusion.