With the decree of 4 April 2014 concerning the organisation and procedure of certain Flemish administrative courts, an umbrella structure has been created for three Flemish (regional) administrative courts – the Council for Permit Disputes, the Environmental Enforcement Court of Flanders and the Council for Objections concerning Elections.
These courts, which from now on are referred to as "Vlaamse bestuursrechtscolleges" (Flemish administrative councils), continue to exist separately, each with its own president. Although the decree provides for uniform organisation and a partially harmonised procedure, the three courts have not been merged into a unified Flemish administrative body.
The Flemish administrative courts are centralised at a common venue. Therefore, the provincial councils for objections on elections have been replaced by a single (central) Council for Objections concerning Elections.
Procedure
The procedure, which is written and adversarial, is partially harmonised. The president or a chamber president of an administrative court can decide to combine cases with identical or related subject matter into one case, and to separate such cases again.
The Flemish Government was instructed to adopt unified rules with regard to the documents that must accompany a petition, the registration and regularisation of petitions, the forwarding of copies of the petition, the manner of forwarding and exchanging procedural documents, assistance and representation by a legal advisor, the use of witnesses, experts and interpreters, the manner of calculation of procedural deadlines and the conditions under which a fee can be charged for copies or extracts. These rules were adopted in the Flemish decree of 16 May 2014 regarding the procedure of certain Flemish administrative courts.
General assembly
The Flemish administrative courts will fall under the authority of an umbrella structure, the general assembly, composed of the administrative judges. A first president is elected from among these administrative judges.
The general assembly must adopt the internal rules of operation applicable to the Flemish administrative courts.
First president
The first president is charged with the general and daily management of the Flemish administrative courts. He/she safeguards the uniformity of jurisprudence and, when necessary, can assign a case, on his/her initiative or upon the demand of a president, to a chamber composed of the three presidents of the Flemish courts.
The uniformity of jurisprudence within each administrative court is safeguarded by the president of that court. To that end, the president can assign a case, on his/her initiative or upon the demand of a chamber president, to a chamber with three judges.
Whenever necessary, the first president can take measures deviating from the internal rules of operation. Such circumstances could relate to the distribution of the case load, the unavailability of an administrative judge, the necessity for expertise, the proper progress of a case or a similar objective reason.
Availability of judges
This decree entails a certain "mobility of administrative judges". Accordingly, an administrative judge can be assigned to a different administrative court if this is necessary for the effective functioning of the administrative courts. The administrative judge concerned must possess sufficient knowledge with regard to the matters for which the administrative court is competent, and must be heard prior to his/her assignment.
Transfer of employees
With the Flemish act of 16 May 2014 regarding the transfer of personnel of certain Flemish administrative courts to the service of the administrative courts and establishing the rights and duties of these personnel and of the administrative judges of certain Flemish administrative courts, the employees of the Flemish administrative courts have been transferred, while preserving their rights, to the "service of the administrative courts" ("dienst van de Bestuursrechtscolleges") within the department of public governance of the Flemish Government. The positions of head clerk, clerk, legal secretary and manager are assumed by employees of the service of the administrative courts.
Publication of decisions
The judgments of the Flemish administrative courts are published on the website of the service of the administrative courts.
Entry into force
The Flemish act of 16 May 2014 regarding the transfer of personnel and establishing the rights and duties of these personnel and of the administrative judges entered into force on 1 November 2014, together with the provisions of the decree on the organisation of the Flemish administrative courts and the rights and duties of the administrative judges. The remaining provisions of the decree enter into force on 1 January 2015. The Flemish act of 16 May 2014 regarding procedure will also enter into force on 1 January 2015, except for the provisions creating the possibility for an administrative loop for the Environmental Enforcement Court of Flanders and the Council for Permit Disputes. With the judgment of the Constitutional Court of 8 May 2014, article 4.8.4 of the Flemish Code on Environmental Planning, which provided for an administrative loop for the Council for Permit Disputes, has already been annulled.