Abstract
The laws of 1999 and 2004 concerning the implementation of municipal administrative sanctions (in short GAS legislation) gave local authorities new legal instruments to act more vigourously against phenomena of nuisance. Local authorities can now impose an administrative fine of up to 250 euros for behaviour which is contrary to public order (cleanliness, safety and quiet enjoyment) or which causes “public nuisance”. This publication purports to assess how the 19 municipalities of Brussels Capital Region formulate and apply this local “nuisance law”. Many differences emerge in terms of the content, the procedure and the modalities of municipal administrative sanctions (mediation, taking the minutes, amounts) and in terms of the choice between fines or police punishments. Even though some de facto harmonisation has taken place among Brussels police and security matters and the Region intervenes to make adjustments where necessary, the Brussels Region needs more institutionally-based guidance.
Highlights
The laws of 1999 and 2004 concerning the implementation of municipal administrative sanctions gave local authorities new legal instruments to act more vigourously against phenomena of nuisance
Local authorities can impose an administrative fine of up to 250 euros for behaviour which is contrary to public order or which causes “public nuisance”
Many differences emerge in terms of the content, the procedure and the modalities of municipal administrative sanctions and in terms of the choice between fines or police punishments
Summary
Local authorities traditionally have the authority to define sanctions in municipal police regulations and to apply them through police fines. The law of 13 May 1999 on the implementation of municipal administrative sanctions broadened the enforcement authority of local authorities by giving them the option to impose administrative fines for the violation of public order and for behaviour which caused nuisance. Administrative fines could be managed without the involvement of the public prosecutor and without the intervention of a judge This was thought to give local authorities better means to enforce their own police regulations. Is there a need for a regulating role for the Brussels Capital Region ?”, Brussels Studies, Issue 18, 19 May 2008, www.brusselsstudies.be the e-journal for academic research on Brussels ble to think of similar acts being tackled in tough manner in some municipalities and not in others, e.g. in some municipalities by applying police fines and in other through administrative sanctions, or some may recur to mediation and other not. Different treatment may well arise in relation to the amounts of the fines, interpretation of nuisance, and the appointment of different local officials for recording the offences, etc
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