Preamble:

These rules, adopted pursuant to Article 259a-6, paragraph 3 of the Judicial Code, concern the operation of the High Council of Justice, in so far as this has not been expressly laid down by law. With a view to providing the general public with clear and objective information about the action of the High Council of Justice, documentation containing a description of its competence and internal organisation is available on request.

Section I. General provisions

Art. 1. The President of the High Council of Justice, hereinafter called the Council, shall, as required by protocol, be the representative of the Council. When the President is absent or prevented from performing his official duties, he may delegate them to another member of the Bureau or of the Council.

Art. 2. Within the meaning of these Rules, the organs of the Council shall be: the Bureau, the General Meeting, the Colleges, the Appointment and Nomination Commissions, the Joint Appointment and Nomination Commission, the subcommittees of the Appointment and Nomination Commissions, the Advisory and Investigation Commissions and the Joint Advisory and Investigation Commission.

Art. 3. Activities within the Council shall normally take place at the seat of the Council. On a decision by the organ concerned, activities may, by way of an exception, take place outside the seat of the Council.

Art. 4. The President shall ensure the proper operation of the organ over which he presides. With the exception of the cases provided for in the law of 22 December 1998 (BS/MB [Belgian Official Gazette] of 2 February 1999), hereinafter called the law, the presidency shall be assumed, should the President be absent or prevented from performing his official duties, by a member of the Bureau, designated to do so by the Bureau.

Art. 5. The President shall convene meetings of the organ concerned, indicating the place, the date and the time at which they will begin and are expected to end. He shall open and close meetings. He shall chair the proceedings. Should members request that a meeting be convened, in accordance with Articles 13, 21, 26, 28 and 29 of these Rules, the organ concerned shall meet within two weeks of the request, unless the applicants agree to the meeting's being held at a later date.

Art. 6. The President shall draw up the agenda for the meeting. A member who wishes an item to be included on the agenda shall put a request to that effect to the President. The President shall include the said item on the agenda for the next meeting. By way of derogation from this rule, in cases of extreme urgency, new items may be added to the agenda with the agreement of two thirds of the members present.

Art. 7. Notices convening a meeting shall be sent to all members at least eight working days before the meeting. In cases of extreme urgency, in the President's judgement, notices convening a meeting shall be sent out at least two working days before the meeting. Notices shall contain the place, date and time, the agenda and a copy of the documents to be examined
In the case of a meeting held as a matter of extreme urgency, a proposed amendment or change to a text may be tabled on the actual day of the meeting. In other cases, a proposed amendment or change to a text must be forwarded to the President at least three calendar days before the meeting.

Art. 8. A member who is prevented from attending a meeting shall notify the President thereof without delay. The member may submit his comments in writing to the President at least twenty-four hours before the day of the meeting. The President shall bring the comments received to the attention of the other members at the beginning of the meeting.

Art. 9. The President shall be assisted at every meeting by a member of the administrative staff, who shall act as secretary. The secretary shall be responsible for writing the minutes of the meeting, which shall not mention the names of the speakers unless the latter expressly so request. The secretary shall sign the minutes with the President. The Bureau shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the documents.

Art. 10. After the minutes have been signed, they shall be sent to the members and approved at the next meeting.

Art. 11. All documents may be sent by ordinary mail, by electronic mail or by fax.

Section II. The Bureau

Art. 12. The procedure for constitution of the Bureau, designation of the commissions which the members of the Bureau will chair and determination of the order in which the presidency of the Council will be held in turn is laid down in special rules, appended hereto, which form an integral part of these Rules.

Art. 13. The Bureau shall meet at the request of the President of the Council as often as its tasks so require. It shall meet at least once every two weeks or at the request of at least two of its members.

Art. 14. Where necessary, the Bureau shall request the assistance of members of the Council.

Art. 15. The Bureau shall coordinate the activities of the Council, ensure that the decisions taken by its organs are implemented and shall be responsible for day-to-day management.

Art. 16. The Bureau shall determine the arrangements for the recruitment and selection of the administrative staff, on the basis of dossiers prepared with the assistance of a work unit, hereinafter called the administrative unit. It shall submit its proposals to the General Meeting.

Art. 17. The Bureau shall be responsible for the distribution of tasks amongst the administrative staff and for coordination of their work.

Art. 18. The Bureau shall prepare the budget, with the assistance of the administrative unit. It shall submit to the General Meeting proposals for the budget appropriations required for the proper operation of the Council.

Expenditure commitments and payment orders, within the limits of the Council's budget allocation, shall be signed by the President of the Council.

Should the President of the Council be unable to do so, expenditure commitments and payment orders may be signed instead by a member of the Bureau, such a signature being equally valid.

Should an expenditure commitment or payment order exceed the sum of BEF 50,000 (EUR 1,239.47) or the equivalent in another currency, it must also be signed by another member of the Bureau.

Art. 19. The Bureau must promote the best possible internal and external communication for the Council.

Without prejudice to the right to freedom of speech enjoyed by each individual member of the Council within the limits of Article 34 of these Rules, any announcement concerning a position or decision taken by the Council must normally be made in the first instance by the Bureau.

The Bureau shall regularly present the agenda of its activities to the members of the Council, who may, moreover, consult or copy all documents at the seat of the Council, without prejudice to the special provisions adopted by each commission.

Section III. The General Meeting

Art. 20. Any competence not expressly assigned by law to an organ of the Council shall form part of the tasks of the General Meeting.

Art. 21. The General Meeting shall convene as often as its tasks so require, but at least twice a year. It shall normally convene in camera. The President of the Council shall call a General Meeting in cases of extreme urgency if he deems it desirable or whenever a college, a commission or a work unit so requests. It shall also convene at the request of at least eleven members.

Art. 22. As necessary, the General Meeting shall set up internal work units, whose tasks it shall determine. The General Meeting shall determine the terms of reference of each of its organs or work units.

Every year the General Meeting shall set up an internal professional ethics unit with equal representation, comprising two Dutch speakers (a member of the judiciary and a non-member of the judiciary) and two French speakers (a member of the judiciary and a non-member of the judiciary).

Art. 23. The General Meeting shall approve the opinions, proposals, reports, guidelines, programmes and other acts of the colleges and committees, referred to in Articles 259a-9, paragraphs 1 and 2, 259a-10, paragraph 3, 259a-12, paragraph 1, 259a-14, paragraph 3, 259a-15, paragraph 7 and 259a-16, paragraph 4, of the Judicial Code, as well as the proposals and reports of the work units.

This approval and the date of the decision, with the signature of the President and the secretary, shall be indicated on every document approved by the General Meeting. The President, acting on behalf of the Council, shall arrange, where appropriate, for the document to be forwarded to the authorities concerned. A decision to reject a proposed amendment or change to a text shall be appended to the text of the rejected proposal. These documents must be kept by the Council, in a place where they can be consulted by the members.

Art. 24. The General Meeting shall adopt the budget prepared by the Bureau and shall close the accounts following a report by two auditors whom it shall appoint each year.

Art. 25. The General Meeting shall establish the criteria for the granting of attendance fees and the expenses paid to the members of the Council, depending on its various activities.

Section IV. The Colleges

Art. 26. Each College shall comprise the members of the Council representing its language, its remit being to deliver opinions in response to a reasoned request from the Bureau, the General Meeting or a Commission. It shall also convene at the request of at least six of its members.

Each College shall meet in camera, after its President has convened a meeting, as often as its tasks so require, but at least once a year.

Art. 27. As necessary, each College shall set up internal work units whose tasks it shall determine.

Section V. Appointment and Nomination Commissions

Art. 28. Each Appointment and Nomination Commission, hereinafter called the Commission, shall meet as often as its tasks so require, but at least six times a year in the case of each Commission and at least twice a year in the case of the Joint Appointment and Nomination Committee, hereinafter called the Joint Commission. The Commission shall normally meet in camera, after the President has convened a meeting or at the request of at least three members.

The Joint Commission shall determine the arrangements for deliberation and voting.

As necessary, each Commission shall set up internal work units whose tasks it shall determine.

Section VI. The Advisory and Investigation Commissions

Art. 29. The Joint Advisory and Investigation Commission, hereinafter called the Joint Commission, shall meet as often as its tasks so require, but at least twice a year. The President shall convene a meeting of the Joint Commission when at least four members so request. The Advisory and Investigation Commissions, hereinafter called the Commissions, shall normally meet in camera. A meeting of each Commission shall be convened by its President when at least two of its members so request.

The Joint Commission shall determine the arrangements for the carrying out of its tasks and the special procedural rules.

As necessary, each Commission shall set up internal work units whose tasks it shall determine.

Art. 30. The Joint Commission may decide to publish some of its opinions. It shall defer to the General Meeting for permission to do so.

Section VII. Incompatibilities and professional ethics

Art. 31. The incompatibilities referred to in Article 259a-3, paragraph 2 and the rules on conflicts of interest referred to in Article 259a-19, paragraph 1 of the Judicial Code shall apply to members of the Council. Like experts and members of the administrative staff, they shall be bound to secrecy, pursuant to Article 458 of the Penal Code in respect of all data of which they have cognisance in the performance of their official duties.

Art. 32. Any member who has a conflict of interest shall recuse himself and refrain from dealing with the case and from participating in the deliberations and voting. The existence of this conflict of interest shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Art. 33. Members of the Council shall directly inform the President of the Commission on which they sit of evidence of crimes or offences of which they have knowledge in the context of performance of their official duties. The President shall convene a meeting of the Commission if he deems it necessary and shall take the necessary measures.

Art. 34. Members of the Council shall show independence in performing their official duties. They shall adhere to the principles of objectivity and equal treatment in the cases which they are required to investigate. They shall be entitled to take a personal position publicly on matters dealt with by the High Council. In exercising this right, they shall be bound by professional secrecy in respect of internal deliberations, documents and confidential information and of the duty to act in good faith vis-à-vis the Council. Members of the Council shall do nothing to prejudice the confidence of third parties in the independence and proper operation of the High Council.

Art. 35. Members of the Council are obliged in particular to meet as far as possible the deadlines set for the performance of their official duties, to attend meetings regularly and to abide by the decisions of the organs of the Council.

Art. 36. Any failure to fulfil the ethical obligations of the previous articles can constitute serious grounds within the meaning of Article 259a-3, paragraph 4 of the Judicial Code. The alleged failure must be so serious as to make continuation of activities within the Council impossible immediately and permanently. It shall be judged in particular in the light of the member's function in the Council, of the recurrence of the infringement and of the Council's interest.

Art. 37. Any failure to fulfil ethical obligations shall be reported to the professional ethics unit by the Bureau, a college, a commission or a work unit, as the case may be. The professional ethics unit shall hear the member regarding the reasons invoked and shall compile a dossier containing: the report of the misdemeanour, a report of the hearing and any written observations from the member. The professional ethics unit shall produce a report for the General Meeting. After considering the report and hearing the member concerned, the General Meeting may decide:
- either that no action be taken,
- or that a motion be adopted whereby it finds that the behaviour of the member concerned is incompatible with the rules of professional ethics applicable to him/her
- or that the procedure referred to in Articles 259a-3, paragraph 4 and 259a-19, paragraph 2a of the Judicial Code be initiated.
The members of the professional ethics unit may not participate in the deliberations or the ballot of the General Meeting.