Court of Cassation (Belgium)

The Court of Cassation ( nl, Hof van Cassatie, french: Cour de cassation, german: Kassationshof) of Belgium is the supreme court of the Belgian judiciary. The court is composed of thirty judges with life tenure who are nominated by the High Council of Justice of Belgium and appointed by the Belgian federal government. The court handles cases in the two main languages of Belgium, Dutch and French, and provides certain facilities for cases in German. The court is assisted in its work by a public prosecutor's office and a bar association, which both function separately from other structures. The duty of the public prosecutor's office is to provide advisory opinions to the court on how the law ought to be interpreted and applied. The attorneys of the court's bar association assist litigants in proceedings before the court; in certain cases, their assistance is mandatory.

The Belgian Court of Cassation was originally modelled after its French namesake, and its jurisdiction and powers are still very similar to those of its French counterpart. The court is a court of cassation; meaning that it only hears appeals in last resort against decisions of lower courts and tribunals, and only on points of law. This means the Court of Cassation will not review or reconsider the findings of fact established by the lower court or tribunal. The jurisdiction of the court is limited to either upholding a decision that is contested, or annulling ( quashing) it because it violated or misinterpreted the law. The latter is referred to as "cassation". By these means, the court is in effect the supreme interpreter of Belgian law, and as such ensures the nationwide uniform interpretation and application of the law by all other courts and tribunals of the Belgian judiciary.

Generally speaking, the Court of Cassation only exercises supreme jurisdiction over judicial decisions, and thus does not hear appeals against administrative decisions (which is the realm of the Council of State of Belgium). The Court of Cassation also does not rule on the constitutionality of laws, which is the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Belgium. However, some decisions of certain non-judicial bodies are within the purview of the Court of Cassation nonetheless. The court also settles jurisdictional conflicts which may or may not involve an administrative court. Furthermore, the court rules on certain prejudicial questions from other courts and on certain requests to review old criminal cases. Lastly, the court handles certain proceedings against judicial officers (magistrates; which encompasses judges and prosecutors in Belgian legal terminology), including recusal requests against a particular judge or prosecutor, requests to disqualify a judge or entire court, and requests to hold judges or prosecutors civilly liable for respectively judicial misconduct or prosecutorial misconduct. A ruling or judgment of the Court of Cassation is officially called an "arrest" ( nl, arrest, french: arrêt, german: Entscheid).

An important aspect of the Court of Cassation is that it has no discretionary power to select the cases it hears, which means it must consider all cases correctly brought before it. The only filter that exists is the mandatory intervention of an attorney in certain cases. For this reason, the court handles a fairly large number of cases each year compared to some other supreme courts. For example, the court received about 2,500 petitions to initiate proceedings in 2019. A second aspect is that the court does not make public any individual opinions of its judges; it always issues one single ruling in each case. Lastly, the rulings of the court are only binding for the case at hand, and do not have the value of ''stare decisis''. Lower courts are thus not officially required to adhere to the rulings of the Court of Cassation in earlier cases. However, the Court's rulings still have an important persuasive value for lower courts nonetheless; especially any so-called ''jurisprudence constante'' following from the court's case law.

Court structure

Judges

The Court of Cassation is composed of thirty judges with life tenure (notwithstanding their retirement), who are officially called "counsellors" ( nl, raadsheren, links=no, french: conseillers, links=no, german: Gerichtsräte, links=no). For the sake of clarity, the term 'judge' will be used in this article. The thirty judges are divided into three chambers with each ten judges. The three chambers are each further divided into two sections, a Dutch one and a French one, each composed of five judges. This means that in principle, half of the court's judges are Dutch-speaking and the other half French-speaking. However, some of the judges are required to master both Dutch and French, so as to facilitate joint hearings and sessions of the court. Each of the judges can serve in any of the chambers and sections given they speak the relevant language. Whilst the court counts thirty positions for judges, temporary vacancies can exist when for example one of the court's judges retires. The judges retire when they reach the statutory retirement age of 70.

To be appointed as judge to the court, candidates must hold the Belgian nationality, must hold a law degree, must have been active in the legal sphere for at least fifteen years, and must have been a judge or prosecutor for at least ten years. Candidates must also meet the language requirements and have a clean criminal record. An opinion on each candidate will be provided to the federal Minister of Justice by the general assembly of the Court of Cassation (see further below), by the head of the court or prosecutor's office where the candidate is currently active, and by the relevant bar association. The minister of Justice will then send all candidacies to the High Council of Justice of Belgium, who will nominate one candidate. The Belgian federal government (officially " the King" as the personification of the executive) will then finally appoint or reject the nominated candidate.

In each of the six sections, a judge is appointed as "section president" ( nl, sectievoorzitter, links=no, french: président de section, links=no, german: Sektionspräsident, links=no). Out of the thirty judges, one is also appointed as "first president" ( nl, eerste voorzitter, links=no, french: premier président, links=no, german: erster Präsident, links=no) and one as "president" ( nl, voorzitter, links=no, french: président, links=no, german: Präsident, links=no) for the whole Court of Cassation. The overall leadership over the court lies with the first president (the " chief justice"); the president has a deputy position regarding the first president. If the first president belongs to the French-speaking half of the court, the president will be chosen from the Dutch-speaking half and vice versa, so as to preserve the linguistic balance on the court.

As of 2020, the first president of the Court of Cassation is Beatrijs Deconinck (Dutch-speaking) and the president is ''ridder'' Jean De Codt (French-speaking). In 2019, Mrs Deconinck became the first female first president in the Court of Cassation's history.

Prosecutor's office

There is a public prosecutor's office attached to the Court of Cassation, which is referred to as the prosecutor-general's office ( nl, parket-generaal, links=no, french: parquet général, links=no, german: Generalstaatsanwaltschaft, links=no). The prosecutor-general's office is led by the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation ( nl, procureur-generaal bij het Hof van Cassatie, links=no, french: procureur général près la Cour de Cassation, links=no, german: Generalprokurator beim Kassationshof, links=no). The prosecutor-general's office furthermore consists of one first advocate-general ( nl, eerste advocaat-generaal, links=no, french: premier avocat général, links=no, german: Erster Generalanwalt, links=no), who has a deputy position regarding the prosecutor-general, and eleven advocates-general ( nl, advocaat-generaal, links=no, french: avocat général, links=no, german: Generalanwalt, links=no). The thirteen members of the prosecutor-general's office exercise the duties of the office in all cases brought before the court (see further below). Just like with the first president and president of the court, if the prosecutor-general belongs to the French-speaking members of the office, the first advocate-general will be chosen from the Dutch-speaking members and vice versa, so as to preserve the linguistic balance on the office.

As of 2020, the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation is André Henkes (French-speaking) and the first advocate-general is Ria Mortier (Dutch-speaking).

Bar

The Court of Cassation has its own bar association, consisting of a number of " attorneys at the Court of Cassation" ( nl, advocaat bij het Hof van Cassatie, links=no, french: avocat à la Cour de cassation, links=no, german: Rechtsanwalt beim Kassationshof, links=no). The number of attorneys at the Court of Cassation is set by the Belgian federal government (currently twenty attorneys). These attorneys, whilst not employed by or part of the court, play an important role in the proceedings before the court nonetheless (see further below). Attorneys wishing to be admitted to the bar at the Court of Cassation, must have been part of another bar association for at least ten years and must pass a specific bar examination. When one of the twenty positions at the bar becomes vacant, the Belgian federal government will appoint a new attorney meeting these criteria to the bar.

The bar association is headed by the president of the bar ( nl, stafhouder van de balie, links=no, french: bâtonnier du barreau, links=no, german: Präsident der Rechtsanwaltschaft, links=no). As of 2020, Jacqueline Oosterbosch is president of the bar.

Auxiliary services

Administrative matters related to the judicial duties of the Court of Cassation are handled by the court clerks ( nl, griffier, links=no, french: greffier, links=no, german: Greffier, links=no) of the clerk's office ( nl, griffie, links=no, french: greffe, links=no, german: Kanzlei, links=no) of the court. In this capacity, the clerk's office receives petitions and pleadings related to proceedings before the court, keeps the records and notes of the court, and provides the court's rulings to the parties involved.

The Court of Cassation and its prosecutor-general's office also dispose over a number of law clerks called "referendaries" ( nl, referendaris, links=no, french: référendaire, links=no, german: Referent, links=no). The referendaries assist the judges and the members of the prosecutor's office in preparing their rulings and advisory opinions, maintain documentation related to the court's duties, and work on the translation and publication of the court's rulings.

Lastly, the court also employs a number of attachés, as well as magistrates from other courts or tribunals with a temporary assignment. They work on the translation of the court's rulings, on maintaining documentation, and on certain studies and legal research in the interest of the court.

Jurisdiction

Appeals in cassation

Annulment of court decisions

An appeal in cassation ( nl, voorziening in cassatie, links=no, french: pourvoi en cassation, links=no, german: Kassationsbeschwerde, links=no) to the Court of Cassation is only possible against decisions (judgments, rulings and court orders) from other (lower) courts in the judiciary, against which all ordinary appeal procedures have been exhausted. This usually concerns the judgments and rulings rendered by the courts of appeal and the courts of labour, as well as some judgments and rulings rendered by lower courts in specific or petty cases. The Court of Cassation does not re-examine any findings of fact; it will only rule on questions of law concerning the contested decision. Neither can the court change the content of any contested decision. Its jurisdiction is limited to either upholding a contested decision, rendering it final and irrevocable; or either annulling it ("cassation", from the French verb ''casser'', "to break" or "to quash") if the court finds the decision to violate the law. This is the case if the court finds that the decision misjudged or misinterpreted the law, breached essential procedural requirements or ignored formalities prescribed under penalty of nullity. The court can annul the entire decision or only part of it, which is known as "partial cassation" ( nl, gedeeltelijke cassatie, links=no, french: cassation partielle, links=no, german: teilweise Kassation, links=no).

If the court annuls (part of) a decision, it will generally remit the case to a different court of the same rank as the one whose decision was annulled. In specific cases, the case will be remitted to the same court though, which will then rehear the case in a different composition however (meaning by different judges as the first time). After annulment by the Court of Cassation, the (annulled part of the) case is always tried ''de novo'', both on questions of fact and on questions of law, by the court to which it has been referred. Any such court is thus not bound by any findings of fact preceding the cassation proceedings. In some specific instances though, the court will not remit the case to any court for a retrial after cassation, namely when there is nothing left to judge on by virtue of the court's ruling. This is known as "cassation without referral" ( nl, cassatie zonder verwijzing, links=no, french: cassation sans renvoi, links=no, german: Kassation ohne Verweisung, links=no). A cassation without referral can for example occur when the court annuls an arrest warrant because it was issued outside of the statutory time limit.

The principle that the Court of Cassation does not rule on questions of fact, is laid down in Article 147 of the Belgian Constitution.

Only judicial decisions

Like many other European countries, Belgium has a system of administrative courts which oversee the lawfulness of acts of administrative authorities. The system of administrative courts is distinct from the judiciary, and as such, the jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation regarding annulment does not extend to judgments and rulings rendered by those courts. The jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation is limited to judgments and rulings rendered by judicial courts. However, the exceptions are any jurisdictional conflict between the judicial and administrative courts, as well as rulings from the Belgian Court of Audit and some disciplinary bodies, as explained below.

Rulings of the Court of Audit

Administrative rulings from the Belgian Court of Audit however do fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation. The Court of Audit decides by administrative ruling whether the accounts of public accounting officers answerable to the Treasury are in balance or not, and if not whether the balance is in their favour or in the State's favour. If the Court of Audit determines that the account of an accounting officer shows a deficit, the Court of Audit will hold a public hearing with the officer in question. The Court of Audit will subsequently either grant discharge to the accounting officer, or either find the officer at fault and sentence him to fully or partially indemnify the State from his own means. The Court of Cassation hears appeals in cassation against such rulings of the Court of Audit. If the Court of Cassation finds that the ruling violates the law, the court will annul it, and refer the case to a committee formed ''ad hoc'' from members of the legislative assembly concerned (for the federal government: the Belgian Chamber of Representatives). This ''ad hoc'' committee will then rule on the case without the possibility of any subsequent appeal.

Rulings of disciplinary bodies

The second kind of non-judicial rulings that nevertheless fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation are disciplinary rulings by some professional bodies for liberal professions. This concerns rulings in disciplinary cases issued by, amongst others, the Belgian Order of Physicians, the Belgian Order of Pharmacists, the Belgian Order of Veterinarians, the Belgian Order of Architects, the bar associations, the Belgian Institute of Company Auditors, and the Belgian Institute of Accountants and Tax Advisors. This also concerns rulings in disciplinary cases issued by the tribunals of first instance against notaries or court bailiffs. The Court of Cassation hears appeals in cassation against such disciplinary rulings. If the Court of Cassation finds that the ruling violates the law, the court will annul it, and refer the case back to the professional body concerned. If possible, however, the professional body concerned must rehear the case in a different composition (meaning by different members as the first time). The professional body concerned is obliged to adhere to the ruling of the Court of Cassation with regards to the points of law on which it ruled.

Jurisdictional conflicts

Between judicial and administrative courts

The Court of Cassation has generally speaking no jurisdiction over judgments and rulings rendered by administrative courts. The Council of State is the supreme court within the Belgian system of administrative courts, which as such handles cassation proceedings against administrative judgments or rulings from lower authorities. However, article 158 of the Belgian Constitution lays down that the Court of Cassation rules on any so-called "conflict of attribution" (Dutch: ''conflict van attributie'', French: ''conflit d'attribution'', German: ''Kompetenzkonflikt'') between administrative and judicial courts. These conflicts of attribution can arise in the following forms:

* Any party to administrative proceedings who believes the Council of State overstepped its administrative jurisdiction in a case, or vice versa believes the Council of State unduly declared it had no jurisdiction because it deemed a case as not administrative in nature, can seek the annulment of any such ruling by the council before the Court of Cassation. If the Court of Cassation annuls the ruling of the Council based on the ground that the Council does have jurisdiction (and unduly declared it did not), the case will referred back to the council. The council will then hear the case again in a different composition (meaning by different judges as the first time) and is required to adhere to the Court of Cassation's ruling regarding its proper jurisdiction.
* A particular case arises when a judicial court and an administrative court both declare they have jurisdiction in a particular case ("positive conflicts"), or vice versa when they both declare themselves incompetent to hear a particular case ("negative conflicts"). The Court of Cassation is competent to settle these matters as well.

By these procedures, the Court of Cassation has the final say over the jurisdictional division between the judicial and administrative courts.

Between different judicial courts

The Court of Cassation also rules on certain jurisdictional conflicts between different courts or tribunals within the judiciary. Although the particularities differ between criminal and non-criminal cases, these procedures are jointly referred to as "regulation of jurisdiction" (Dutch: ''regeling van rechtsgebied'', French: ''règlement de juges'', German: ''Bestimmung des zuständigen Gerichts'').

In criminal cases, jurisdictional conflicts can arise when two distinct cases concerning the same crime are brought before two different courts ("positive conflicts"). A jurisdictional conflict can also arise when one court or judge (usually in an investigative capacity) refers a criminal case to another court or judge (usually a trial court), but the latter declares itself incompetent to hear the case ("negative conflicts"). If both courts involved in such positive or negative conflicts do not belong to the same territorial jurisdiction, and the matter thus cannot be settled by an appellate court, the Court of Cassation will settle the matter and refer the case to the appropriate court. The applicable procedures for settling such conflicts in criminal cases are laid down in the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure.

In non-criminal (civil, commercial, ...) cases, jurisdictional conflicts can arise when multiple conflicting judgments have been rendered by multiple courts or judges concerning the same or interrelated lawsuits, on the condition that all ordinary appeal procedures have been exhausted against these judgments. If such is the case, any party to the proceedings may request the Court of Cassation to resolve the conflict. The Court will do so by annulling either judgment and, if there is cause, refer the case to the appropriate court for a retrial. The applicable procedures for settling these conflicts are laid down in the Belgian Judicial Code.

Prejudicial questions

Under Book IV, Title II, Chapter II (articles IV.86–IV.89) of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, the Court of Cassation must answer any prejudicial question ( nl, prejudiciële vraag, links=no, french: question préjudicielle, links=no, german: Vorabentscheidungsfrage, links=no) asked by another court concerning a case pending before it. The question must concern the interpretation of any provision of Book IV of the aforementioned code of law (on the topic of competition law). These questions will mostly arise in cases before the Market Court involving a decision of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA). The federal minister of the Economy of Belgium, the European Commission and the BCA may provide an advisory opinion to the Court as '' amicus curiae''. The Court of Cassation will then issue a preliminary ruling on the question asked, and the requesting court must adhere to the ruling of the Court of Cassation with regards to the points of law on which it ruled.

Review of old criminal cases

Belgian law provides for two extraordinary procedures through the Court of Cassation to review old criminal cases, in which a final and (in principle) irrevocable conviction has already been rendered, to correct miscarriages of justice. The first procedure is referred to as the "reopening of the procedure" ( nl, heropening van de rechtspleging, links=no, french: réouverture de la procédure, links=no, german: Wiederaufnahme des Verfahrens, links=no). A request to "reopen the procedure" can be initiated in a particular criminal case when the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the prosecution undertaken or judgment rendered in that case violated the European Convention on Human Rights. If the alleged violation concerns a judgment from a lower court, the Court of Cassation will annul that judgment if there is cause and either remit the case to a different court of the same rank for a retrial, or otherwise pronounce a cassation without referral. If the alleged violation concerns a ruling of the Court of Cassation itself, the court will examine the request in a different composition (meaning by different judges) as that in which the contested ruling was rendered. If the request is honoured, the court will revoke its earlier ruling and issue a new one, taking into account the decision of the European Court of Human Rights.

The second procedure is referred to as "request for revision" ( nl, aanvraag tot herziening, links=no, french: demande en révision, links=no, german: Revisionsantrag, links=no). A request for revision can be submitted (notwithstanding some exceptions) when the accused has been sentenced for the same charges by multiple conflicting judgments and the innocence of the accused can be deduced from the conflicting judgments, when one of the witnesses in the case has been convicted for perjury, or when new evidence has come to light that could have led to the accused either being acquitted or being sentenced to a lesser penalty. When the court grants the request in a case of conflicting judgments or perjury, it will annul the contested lower court judgment and remit the case to a different court of the same rank for a retrial. When new evidence has come to light and the court finds that the request is admissible and there is a potential cause for revision, it will refer the case to the 'Commission for revision in penal cases'. This is a commission consisting of five members who are appointed by the federal minister of Justice of Belgium. This commission will further examine the request and provide a non-binding opinion to the Court of Cassation. The court will then either reject the request or grant it; if the request is granted, the contested conviction will be annulled and the case will be referred to the appropriate court for a retrial.

Proceedings against judicial officers

Recusal

In any judicial proceedings, any party may request a magistrate (judge or prosecutor) to recuse themself ( nl, wraking, links=no, french: récusation, links=no, german: Ablehnung, links=no) for a number of causes, such as for an appearance of bias, family ties with any party involved, prior involvement in the case, or a conflict of interest. If a magistrate refuses to recuse themself upon such a request, the court immediately higher in the Belgian judicial hierarchy will decide on the matter. As such, the Court of Cassation will decide on any requests to oblige a magistrate from a court of appeal or a court of labour to recuse themself from a case. Since there is no higher court in the Belgian judicial hierarchy, the Court of Cassation itself will also decide on any request to oblige any of its own magistrates to recuse themselves. The applicable procedures are provided for in the Belgian Judicial Code.

Judicial disqualification

Belgian law also provides for an extraordinary procedure for judicial disqualification ( nl, onttrekking aan de rechter, links=no, french: dessaisissement du juge, links=no, german: Entbindung des Richters, links=no), i.e. to remove a case from a judge or entire court, and refer it to another judge or court, through the Court of Cassation. For criminal cases, the applicable procedures are laid down in the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure; for non-criminal (civil, commercial, ...) cases, these are laid down in the Belgian Judicial Code. A judge or entire court can only be disqualified for a select number of causes, such as for an appearance of bias, or in case a final judgment has not been rendered yet from six months since the proceedings were concluded. The prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation may also request a judicial disqualification for public security reasons. If the Court of Cassation grants the request, it will indicate the judge or court to which the case will be referred.

Liability in case of misconduct

Belgian law provides for an extraordinary procedure known as "redress from the judge" ( nl, verhaal op de rechter, links=no, french: prise à partie, links=no, german: Richterhaftungsklage, links=no) as well. This procedure through the Court of Cassation is meant to hold magistrates (judges or prosecutors) civilly liable in cases of judicial misconduct or prosecutorial misconduct, as established by the law. The applicable procedures to hold magistrates liable are laid down in the Belgian Judicial Code. A judge or prosecutor may be held liable for deceitful acts during an investigation or adjudication, or for other acts for which the law explicitly holds them liable. A judge may also be held liable for "denial of justice" ( nl, rechtsweigering, links=no, french: déni de justice, links=no, german: Rechtsverweigerung, links=no), when they refuse to adjudicate a case that is correctly brought before them. Prosecutors cannot be held liable for denial of justice because they have the power to exercise prosecutorial discretion. If the court grants a request to hold a magistrate liable, the court will order the magistrate to pay damages to the claimant, and may annul any fraudulent act if there is cause. If the court rejects the request, it may order the claimant to pay damages to the magistrate involved.

Disciplinary proceedings

Lastly, the Court of Cassation has the power to initiate disciplinary proceedings against its own members and certain members of lower courts. For instance, the first president of the court is responsible for initiating disciplinary proceedings against the other judges of the court, or against the first presidents of the courts of appeal and the courts of labour. The general assembly of the court (see further below) in turn is responsible for initiating disciplinary proceedings against the court's first president. The prosecutor-general at the court can also initiate disciplinary proceedings against all judges of the court, or against the other members of the prosecutor-general's office. The federal minister of Justice of Belgium in turn is responsible for initiating disciplinary proceedings against the prosecutor-general at the court. All the aforementioned only serves to initiate proceedings however, because disciplinary proceedings against magistrates are decided on by non-permanent disciplinary tribunals for the judiciary. These disciplinary tribunals are only assembled once disciplinary proceedings are initiated. They are composed of judges appointed to them for a five-year term. The disciplinary tribunals can decide to apply disciplinary sanctions up to removal from office.

A sole disciplinary power exercised by the Court of Cassation itself is that against members of the Council of State, the Belgian supreme administrative court. The Court of Cassation decides in general assembly (see further below) on disciplinary proceedings, concerning suspension or removal from office, against members of the Council of State.

Court procedure

Role of the prosecutor's office

Unlike the public prosecutor's offices attached to other courts, the prosecutor-general's office attached to the Court of Cassation does not engage in any criminal investigations or prosecutions. The prosecutor-general's office functions independently and separately from the rest of the Public Prosecution Service of Belgium. Its function is to provide an advisory opinion to the court regarding the legality and regularity of any contested judgment or ruling, and the manner in which to interpret and apply the law to any case. In this capacity, the prosecutor-general's office intervenes in all cases brought before the court. It is for example possible for the prosecutor-general's office to request the annulment of a criminal conviction, secured by a lower prosecutor's office before a lower court, if it finds the conviction to be based on a misinterpretation of the law or in breach of essential procedural requirements. In some cases, the prosecutor-general's office may initiate cassation proceedings itself "in the name of the law" against certain decisions it finds to violate the law.

Role of the bar

In all cases, except criminal and fiscal cases, the intervention of an attorney at the Court of Cassation (one of the twenty members of the court's bar association) is mandatory. Any petition to start cassation proceedings in these cases must be signed by an attorney at the court. Other attorneys are therefore required to involve an attorney at the court if they wish to start cassation proceedings. This way, the attorneys at the court fulfill a certain filter function; they are meant to discourage claimants from starting proceedings that will likely be unsuccessful. It is possible though for attorneys at the court to sign a petition "on request" when they think it has little chances of success, to allow a claimant to start proceedings regardless. Attorneys at the court may only draw up and sign a petition, or they may be requested by a claimant to also handle the rest of the cassation proceedings before the court.

In criminal cases, the intervention of an attorney at the court is not mandatory, but since 2015 any petition to start cassation proceedings in criminal cases must be signed by an attorney with a special certificate. This special certificate can be obtained by any attorney who has followed a specific training. In fiscal cases (cases concerning tax law), the intervention of an attorney is required as well, but this attorney does not have to meet any specific requirements. Any attorney may thus initiate cassation proceedings in fiscal cases.

Judicial assistance

Any party who cannot afford the costs and fees related to cassation proceedings, can submit a request for judicial assistance to the bureau for judicial assistance ( nl, bureau voor rechtsbijstand, links=no, french: bureau d'assistance judiciaire, links=no, german: Büro für Gerichtskostenhilfe, links=no) of the Court of Cassation. The bureau for judicial assistance is headed by one of the judges of the court, assisted by a clerk. The judge of the bureau will ask the opinion of an advocate-general on all requests. If the request is deemed to be admissible, the judge will also ask the opinion of one of the attorneys at the court regarding the chances of success of any proceedings. Judicial assistance will only be granted if the requester is sufficiently indigent

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