Cellule de coordination en matière disciplinaire

The Disciplinary Coordination Unit was established by a regulation adopted by the General Assembly of the Order of French-speaking and German-speaking Bars on November 16, 2020. In a spirit of openness, it brings together lawyers as well as members of civil society. 

The Unit does not receive or handle individual complaints. If you have a dispute with a lawyer, see Appeal to the Bar President and The Ombudsman Service.

Missions 

The Unit's mission is to: 

• Collect and process anonymized information relating to the disciplinary activities of the member bars of the Order, as well as the disciplinary councils and the appeal disciplinary council, for the purposes of analysis, synthesis, and the establishment of statistics — without interfering in the functioning of these bodies; 
• Suggest and disseminate best practice guidelines in disciplinary matters, without intervening in individual cases; 
• Propose model procedural documents (wording of grievances, summons, sentences, hearing minutes, investigation reports, etc.), made available to bar presidents and secretaries of the disciplinary councils and the appeal disciplinary council; 
• Organize training sessions for bar presidents and members of the disciplinary councils and the appeal disciplinary council; 
• Issue opinions, either on its own initiative or at the request of disciplinary bodies or the Order, on matters related to disciplinary procedures. 

A Self-Regulated Profession 

In Belgium, the legal profession is self-regulated — and this self-regulation extends to disciplinary procedures. These are conducted solely by lawyers, with one exception: the presidency of the appeal disciplinary council is held by a first president of the court of appeal, before whom the public prosecutor exercises the functions of the public ministry. Both prosecutions and any sanctions are decided by the lawyers themselves. 

This autonomy is a mark of honor for the profession, but it also imposes obligations: it demands excellence, to respond to any criticism in an exemplary manner. 

What the Unit Does in Practice 

The Unit receives all disciplinary decisions, anonymizes them, publishes them, and derives statistics that will become more refined over time. It does not intervene in any particular case and is not intended to receive or handle complaints. 

It organizes annual training sessions and has established a series of models for the actors involved in disciplinary proceedings. 

At its suggestion, and in the interest of transparency, anonymized sentences — with a thematic search engine — as well as its activity report are currently available on the public website. 

The Unit aims to propose analyses and solutions to continuously improve the disciplinary procedure. 

Current Composition 

Full Members 

• Xavier Van Gils — President. Former Bar President, former President of AVOCATS.BE. 
• Patrick Henry — Secretary. Former Bar President, former President of AVOCATS.BE. 
• Michel Fadeur — Member. Former Bar President. 
• Françoise Tulkens — Member. Former Vice-President of the ECtHR. 
• Marc Beyens — Member. Former President of the IJE. 

Alternate Members 

• Anne Stiévenart — Alternate Member. Lawyer. 
• Pascal Bertrand — Alternate Member. Former Bar President. 
• Pascal Chevalier — Alternate Member. Administrator of the ADDE.