The court of assizes (, , ) is the trial court which tries the most serious crimes in the judicial system of Belgium. It is the highest Belgian court with criminal jurisdiction; as such, it is the only Belgian court that can sentence someone to life imprisonment. The courts of assizes are not permanent courts; a new court of assizes is assembled for each new trial. There is a court of assizes in each of the ten provinces of Belgium, as well as one in the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital which is not part of any province. Further below, an overview is provided of the eleven courts of assizes and their seats. They are the only courts in Belgium for which the provinces are used as territorial subdivisions. They are also the only courts in Belgium that hold jury trials. The jury acts as sole trier of fact, but decides on the penalty together with the judges. The trial by jury of certain crimes is laid down in article 150 of the Belgian Constitution. The Belgian courts of assizes have the same origin as their French namesakes.

The organisation of the courts of assizes and the applicable rules of criminal procedure are laid down in the Belgian Judicial Code and the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure. The language in which the proceedings of the courts of assizes are held depends on the official languages of their province: Dutch for the courts of assizes of Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, West Flanders and Flemish Brabant, Dutch and French for the court of assizes of Brussels, French for the courts of assizes of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg, French and German for the court of assizes of Liège. The use of languages in judicial matters is a sensitive topic in Belgium; it is strictly regulated by the law.

Court structure Judges A court of assizes is presided over by a counsellor (, , ) from the court of appeal (judges at the courts of appeal are officially called counsellors), who is assisted by two assessors (, , ), who are judges from the tribunal of first instance. These three judges are appointed to each assizes trial by the first president of the court of appeal. They sit together in the form of a panel, led by the counsellor of the court of appeal. For the sake of readability, the counsellor will be referred to as the 'presiding judge' in this article. In order to distinguish the different ranks of the judges, the two assessors from the tribunal of first instance wear their black court robes with white band, whilst the counsellor from the court of appeal wears a ceremonial court robe that uses the color red in addition to black. The judges are always assisted by a clerk. In exceptional cases, alternate judges can be appointed to an assizes trial as well, who will replace a judge who can no longer serve for no matter which reason during the trial.

Jury The court of assizes is, aside from the three judges, also composed of a jury of twelve people. These twelve jurors (, , ) are selected at random off the electoral rolls used for the Belgian federal elections. However, a jury may not count more than eight people of the same sex; a jury with fewer than four men or four women may thus not be impaneled. In order to be selected as a juror, one must be aged between 28 and 65, be able to read and write in the language of the trial, not be a cleric, the holder of certain public offices or in active military service, not be disqualified from the exercise of civil and political rights by means of a judgement, and not have received a criminal sentence above a certain threshold. Up to twenty-four alternate jurors can be selected as well. Serving on an assizes jury is considered to be a civic duty and legally obligated; a potential juror may thus not be dismissed from their jury duty without a valid reason. Jurors do however receive a stipend for their service. Since the jurors are not merely triers of fact, but also have a say over the penalty, they can also be viewed as lay judges.

Prosecution, accused and civil parties Since the court of assizes is not a permanent court, there is no public prosecutor's office attached to it. The prosecution of (suspected) offenders is undertaken by the prosecutor-general's office (, , ) attached to the court of appeal. The prosecutor-general's office may also delegate the prosecution to a lower prosecutor's office. The defendant in an assizes trial is referred to as the accused (, , ). The accused is required to be assisted by counsel; if they have not picked one, the court will appoint one to them. Any accused who does not speak the language of the trial will be appointed an interpreter by the court as well. Any victim in a case can also bring a civil action against the accused in an assizes trial. It is a feature of the Belgian judicial system in general that courts and tribunals having jurisdiction over criminal cases can also decide on any civil damages sought by a victim (referred to as the civil party). A judgement made by a court of assizes is literally called an 'arrest' (, , ) in order to distinguish it from the judgements of lower tribunals; it might also be translated into English as a 'decision' or 'ruling'. For the sake of readability, the term 'judgement' will be used in this article.

Courtroom layout The courtroom where a court of assizes is held requires a particular layout due to the presence of a jury. In general, the three judges (with the presiding judge in the middle) sit behind a bench at the back of the courtroom, with the prosecutor-general or his delegate sitting on one side and the court clerk sitting on the other side next to the bench. The accused, guarded by police officers, sits in a box to the same side of the courtroom as where the prosecutor-general or his delegate sits, with the defense counsel sitting in front of the box. In some cases, the accused's box may be fitted with bulletproof glass. To the other side of the courtroom, opposite the accused's box and to the same side as the court clerk, is the jury box where the jury sits. In the middle of the courtroom, in between the bench, the accused's box and the jury box, is the witness stand where witnesses testify. At the front of the courtroom are benches for the civil parties and the news media, with seats for the general public in front of those. The courtroom is often fitted with television screens or video projectors meant to display video evidence or presentations by expert witnesses. The details of the individual layout may of course vary from courtroom to courtroom.

Jurisdiction Serious crimes The courts of assizes have original jurisdiction over all crimes (, , ) that have not been correctionalised. Crimes are the most serious category of crimes under Belgian law (comparable to major felonies); correctionalisation refers to the process which allows for certain crimes to be tried by the correctional division of a tribunal of first instance instead of a court of assizes. The process of correctionalisation requires the prosecutor to assume the existence of extenuating circumstances. A consequence of a decision to correctionalise is also that the statutory maximum penalty that can be imposed for the crime is lowered. The decision on whether to correctionalise a crime is either taken by the prosecutor, or either by the judge's chambers (, , ) of the tribunal of first instance or the chamber of indictment (, , ) of the court of appeal, at the end of a judicial investigation or during the indictment proceedings (see further below).

In practice, most crimes except for the most severe ones are correctionalised due to the heavy burden an assizes trial imposes on the judicial system. This heavy burden is caused by, amongst other factors, the fact three judges need to be temporarily discharged from their other duties, the number of witnesses that are often made to testify, and therefore the long time an assizes trial can last. Some high-profile ones can even last for months. As a result, most of the assizes trials held involve a homicide (murder or manslaughter) or other crimes of a grave nature. In this capacity, some extraordinary crimes against international law, such as genocide or crimes against humanity, are also tried by the courts of assizes.

Political and press crimes Aside from the most serious crimes, article 150 of the Belgian Constitution also establishes that political crimes and press crimes (except those inspired by racism or xenophobia) have to be tried by a jury. As a result, the courts of assizes have exclusive jurisdiction over these types of crimes. In addition, article 148 of the Belgian Constitution establishes that trials of political and press crimes are held in open court, unless the court and all parties involved agree to hold the trial behind closed doors. However, neither the Constitution nor the law provides for a definition of what constitutes a political crime or press crime. As a result, the scope of these terms has historically been interpreted rather restrictively by Belgian courts. Through precedent and legal theory, political crimes can be defined as crimes that, by their intention and their effect, constitute a direct attack on the functioning of the institutions of the state. In the same way, press crimes can be defined as the expression, in print or by similar means, of an idea or opinion that breaches the law, as long as the print in question is effectively published.

Procedure

Indictment Unlike for trials before the police tribunals and tribunals of first instance, no-one may be prosecuted before a court of assizes without a prior indictment (, , ) by the chamber of indictment of the court of appeal. This indictment can be obtained after a judicial investigation conducted by an investigative judge of the tribunal of first instance. Such judicial investigations are overseen by the council chamber, which is chaired by another judge of the tribunal of first instance. If the council chamber decides at the end of such a judicial investigation that there are sufficient indications of guilt of a crime that should not be correctionalised (see earlier), it will send the case to the chamber of indictment, which is chaired by a panel of three counsellors of the court of appeal. If the chamber of indictment decides as well that there exist sufficient indications of guilt, and that the suspected crime should not be correctionalised, it will deliver an indictment for an assizes trial. The decision made by the chamber of indictment in this capacity is final except for an appeal in cassation. A court of assizes will then be assembled to hold the trial, except when in the case of cassation proceedings the Court of Cassation quashes the indictment. Once the decision is made to hold an assizes trial, the prosecutor-general (, , ) or his delegate who will prosecute the accused, is required to draw up an act of accusation (, , ), which describes the criminal charges brought against the accused. The accused's defense may also draw up an act of defense (, , ) as a response to the act of accusation, but this is not required.

Preliminary hearing