Disciplinary Board

Within 3 months of your letter, the chairman of the disciplinary board will make an initial decision. This will notify you by letter. This decision first of all determines whether your complaint is well-founded.
The possible outcomes then are as follows:

• The chairman asks the President of the barresident of the bar to complete the investigation within a certain time limit.
• The chairman investigates the complaint himself or has it investigated.
• The chairman decides that there is no reason to bring the lawyer before the disciplinary board.
• The chairman decides that the lawyer does have to appear before the disciplinary board.

If the chairman decides the latter, the disciplinary board will decide what the punishment is. The disciplinary board thus determines the lawyer's liability as a practitioner and whether he can therefore practice the profession properly, and thus does not address a possible question of guilt towards his client. So you cannot claim damages or compensation via this route.

The disciplinary board can pronounce subsequent penalties if it finds that the lawyer has indeed failed to comply with professional rules:

• Warning
• Reprimand - Here, the disciplinary council can also impose that the lawyer is not allowed to participate in internal elections within the profession for a maximum of 3 years (election of President of the Bar, Bar Council, General Assembly, OVB Board of Directors).
• Suspension - Temporary ban from practising the profession, max. 1 year. Here the Disciplinary Board may also decide that the lawyer is not allowed to participate in internal elections within the profession (election of President of the Bar, Bar Council, General Assembly, Board of Directors of OVB) for up to 5 years.
• Deletion - Then the lawyer is permanently banned from practising the profession, forever.

The disciplinary board can never prohibit a lawyer from voting for elections to the general assembly and board of directors of the OVB.

The cost of the investigation can also be passed on to the lawyer.

As a complainant, you are not a party to the proceedings. Therefore, you are not automatically informed of the disciplinary board's decision. You can always request information from the chairman of the Disciplinary Board or the Chief of Staff, but they decide for themselves whether to inform you of the Disciplinary Board's decision.

As a client, you cannot do anything against this. The lawyer himself, the chief of staff or the public prosecutor (representing society) can appeal against the disciplinary board's decision. The case then goes to the Disciplinary Board of Appeal, which is chaired by a magistrate. You will then be informed of the place, date and time of the new hearing. Again, you can be heard during the hearing, at your own request.

In Flanders, there are 3 disciplinary boards and 1 disciplinary board of appeal:

• Antwerp:
  Disciplinary Council for Lawyers
  Parklaan 25/13 - 3500 Hasselt
  Chairman Joseph Rowies
• Ghent:
  Disciplinary Council for Lawyers
  Gerechtsgebouw, lokaal 38 (1st floor)
  Koophandelsplein 23
  9000 Ghent
  Chairman Inge Samoy
• Brussels:
  Disciplinary Council for lawyers - attn: Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij Balie Brussel
  secretariaat Stafhouder
  gerechtsgebouw
  Poelaertplein
  1000 Brussels
  Chairman Jozef Slootmans
• Disciplinary Board of Appeal
  Staatsbladsstraat 8
  1000 Brussels
  Chairman Luc Thabert