Introduction
Introduction
Over a fair number of years now, Belgium has witnessed widespread, and at times heated, debates about the functioning of the administration of criminal justice as a whole, and about the role, the organisation and the functioning of the police and the public prosecution service more specifically. In fact citizens increasingly distrust the criminal justice system's effectiveness and not at least its integrity. The causes at the root of this crisis are well known. A proliferation of legislation and a surge in crime has not been countered by a consistent policy safeguarding an effective and balanced settlement of cases, mainly because of reflective and organisational inability. The result is an overburdened criminal justice system. The consequences are also known: frustrating shortcomings in the investigation of serious or extremely disturbing offences, selective action on behalf of the criminal justice authorities, which jeopardises the principle of equality before the law, a growing incapacity to deal with criminal cases and insecurity for victims and offenders. Many of the criticisms mentioned have been directed at the prosecution service, which in fact dominates the Belgian criminal justice system process: the investigation, the prosecution process and the implementation of sanctions. The functioning of the prosecution service determines the quality of the criminal justice administration to a large extent. As a consequence, a legitimacy crisis in the criminal justice system inevitably points to the malfunctioning of the prosecution service. Debates have focussed on issues such as the constitutional position of the prosecution service, its relationship with the police and the bench, the management of its internal organisation, and the policies to deal with cases in an efficient way. This discussion resulted in fundamental reform of the public prosecution service, which is rooted in the so-called Octopus-agreement of May 1998 and aims at preparing the public prosecution service for the major challenges of the 21st century.
Over a fair number of years now, Belgium has witnessed widespread, and at times heated, debates about the functioning of the administration of criminal justice as a whole, and about the role, the organisation and the functioning of the police and the public prosecution service more specifically. In fact citizens increasingly distrust the criminal justice system's effectiveness and not at least its integrity. The causes at the root of this crisis are well known. A proliferation of legislation and a surge in crime has not been countered by a consistent policy safeguarding an effective and balanced settlement of cases, mainly because of reflective and organisational inability. The result is an overburdened criminal justice system. The consequences are also known: frustrating shortcomings in the investigation of serious or extremely disturbing offences, selective action on behalf of the criminal justice authorities, which jeopardises the principle of equality before the law, a growing incapacity to deal with criminal cases and insecurity for victims and offenders. Many of the criticisms mentioned have been directed at the prosecution service, which in fact dominates the Belgian criminal justice system process: the investigation, the prosecution process and the implementation of sanctions. The functioning of the prosecution service determines the quality of the criminal justice administration to a large extent. As a consequence, a legitimacy crisis in the criminal justice system inevitably points to the malfunctioning of the prosecution service. Debates have focussed on issues such as the constitutional position of the prosecution service, its relationship with the police and the bench, the management of its internal organisation, and the policies to deal with cases in an efficient way. This discussion resulted in fundamental reform of the public prosecution service, which is rooted in the so-called Octopus-agreement of May 1998 and aims at preparing the public prosecution service for the major challenges of the 21st century.
