Legislative 

Environment of
Belgium

Prepared by student of
NULES
Olha Kolomiiets FAM 7,
course 2
Legal system

 Belgium is a federal state with a civil law system. Civil law system in
Belgium is inspired by Roman Law and largely influenced by the French
legal system particularly by French Civil Code in 1804.

 Belgium is a European country and a member of important international

organizations such as the EU and NATO, headquartered in Brussels. Since
Belgium is a federation according to the state-territorial structure, the
communities and regions into which the state is divided have their own
international relations and can conclude international agreements on their
own.
The main sources of law are:
 EU Directives and Regulations.
 The Belgian Constitution.
 Laws passed by the federal parliament.
 Federal executive acts implementing these laws.
 Regional and communal decrees.
 Regional and communal executive acts implementing these decrees.
 Civil law
 This system differentiates with the common law system applied in other
countries by making distinction between ‘public’ and ‘private’ law. The public
law in Belgium focuses on the cases concerning states, while the private law
takes charge of the individual cases among citizens.

 The Civil code in Belgium is divided into three parts, the first dealing with
persons, the second with property, and the third with different modes of
acquiring property. The National Registry of Belgium has existed since the
adoption of the Code Napoleon. The registers were kept in every individual
village in Belgium, with the recording of all persons born in the village. The legal
process held in the village was also recorded, such as marriage and decease. The
National Registry was not only applied to Belgium citizens, but also to the
foreigners who stayed in Belgium for at least 2 weeks. The recorded legal
documents are only deleted or altered through the order of the Court.
 Commercial law
 Commercial law in Belgium is a collection of judicial rules governing matters
arising out of commercial dealings. Commercial law mainly covers legal cases
between transactions on commerce, trade and merchandise. Majority of the
commercial legislations are based on code of commerce which is formed under
the first Napoleon in 1795.

 The first legislation on commerce in Belgium was formed when the common
law was found to be insufficient to deal with all the ramifications of
commercial dealings and local customs. As the necessity of commercial law
increase, diverse sets if customs were prepared and put into book form, having
commercial law in view. The three principal books are “The Consulate of the
Sea”, “The Judgements and Customs of Orleon” and “The Maritime Law of
Wisby”.
International organization membership
Belgium belongs to a large number of international organization, here are a few
of them:
 United Nations (UN)
 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
 World Trade Organization (WTO)
 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
 European Union (EU)
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
 International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Thanks for your attention!
Resource:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Belgium#Civil_law
 https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80
%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%96_%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81
%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8_%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B3%D1%96%D1%97
 https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/w-019-2986?transitionType=Def
ault&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_Belgium