Judicial workers strike due to lack of funding

Lawyers, clerks and magistrates walked out of work on Wednesday morning and stood together on outside courthouses around the country. They were protesting against a lack of government funding.

Judicial workers are dealing with structural problems, lack of resources, old equipment and understaffing. Due to the serious lack in funding, cases are often delayed and it is claimed that some offences never get prosecuted.

Judges are unable to decide cases in a timely fashion and their decisions may not be the best, as they are hearing far too many cases, Vincent Macq, the president of the Professional Union of Judiciary, said. 

According to justice minister Koen Geens, the system is short of around €740 million a year.