The Code of Criminal Procedure was adopted when Belgium did not exist yet as a sovereign state; at the time it was still part of the First French Empire. The different parts of the code were passed by the French Parliament, and subsequently promulgated by Napoleon as the Emperor of the French at the end of 1808. The code was one of the five codes of law implemented by Napoleon. The code remained in force when Belgium became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, and when Belgium became a sovereign state after the Belgian Revolution of 1830–1831. In 1878, a law was adopted containing the Preliminary title of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This title added a number of general provisions regarding criminal proceedings to the code. The Code of Criminal Procedure has been amended many times since.
Contents
Preliminary title: Actions that arise from offences
This preliminary title to the code contains general provisions regarding criminal prosecutions, civil actions related to crimes, statutes of limitations and the validity of evidence.
Book I: The judicial police and the officers who exercise it
This part of the code governs the powers and duties of police officers, prosecutors and investigative judges, and lays down the manner in which criminal investigations and pre-trial proceedings ought to be conducted.
This part of the code lays down the criminal jurisdiction of the police tribunals, the correctional tribunals and the courts of appeal, the manner in which their criminal proceedings ought to be conducted, the applicable rules of evidence, as well as the means of recourse against their criminal judgments and rulings. This part of the code also governs the granting of witness immunity, and certain out-of-court means of handling criminal cases such as plea bargains and criminal settlements.
This part of the code lays down the criminal jurisdiction of the courts of assizes, the manner in which their criminal proceedings ought to be conducted, the applicable rules of evidence, as well as the means of recourse against their criminal judgments and rulings.
Title IIbis: General provisions regarding the official acts and duties of the prosecutor-general's office
This part of the code governs certain duties of the prosecutor-general's offices at the courts of appeal.
Title III: Means of provision against rulings or judgments
This part of the code establishes the causes for nullity of criminal judgments and rulings, the manner in which cassation proceedings ought to be conducted, as well as the causes and procedures for reopening or retracting old cases.
Title IV: Some particular procedures
This part of the code establishes a number of procedures for specific cases.
Title V: Regulation of jurisdiction and referral from one tribunal to another
This part of the code governs the causes and procedures for settling jurisdictional conflicts, and for removing cases from one court or tribunal and referring them to another.
Title VI: Mediation
This part of the code governs the practice of both court-ordered as out-of-court mediation in criminal cases.
Title VII: Some matters of public interest and general security
