Christian De Valkeneer, president of the court of first instance of Namur, reminds Georges-Louis Bouchez that begging in the street is a fundamental right. However, faced with the rise in begging, cities like Mons are seeking to introduce control measures. Do they have the right to do this?
“Begging in the street is a right!” said Christian De Valkeneer, president of the court of first instance of Namur, in response to Georges-Louis Bouchez’s desire to restore order to the streets of Mons.
To achieve this, the MR president wants to ban begging and impose a curfew in certain neighborhoods. His statement raises questions about the legal and moral status of begging in Belgium.
Ban attempts: a failure
Some Belgian cities, such as Namur, have tried to ban begging. The mayor of Namur, Maxime Prévot, had considered banning it, but the law does not allow it.
Since a decree of the Council of State in 1997, it is forbidden for a municipality to prohibit begging throughout its territory. A ban can only be decreed by a police order, for a specific period and location, for example, around cash machines, as is done in Huy.
However, these temporary bans cannot be renewed automatically and must be justified by disturbances to public order.
Maxime Prévot also tried to ban begging with children, but again, the Council of State blocked this initiative, considering that there was no disturbance to public order.
Tighter controls, but is it enough?
Faced with these failures, Namur has stepped up police checks. However, this approach is criticised by field officers who believe that these checks are not a sustainable solution.
According to them, it would be better to adopt a real approach to homeless people.
In Liège, begging has also increased, as evidenced by the 50% increase in checks between December 2022 and 2023. The mayor of Liège associates this increase with drug use and calls for intervention by the federal government and international bodies to manage this problem more effectively.
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