The request for suspension was submitted in “extreme urgency” by the parents of the minor. A decision by the mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, required the latter not to leave his home between 6 p.m. on December 31 and 8 a.m. on January 1. Last week, the auditor of the Council of State considered the authorities’ measure “disproportionate” and recommended its suspension.
Bart De Wever then decided to issue a new house arrest, this time better argued. It is this new version which pushed the auditor and then the Council of State to reject the complaint. “The new decision provides that the ban is not applicable if the person concerned stays abroad during this period. The Council of State considers that the wish of the person concerned is thus satisfied, since he specifically claimed in the first case – by producing supporting documents – that he wanted to spend New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam”, justified the Council of State.
The City of Antwerp has, as in previous years, placed several dozen young repeat offenders under house arrest for New Year’s Eve, with the aim of “maintaining calm during the evening”. The police will carry out checks to ensure that this summons is respected.
The Council of State also decided on Monday not to cancel the ban on unaccompanied minors under the age of 16 traveling in the Brussels district of Cureghem on New Year’s Eve. The measure, taken by Anderlecht mayor Fabrice Cumps, does not involve “sufficiently serious harm to justify a suspension of this order”, considers the Council of State.
