my sabbatical year

2011/12

If you stumbled upon this blog by accident (accidents happen ... ;-) I owe you some explanation. Even if your visit is no accident, you might want to know what comes next.

Today is het first one of my third professional life (just like cats ?). Ten years as a lawyer in Bruges, almost 25 years as a Justice of the Peace in Roeselare. Now retired, or kind of.

I did not suffer from pensionitis. Jogging every other day, I am as healthy as ever, and not ever missed one single day in Court because of illness (exception for operations). But I’m in deep disagreement about the direction Belgian Justice is drifting into.

I’m not a nostalgic nor old fashened. I worked with my own computers as a lawyer since 1981, and - thanks to my enthousiastic Chief Clerc -introduced the use of them on private basis in my Court around 1988, long before the Department invested in one. When I sighed to my late father no one in the Department was interested in my technical expertise, he quipped that during his Army year in England, mechanics were sent tot the kitchen, en cooks to the garage. That’s no way to win a war ;-)))

I further changed the method of litigation in my county since the mid 90ies, focusing on conciliation, which since years succeeded in avoiding lawsuits in 33% of the 5.000 cases/year.

That way in 2010 in my county, we kept more cases out of court by payment or agreement, than the annual amount of procedures here at my start in 1987.

Without this project, my county would have been submerged by new procedures on top of the yearly growth (new mass claims for utilities as electricity, phone, internet, medical costs, parking....), and would have been entitled to a second Judge - a consequent economy to the Department.

The “social profit” (for citizens) in litigation costs that ware saved, can easily be calculated at €300.000/year, which brings the cost of a small tribunal (€400.000/year - see the JustPax project) almost in balance: this is certainly so when you add what our “clients” pay for litigation taxes and copies (min. €70.000/year).

In the mean time, during almost 25 years, I handled about the double amount of cases than the average Justice of the Peace (which gives me a 50 year career ;-)))

All this was realised whith exactly the same personnel as any other tribunal, even those with 33% of my work load.

Annoucing my departure just one year ago, I should have surprised no one. Already in my interview to Humo of 08 12 2009 I announced not to make part of any ‘Mammouth Court’ project.

Since years I disagreed with this old fashioned Giant Supermarket of Justice: far from the citizen, long waiting queues, expensive pricing. Several blogs in the past year repeated and motivated this point of view (see some here after).

The pocket version of the Mammouth Project is now the Family Court, and it transfers the most urgent procedures between spouses and partners (or about alimony for children) from the 229 Justices of the Peace (with 187 judges) to the 27 far Grand Tribunals.

Even those will be concentrated to about 18 at the most, which makes the road for the weakest victims of injustice (mostly women) even longer. Of course, there will be local ‘antennas’, but we learned that uneasy lesson already from abolished train stations.

By the way: if our computer system would be really performing (I knicknamed the system the ‘Antichrist’ - see the Landrover in ‘The Gods Must be Crazy), to the contrary we would be able to decentralise our tribunals. We could go to smaller towns instead of alienating people: the “Justice That Cares” for which Prof. Koen Raes pleaded.

The best proof of a Justice with Bigger Palaces that will only consider short-term-financing and not a modern, fine-tuned human approach, is the fact no installation of a ‘Conciliation Chamber’ will be compulsory, unless the Court President allows it in the budget. The Budget.

For my 48.734 conciliations since 1987, I never got any budget, even not a single part-time clerk.

Yesterday, the replacement of my Head Clerk (my Chief Operations Officer) was 782 days late, the critical recommendations of the local police on safety were not implemented, and even the simple Bancontact pay terminal (every baker has one) not yet installed since I repeatidly asked for it one year ago (less cash, faster pay, earlier start of any procedure or service).

Finally, it seems wiser to ring the bell even harder, and ring it from the outside, than enduring those illogical inside working conditions longer, with the perspective of a job emptied of its human mission.

The Sabbatical year I start now, is my alternative. It’s not an ‘exit’-strategy, it’s a choice for different work, on my own terms, for the same goal.

As Marcel Vanthilt joked: I won’t be resting on my lazy Q.... I owe this to my job, my country and to my children.

Wat u vast niet gemist hebt - Ce que vous n’avez certainement pas râté - You didn’t miss this one did you ???

2011 09 01 Beschouwingen Eerste Voorzitter Londers bij plechtige openingszitting Hof van Cassatie

2011 09 01 “We moeten Justitie nù hervormen” (S. De Clerck in De Tijd) citaat: “‘Maar goed, zoiets stoort mij niet. Ik heb liever iemand als Liégeois die vanuit zijn gedrevenheid dingen aanklaagt, dan iemand als vrederechter Jan Nolf die vorige maand na 25 jaar met pensioen ging en in de media verkondigde dat hij weggaat omdat hij het beu is, zogezegd omdat er een familierechtbank komt. Dat stoort me. Net als een magistraat die op zijn 60ste opstapt en dan plots zijn mond opendoet, zoals rechter Freddy Troch, die eerder dit jaar vertrok. Dan heb ik liever mensen die harde kritiek formuleren, maar ook hard blijven werken.”

2011 09 01 “Vrederechter neemt afscheid” (Het Nieuwsblad)

2011 09 01 “Vrederechter Jan Nolf stopt ermee” (De Ochtend, Radio 1)

A quote a day, keeps the doctor away ;-)

“Ik zou er daarom willen voor pleiten om ook wat de gerechtelijke macht betreft, de decentralisatiegedachte een kans te geven, en de vredegerechten dichter bij de bevolking te centraliseren. (...) Het is vreemd dat men dit voor politieke organen heeft ingezien, maar niet voor het gerechtelijke”

Koen Raes in ‘Rechtspreken vanuit een zorgzaamheidsperspectief’ in het afscheidsbundel van F. Evers, ‘Kiezen tussen recht en rechtvaardigheid’ (Die Keure 2009)

Photo of the day:

“The sleek bridge, next to the Monument of the Justice of the Peace, Roeselare (see the blog of my last day in Court 2011 08 31 here).

Bridges are the best symbol of Justice, far more than a balance (see my Favourite Bridges of 2010 here)

Poem of the day:

“Omdat liefde vanzelfsprekend is en het niet hoort te zijn

Omdat het ‘s zomers kan sneeuwen en

bloemen barstend je handen uiteen kunnen rijten”

Prof. Michel Flammée, ‘Zeven Antwoorden’, bijdage in Liber Amicorum Yvette Merchiers.

You Tube of the day:

Justice of the Peace, Roeselare: “Farewell”

Some links to earlier JW blog pages about the Belgian project of ‘Family Courts’:

2011 08 05 ‘De familierechtbank dichterbij, familiejustitie verderaf’ (VRT De Redactie Opinie)