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Press release: The Adriaenssens Commission

Vrijdag, 1 Januari 2010 - 17:00
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The Minister of Justice Stefaan de Clerck emphasises that investigative acts regarding the Church authorities and of the Adriaenssens Commission were ordered entirely autonomously by the Examining Magistrate. The judicial institutions are fulfilling their assignment at liberty and with due responsibility – within the legal ambit.

The Minister of Justice takes note of the decision of the entire Adriaenssens Commission to terminate its activities but finds its following consequences extremely regrettable:

  • the victims who had put their trust in the competence and deontolgy of the Adriaenssens will lose their point of contact;
  • the Church loses a tool with which it wished to set matters right regarding the harrowing issue of sexual abuse in clerical relationships;
  • the community is experiencing an escalation but, conversely, expects a speedy, thorough and respectful clearance of the issue;
  • a form of collaboration between Justice on the one hand and aid and assistance on the other has not produced any results.

The Minister of Justice finds it crucial that at this moment both the care for the victims and the correct and serene finalisation of the files be guaranteed.

To this end he shall do the following:

  • consult with the Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen, on the manner in which the current institutions in Flanders (from where by far the most complaints hail) can take over the care and well-being of the victims;
  • immediately request a convocation of the specific work group (*) (under the leadership of the Public Prosecution Service of Ghent and Liège) which was incorporated as agreed between the Adriaenssens and the Attorney-General within the scope of the agreement.

(*) Regulation of the flow of information between the “Commission for the treatment of complaints due to sexual abuse in clerical relationships” founded by the Catholic Church of Belgium on the one hand and the Public Prosecution Service on the other.

II.3. Assignment

The assignment of the specific work group shall comprise creating room for both legal and criminal policies to analyse, reflect, investigate and deliberate to subsequently be able to decide, and shall focus on the difficulties encountered by the Public Prosecution Service in dealing with facts that have been divulged by the Catholic Church.