Remarkable verdict: De Lijn may not fine minors for fare-dodging (Antwerp)
The Flemish transport company De Lijn can impose small fines on minors for fare-dodging, the Antwerp juvenile court has stated in a death sentence. According to the court, the fines imposed by De Lijn are illegal, because there was never an executive order on the imposition of fines for minors because fare fare was issued.
The juvenile court in Antwerp has recently recorded the decision of the official of De Lijn, who decided to impose a minor fine of 81 euros for fare evasion. The court believes that there is no legal basis whatsoever to fine minors for fare-dodging.
According to the court, fines can be imposed, provided that the government clearly describes what fine a minor black driver can expect. “In the verdict, the court ruled that no executive order can be found that relates to the imposition of fines on minors,” said Judge Wendy Verhaeghe. “For that reason, the court believes that the fine that was declared illegal and that there is no basis for collecting the fine.”
Not the first time
According to the youth court in Antwerp, it is not the first time that a juvenile judge has been fined because fare evasion has been resolved, because no executive order has been issued by the minister. Whether the fines against adults are also illegal? “The court refers to the lack of an executive order regarding fare fare by underage travellers,” said the press judge.
The parents of the minor, who died during the corona pandemic caught evading fare, had the finest development for another reason. According to the parents, their daughter had not scanned her ticket because the equipment in the De Lijn bus was defective.
The driver of the bus was not approachable because he was separated from the corona measures. The line swept aside the parents’ argumentation, and probably a bailiff to the parents to probably remember the fine of 81 euros. The parents also became pregnant with more than 200 euros in bailiff costs.
The juvenile court of appeal has now included De Lijn’s fine and orders De Lijn to pay all costs.
“During the previous legislation, some things were certainly changed in the implementing decrees. We have noticed that the legal group of minors has disappeared from those texts,” says the spokeswoman for Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open VLD). “We have also come to this conclusion and we have now made new implementation decrees that have already been approved by the Flemish government. Those new conclusions are now in the administrative mill and we hope that the problem will be solved as soon as possible.”