Council of State rejects suspension appeal against New Year's curfew in Anderlecht
The curfew on New Year's Eve for unaccompanied minors under 16 in Kuregem, a district in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht, remains in force. A family from Anderlecht had requested to suspend the measure, but the Council of State ruled that the family doesn’t face sufficient harm to justify urgent action.
The Kuregem neighbourhood has repeatedly been the scene of incidents on New Year's Eve in recent years, including emergency services being targeted with fireworks. This year, mayor Fabrice Cumps therefore decided to oblige all minors under 16 in the neighbourhood to stay indoors on New Year's Eve from 7 pm onwards unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Human rights activist Nordine Saïdi filed an urgent suspension request against that decision by the mayor, arguing it unfairly affects his family. The man himself lives in the neighbourhood with his wife and two sons, aged 17 and 15.
“My clients celebrate New Year's Eve with friends, while their sons celebrate elsewhere in the early evening,” the family’s lawyer, Mr Lannoy, stated. “Later in the evening, the sons join their parents. Because of this decision, only the eldest would be able to do so, and the youngest risks being arrested immediately.”
The Council of State ruled that the mayor had exceeded his authority because the incidents he relied on to make the decision had occurred on the New Year's Eve nights of 2022 and 2023, and the New Year's Eve night of 2024 could therefore not be considered an unforeseeable event. However, the harm to the Saïdi family caused by the decision was not serious enough to justify an urgent suspension of the decision, according to the Council of State.
Earlier opinion of auditor
Earlier on Monday, the auditor of the Council of State had already issued an opinion. It stated that the curfew was illegal in principle. “The mayor did not have the authority to take that decision alone,” stated the Auditor.
The auditor however also felt the measure could not be suspended because the family that filed the suspension request would not suffer sufficiently serious harm to justify an urgent suspension. "There is nothing to prevent them from accompanying their 15-year-old son that evening," declared the auditor.
Fireworks during celebrations on New Year's Eve in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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