Concept of Continued Offences: Continued Relevance for Sentencing?

• In Event: Sentencing Policy, Legal Doctrine and the Sentencing Process

Abstract

A continued offence (‘voortgezet misdrijf’ or ‘collectief misdrijf’, ‘infraction continuée’, ‘fortgesetzte Handlung’) consists of several criminal offences that are treated as a single offence. The main requirement under Belgian law is that the separate criminal offences have been committed with one overarching (criminal) objective in mind. In several legal systems, this construct has a major practical relevance for both criminal law and procedure, in particular as regards sentencing. Presently, for the continued offence as a whole, the Belgian judge can in principle only impose the penalties linked to the most severely punished specific criminal offence. The drafters of the in February 2024 adopted new Belgian Criminal Code however decided to get rid of the concept in a sentencing context. The reason given was the broad and arguably improper use of the concept to avoid applying more complex rules. Given the recent nature of the new Criminal Code which will only enter into force in the first half of 2026, this legislative change has not received much attention yet. This presentation will explore the interpretation and (dis)advantages of the concept of continued offences in a Belgian sentencing context as well as the proposed alternative(s). Special attention will be devoted to any potential cross-border effects in a European context, for instance in the light of the ne bis in idem-principle. We will also include a comparison with the Dutch, French and German criminal sanctioning system and discuss the role the concept plays there. Finally, alongside the legal analysis, the criminological significance of this sentencing construct warrants specific scrutiny as well.

Authors

• Pieter van Rooij, KU LEUVEN

• Sem Careel, KU Leuven