Belgium’s federal parliament has just approved a major change to nationality law that allows people convicted of very serious crimes to be stripped of their Belgian citizenship. The federal government has approved a bill that will allow the state to revoke Belgian citizenship from people found guilty of serious crimes such as homicide and sexual assault.
🧑⚖️ What the Reform Says
Here’s how the new rules work under the approved bill:
1. Applies only to naturalised citizens
This measure affects people who acquired Belgian nationality, typically through naturalisation, and not those who are citizens from birth. Anyone who has acquired Belgian nationality in the last 15 years and is found guilty of a serious crime — in practice, because removing citizenship from someone born Belgian would conflict with international rules against statelessness.
2. Serious crimes covered
The law targets individuals convicted of certain serious crimes that “undermine the foundations of society”, such as:
-
organised crime
-
homicide (murder)
-
serious sexual offences
-
terrorism and similar high-impact crimes
3. Required conviction and sentence
To be considered for nationality revocation, the person must have:
-
been convicted of one of these serious crimes, and
-
received a sentence of at least five years’ effective imprisonment.
4. Time limits on application
The rule generally applies if the crime was committed within 15 years after the person acquired Belgian nationality. There’s also a 15-year limit for initiating the loss-of-nationality process.
5. Judges must consider it
In cases involving dual nationals convicted of terrorism, courts are now required to automatically consider stripping citizenship, even if prosecutors do not request it. For other crimes, courts must assess the measure and — if they choose not to revoke citizenship — give explicit reasons for that decision.
🧭 Why the Change?
The government frames the reform as a tool to protect public safety and social cohesion by ensuring that the most dangerous offenders don’t continue enjoying all rights of citizenship. Critics argue it could deepen divisions or have limited practical effect, given the high threshold (5-year sentence) and protections against creating stateless persons.
