Language of proceedings under the law of 15 June 1935
Find the language of the writ and of civil proceedings, and the ways to change it.
Language of the writ and the proceedings
French
art. 4, § 1 Law 15/06/1935
Change of language
- The defendant may ask for Dutch before any defence or exception, even of incompetence. The case is then sent to a court of the other language. The judge may refuse if the defendant knows the language of the writ well enough. (art. 4, § 1, al. 3 and § 2 Law 15/06/1935)
- In person, the request is oral; when represented, it is written, drawn up and signed by the defendant personally.
- All parties may jointly ask to change the language before any defence, at the introductory hearing or in writing to the registry at the latest 8 days before it; the judge rules within 15 days (art. 7).
- All parties domiciled in the Brussels arrondissement may agree, after the dispute arose, to appear before the court of the language they choose (art. 7ter).
- Recourse against a breach of the language rules by a Brussels court: within 15 days of receiving the decision, before the French- and Dutch-language tribunals sitting together (art. 23quater).
Sanctions and documents
- Acts in the wrong language are void, and the judge raises it of its own motion. A contradictory judgment that is not purely preparatory covers the nullity of earlier acts; void acts still interrupt limitation (art. 40).
- Conclusions are procedural acts: they must be in the language of the proceedings.
- Documents in another language: translation only at the request of the party they are used against, never of the judge's own motion (art. 8).
- An act served in another language region needs a translation, unless the recipient chose or accepted the language (art. 38).
Export
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The link holds the dates, amounts and options entered, never a name.
Sources
Rules verified on 06/10/2026
- Law of 15 June 1935 on the use of languages in judicial matters
- Constitutional Court, judgment 120/2019 (art. 40)
A tool to assist lawyers. The lawyer remains responsible for the calculation and for checking the applicable rule.
How it works
How the tool works
You state the stage (first instance or appeal), the seat of the court and the defendant's domicile (its registered office for a legal person). In Brussels, you also state the court, the link with Halle-Vilvoorde and whether a worker is suing the employer or its work-accident insurer.
The tool gives:
- the language of the writ and of the proceedings, with the applicable article;
- the defendant's right to ask for another language, its effect and the grounds for refusal;
- the joint request of the parties and, in Brussels, the parties' agreement and the art. 23quater recourse;
- the rules on nullity, documents and service.
Legal basis
Law of 15 June 1935 on the use of languages in judicial matters:
- Arts. 1, 2 and 2bis: French before the courts of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Namur and Walloon Brabant; Dutch in Antwerp, East Flanders, West Flanders, Limburg and Leuven; German in the Eupen arrondissement.
- Art. 3: Dutch before the justices of the peace and police courts (up to the art. 590 Judicial Code amount) of the Halle-Vilvoorde cantons, and before the Brussels courts whose territorial jurisdiction rests on a place in Halle-Vilvoorde.
- Art. 4: before the other courts of the Brussels arrondissement, the language of the writ follows the defendant's domicile. French-language region: French; Dutch-language region: Dutch; one of the 19 communes or no known domicile in Belgium: the plaintiff's choice. A legal person is tied to its registered office. Several defendants: the region of the majority (art. 6).
- Arts. 4, § 3, 7bis and 7, § 1bis: specific rules for the six periphery communes (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Linkebeek, Rhode-Saint-Genèse, Wemmel, Wezembeek-Oppem), Mouscron, Comines-Warneton and Voeren.
- Arts. 7 and 7ter: joint request; agreement of the parties domiciled in the Brussels arrondissement.
- Art. 24: the appeal proceeds in the language of the judgment under appeal.
- Art. 40: acts in another language are void, raised by the judge of its own motion.
Points of attention
- The defendant asks for the change before any defence or exception, even of incompetence. In person, the request is oral; when represented, the defendant drafts and signs it personally. Before a justice of the peace the case continues in the other language; other courts send it on.
- In Brussels, the judge may refuse if the defendant knows the language of the writ well enough. For a defendant domiciled in the 19 communes or the six periphery communes, only two grounds remain: the language of most of the relevant documents, or that of the employment relationship.
- Art. 23quater recourse: within 15 days of receiving the decision, before the French- and Dutch-language tribunals sitting together.
- A contradictory judgment that is not purely preparatory covers the nullity of earlier acts; a void act still interrupts limitation. The Constitutional Court annulled the change made to art. 40 by the law of 25 May 2018 (judgment 120/2019).
- Documents: translation only at the request of the party they are used against (art. 8). Act served in another language region: translation, unless the recipient chose or accepted the language (art. 38).
What the tool does not do
- It does not cover criminal cases.
- It does not cover a defendant domiciled in the German-language region sued in Brussels: art. 4 does not address that case.
- It does not apply the majority rule between several defendants itself (art. 6), and it does not name the court a case is sent to.
Verification and responsibility
The rules were checked on 4 October 2026. The tool assists the lawyer, who remains responsible for the choice of language and for checking the applicable rule.
Updated on 4 October 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which language for a writ in Brussels?
Before the courts of the Brussels arrondissement, the language of the writ follows the defendant's domicile (art. 4 of the law of 15 June 1935 on the use of languages in judicial matters). Domicile in the French-language region: French. In the Dutch-language region: Dutch. In one of the 19 Brussels communes, or no known domicile in Belgium: the plaintiff chooses French or Dutch. Exception: before the justices of the peace and police courts of the Halle-Vilvoorde cantons, and when a Brussels court's territorial jurisdiction rests on a place in Halle-Vilvoorde, the proceedings are in Dutch (art. 3).
Which language to sue a company in Brussels?
For a legal person, the registered office counts, as the domicile does for a natural person (Constitutional Court, judgment 11/2014). A worker tied to a Brussels establishment may sue the employer or its work-accident insurer in the language that party must use towards the worker (judgments 98/2010 and 11/2014).
Can the defendant ask for the proceedings to change language?
Before the Brussels courts covered by art. 4, yes, before any defence or exception, even of incompetence. Before a justice of the peace the case continues in the other language before the same judge; other courts send the case to a court of the other language. The judge rules at once. The judge may refuse if the defendant knows the language of the writ well enough; if the defendant is domiciled in one of the 19 communes or the six periphery communes, only on the two grounds tied to the documents and the employment relationship. Elsewhere, the right exists only for a defendant domiciled in Mouscron, Comines-Warneton or Voeren (art. 7, § 1bis) or in one of the six periphery communes (arts. 7bis and 4, § 3). Otherwise only a joint request of all parties changes the language (art. 7).
Which language for an appeal?
The language of the judgment under appeal (art. 24). The appeal against a judgment in German proceeds in German, in Liège. A defendant who defaulted at first instance may still ask for a change of language at the start of the appeal (Constitutional Court, judgment 124/2019).
What if a procedural act is in the wrong language?
It is void, and the judge raises the nullity of its own motion (art. 40). A contradictory judgment that is not purely preparatory covers the nullity of the writ and earlier acts, not of the judgment itself. The void act still interrupts limitation and procedural deadlines. Conclusions are procedural acts: they follow the language of the proceedings.
Must documents in another language be translated?
Not of the judge's own motion. The judge orders a translation only at the request of the party the document is used against, by a reasoned decision, with no appeal, and the costs are recoverable (art. 8). In a criminal case, the Court of Cassation held that documents are not procedural acts and fall outside the art. 40 nullity (Cass., 30 January 2024).
Can the parties choose the language of the proceedings together?
Yes. All parties may jointly ask to change the language before any defence, at the introductory hearing or in writing to the registry at the latest 8 days before it; the judge rules within 15 days (art. 7). In Brussels, parties all domiciled in the arrondissement may also agree, after the dispute arose, to appear before the court of the language they choose (art. 7ter).