Escaping from prison is not illegal in Belgium - yet

Due to an old interpretation of an 1867 criminal law in Belgium, it is not yet illegal for an incarcerated person to escape from prison, so long as they do not commit any other offence in the process.

The old interpretation of the law considered freedom to be a fundamental right and accepted that an individual could attempt to regain it without being punished for doing so, RTBF reports.

But justice minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) has now introduced a bill to criminalise so-called "simple" escape, putting an end to the unusual legal standard.

“It’s not normal that someone can escape from prison with impunity,” said Verlinden, arguing that the reform is a matter of common sense.

The change is part of a broader set of measures related to prison security, including a legal framework for drug testing in prisons and measures aimed at strengthening the protection of victims of domestic violence or abuse.

The text, approved by the justice committee and expected to be put to a final vote in parliament by the end of the year, provides that any escape, even non-violent, is punishable by a prison sentence of between six months and three years.

It also includes new provisions concerning the sabotage of electronic surveillance devices, such as electronic tags, the destruction or neutralisation of which would be punished in the same way as a conventional escape.

These measures are scheduled to come into force on 1 May 2026 as part of the more general overhaul of the Penal Code adopted in April 2024, which aims to modernise the Belgian criminal justice system and bring it into line with European standards.

It is estimated that for every 10,000 Belgian prisoners, about eight attempt to escape.

Today, according to the legislation in force (Penal Code Articles 332 to 337), a prisoner can only be prosecuted if they commit an offence during their escape, for example by using violence, threatening a guard, forcing a door or destroying equipment.

Helping a prisoner to escape is also punishable by criminal penalties. However, escaping alone, without causing damage or using violence, is not considered a crime.

The concept dates back to the Belgian Penal Code of 1867, which was influenced by philosophers and jurists of the time such as Cesare Beccaria.

Beccaria advocated that justice should be more reformative than punitive and the Belgian authorities therefore chose not to punish the act of escape, considering that it does not in itself constitute reprehensible behaviour, as it was the result of a desire for freedom.

With the legislative change suggested by Verlinden, Belgium would align itself with most European countries, where escape is a criminal offence.

In France, for example, escaping from prison has been punishable since 2004 by an additional three years in prison and a fine of €45,000.

But countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Iceland still have similar interpretations of the law to Belgium.

The International Prison Observatory (OIP) called Verlinden’s proposed reform "heretical".

“On the one hand, it has no place in a system where people are already over-incarcerated,” a member of the OIP told RTBF.

“On the other hand, prison escapes in Belgium are minimal. We are talking about less than ten cases per 10,000 prisoners. We have people thinking about making a law that will affect such a tiny proportion of the population that it will be barely noticeable.”

Marie Blairon, a member of the legal aid service for students (QUID) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel said the legalistic point of view must be balanced against the humanistic approach.

“From a legal standpoint, it will be very interesting, because it will add months to a sentence,” said Blairon.

“But if we look at it from a human perspective, knowing the conditions in which people are held in prisons, it is completely unfeasible. We have prisoners who are undernourished and living in appalling conditions.”

Opposition parties PTB, Ecolo-Groen and Open VLD also denounced the measure, calling it "symbolic" with no real deterrent effect.

They claim the majority of escapees already commit other offences, which exposes them to prosecution anyway.

Criminology experts also believe that the country would be better off focusing its efforts on preventing repeat offending, encouraging reintegration and improving prison conditions, rather than on additional penalties.

“Prison sentences should be seen as a last resort – we have the option of dealing with offences outside prisons, depending on the danger they pose to society, but in reality these tools aren’t yet being fully utilised,” Blairon said.

“The government and the judiciary should focus more on overcrowding and prison conditions rather than creating new offences. This touches on a fundamental freedom enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”