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Belgian Arms and Yemen

Jurisdiction

Belgium

Locale

Armed Conflict in Yemen

Recipient State

Saudi Arabia

Status

Ongoing

From 2017 to date, there have been four administrative challenges launched against the Walloon Regional Government concerning licences for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia that the claimants argue risk being used in serious international law violations (

international humanitarian law (IHL)

International humanitarian law (IHL) is the legal framework that governs activities during armed conflict.

and
international human rights law (IHRL)

Several rights are usually placed at risk by the use of exported arms. The most prominent are the right to life and the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

) that would fuel, exacerbate, and prolong the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

All four separate claims filed by claimant NGOs challenged individual licences granted by the Walloon government for the export of specific military items to Saudi Arabia’s armed forces. The exact value of the contested licences is not specifically known, as detailed information on the licences has not been made public by the Belgian regional authorities. Licensing information is therefore often sourced from the EU database, which is partial, unverifiable and has been found to contradict national information.

These have been some of the most successful legal challenges against arms transfers in the context of the Yemen war so far, with the court calling for the suspension or annulment of several contested licences as a result of litigation.

Watch full webinar here (27 June 2023)

Latest developments

23/06/2021

Case Development: Judgement by the Council of State Declaring Proceedings Closed

As the government had withdrawn the decision to grant ML1 licences for Saudi Arabia on 18 March 2021 and no appeal has been lodged against the withdrawal decision, the case is declared closed.

27/04/2021

Case Development: Judgement by the Council of State on the Claim filed 14.09.2020 Requesting the Annulment of ML1 licences

As the contested licences have been withdrawn on 24 November 2020, the Council of State declares the case closed. nnnnnnnn It finds that there is no longer a need for the court to adjudicate in the...

05/03/2021

Case Development: Judgement by the Council of State on the Claim filed 20.02.2021 against the Walloon Government

The Council of State orders the suspension of all contested licences issued by the Walloon government for export to Saudi Arabia. The court reasons that the government failed to take into account...

20/02/2021

Case Development: Claim filed against Walloon Government under ‘Extreme Urgency’ Procedure

This claim seeks to suspend under the ‘extreme urgency’ procedure, two licensing decisions for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia. 

20/02/2021

Case: Fourth Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

The fourth challenge, initiated in February 2021 under an ‘extreme urgency’ procedure, challenged new licences, granted by the Walloon government for the export of category ML1 arms to the...

14/09/2020

Case Development: Request for Annulment of Licences for the Export of ML1 Category Arms to Saudi Arabia

This claim sought to annul licensing decisions taken on 8th July for the export of ML1 category arms to Saudi Arabia, following the suspension order issued by the Council of State.nnnnn On the...

07/08/2020

Case Development: Judgement by the Council of State on ML6 licences

The Council of State finds that certain licences issued for the export of arms (ML6 category) to the Saudi Royal Guard did not need to be suspended.n Adopting a contrasting position to the...

07/08/2020

Case Development: Judgement by the Council of State on ML1 licences

The Court agrees with the claimant’s request for the suspension of certain licences issued by the Walloon regional government for export of arms (ML1 category) to Saudi Arabia. The judgement...

15/07/2020

Case Development: Claim filed against the Walloon Government concerning licences for the export of ML6 arms to Saudi Arabia

This claim sought to suspend or annul, under the ‘extreme urgency’ procedure, two licensing decisions taken on 29th April 2020 for the export of ML6 category arms to Saudi Arabia. 

15/07/2020

Case Development: Claim filed against the Walloon Government concerning licences for the export of ML1 arms to Saudi Arabia

This claim seeks to suspend or annul, under the ‘extreme urgency’ procedure, two licensing decisions taken on 8th July 2020 for the export of ML1 category arms to Saudi Arabia.

15/07/2020

Case: Third Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

This claim challenged the decision by the Walloon government to grant two new sets of licences for exports to Saudi Arabia through an ‘extreme urgency procedure’. The first contested licences...

15/07/2020

Case Development: Claims filed against the Walloon Government under the 'Extreme Urgency' Procedure

The claimants file two separate requests at the Council of State calling for the suspension, or annulment, of two sets of licensing decisions by the Walloon Government for the export of arms to...

Case Analysis

With no legal basis to challenge the broader policy of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, proceedings have been limited to challenges against specific licensing decisions. Belgian courts have scrutinised and evaluated the basis for specific licences granted by the Belgian authorities and have recognised the risk that arms transferred to Saudi Arabia will be used to commit serious violations of IHL and IHRL in the conflict in Yemen. 

The Council of State has called for the suspension or annulment of several contested licences on a number of occasions. However, this did not immediately trigger comprehensive policy reform on the export of arms to Saudi Arabia. Following each decision, the government withdrew licences invalidated by the court and then issued new licences to the same destination soon after. This licensing practice only stopped when evidence obtained through open-source intelligence in 2021 showed that the Saudi National Guard were using Belgian weapons in Yemen, clearly refuting the government’s argument that the Saudi National Guard was not involved in foreign military conflicts. Since this time, there have been no large value contracts for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Litigation in Belgium has revealed that the government’s risk assessments, which consider the use of the licensed arms in the Yemen conflict, have been limited to airstrikes and exclude ground operations in Yemen or

internal repression

Internal repression refers to serious human rights violations committed against a country's own population, including torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; summary or arbitrary executions; disappearances and arbitrary detention

in Saudi Arabia. The courts have held that the decisive criterion in the government’s risk assessment should be whether particular named units are end-users of the kind of weapon being exported; rather than the use of specific Belgian material in violations.

Arms export controls in Belgium are primarily regulated at the regional level with distinct legislative measures on arms exports in the three respective territories of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels Capital. Legal challenges to Belgian arms transfers have, so far, taken place in the French-speaking region of Wallonia based on a 2012 Decree relating to the import, export, transit and transfer of civilian weapons and defence-related goods and concern decisions adopted by the Belgian government who act on the advice of an Advisory Committee on Arms Export Licences. Per governing legislation (Articles 14 and 17), proceedings in Belgium are administrative in nature. Belgian legislation fully implements the EU Common Position.

Two Belgian NGOs, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH) and Coordination Nationale d’Action pour la Paix et la Democratie (CNAPD), have been involved in all four challenges in the Belgian courts. A third NGO, Forum Voor Vredesactie (FVV), has been involved in the three most recent challenges.

The claimants were represented by Vincent Letellier of Respublica Avocats.

To get in touch with the claimants and their legal representatives, please see here.

Themes

i

A lack of public awareness of licensing decisions has delayed the initiation of proceedings and resulted in the dismissal of claims. In all challenges, the contested licences through external media sources. The court refused to consider the illegality of licences that were already executed. See in particular Challenge 1.

Read more about the lack of transparency in other jurisdictions

NGOs have legal standing in administrative procedures under the Belgian constitution. This was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in 2013.

Read more about whether claimants have been granted standing in other jurisdictions

Licensing decisions are justiciable and have been considered in proceedings. The court has held that the government’s risk assessment can be based on the general use of the exported arms in Yemen, without the need to show that Belgian arms have been used to commit specific violations.

Read more about the issue of justiciability in other jurisdictions

The EU Common Position is fully implemented in the domestic legal order of all three Belgian regions. Belgium is a party to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

Read more about the applicability of international and legal instruments in other jurisdictions

When the court declares that a licence must be suspended, there must still be a separate annulment procedure that is still ongoing in Challenge 4. In some cases, after the courts annulled a licence, the government responded by replacing the annulled licence with a new one.

Read more about whether claimants have been granted remedy in other jurisdictions

Cases

Four separate claims have been brought in the Belgian courts with an annulment procedure still ongoing in the third administrative challenge. Click ‘explore case’ to find out about each case in more detail and access all case documents.

Case status

Ongoing

Third Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

Explore case

This claim challenged the decision by the Walloon government to grant two new sets of licences for exports to Saudi Arabia through an ‘extreme urgency procedure’. The court ruled partly in the claimant’s favour, calling for the suspension of one set of licences. The second set of licences, for a different category of goods, were maintained.

Key Case Documents

View all case documents

08.07.2020

Judgements by the Council of State on the Claims filed 15.07.2020 against the Walloon Government

Read in full

27.04.2021

Judgement by the Council of State on the Claim filed 14.09.2020 Requesting the Annulment of ML1 licences

Read in full

15.07.2020

Claims filed against the Walloon Government under the ‘Extreme Urgency’ Procedure

Read in full
Closed

First Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

Explore case

This claim challenged several sets of licences granted prior to October 2017 by the Walloon Regional Government for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia. As a result of court proceedings, the Council of State called for the suspension of six of the contested licences and the annulment of eight further licences.

Closed

Second Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

Explore case

This claim challenged several licences issued by the Walloon Government for arms transfers to Saudi Arabia and invoked the risk that they could be used in the commission of serious violations of international law in Yemen. The claimants were successful in filing this claim under the ‘extreme urgency’ procedure and the court suspended all contested licences.

Closed

Fourth Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

Explore case

The fourth challenge, initiated in February 2021 under an ‘extreme urgency’ procedure, challenged new licences, granted by the Walloon government for the export of category ML1 arms to the Saudi National Guard. The Council of State ruled in the claimants’ favour and called for the suspension of the contested licences.

Timeline

FILTERS

23 Jun 2021

Challenge 4

Judgement issued. Proceedings declared closed due to the withdrawal of all contested licences.

Read the judgement here

27 Apr 2021

Challenge 3

The Council of State declares the proceedings on the ML1 category licences closed as these licences had already been withdrawn.

Read the judgement here

27 Apr 2021

Challenge 2

Judgement issued in annulment proceedings. The Council of State declares the case closed as the licences had been withdrawn.

Read the judgement here

18 Mar 2021

Challenge 4

Suspended licences are cancelled and withdrawn by Walloon regional government.

05 Mar 2021

Challenge 4

Judgement issued. The Council of State suspends all contested licences.

Read the judgement here

20 Feb 2021

Challenge 4

Case enters the courts. Claim filed at the Council of State against the Walloon Government, seeking to suspend the new licences, under the 'extreme urgency' procedure.

Read the request to the Council of State here

19 Dec 2020

Challenge 4

New licences are issued by the Walloon government for the export of ML1 category arms to the Saudi National Guard

24 Nov 2020

Challenge 3

Licence for the export of ML1 category arms, which the Council of State previously ordered to be suspended, is cancelled and withdrawn by the Walloon Government.

14 Sep 2020

Challenge 3

Claimants file two separate annulment procedures for both sets of contested licences (ML1 and ML6 category).

Read the request to the Council of State regarding the ML1 licences here

07 Aug 2020

Challenge 3

Two judgements issued by the Council of State. Licences for export of ML1 category arms suspended. Licences for export of ML6 category arms maintained.

Read the judgements here

15 Jul 2020

Challenge 3

Case enters the courts. Claim filed at the Council of State against the Walloon Government, seeking to have the recently issued licences suspended, under the 'extreme urgency' procedure.

Read the request to the Council of State here

08 Jul 2020

Challenge 3

The Walloon Government issues four further licences for the export of arms (ML1 category) to Saudi Arabia.

29 Apr 2020

Challenge 3

Less than one month after the withdrawal of the previously contested licences, the Walloon Government issues two new licences for the export of ML6 category arms to Saudi Arabia.

11 Apr 2020

Challenge 2

The Walloon Government cancels and withdraws the licences that the Council of State had ordered to be suspended.

08 Apr 2020

Challenge 2

Following the order for their suspension by the Council of State, the claimants request the annulment of the contested licensing decisions.

09 Mar 2020

Challenge 2

Judgement issued by the Council of State. All contested licences suspended.

Read the judgement here

19 Feb 2020

Challenge 2

The case enters the courts. Claim submitted against the Walloon Government at the Council of State, calling for the suspension of licences for arms exports to Saudi Arabia under an ‘extreme urgency’ procedure.

Read the claimants submission here

14 Jun 2019

Challenge 1

Judgements issued – eight licences annulled.

Read the judgements here

29 Jun 2018

Challenge 1

Judgements issued - six licences suspended.

Read the judgements here

06 Mar 2018

Challenge 1

Judgements issued. Four claims dismissed because the contested licences had already been executed. The court reopened proceedings for the rest of the claims so that their legality could be examined on the basis of the claimant’s third argument, namely the risk of their use in IHL and IHRL violations.

Read the judgements here

18 Dec 2017

Challenge 1

Challenge 1 enters the courts. Initiation of a number of proceedings requesting the suspension and annulment of licences and claiming their unlawfulness under domestic legislation and the EU Common Position.

Read the request to the Council of State here

24 Nov 2017

Challenge 1

Formal request to the court to urgently suspend the licences is rejected due to ‘excessive delay’ in bringing the case.

Read the judgment in full

13 Nov 2017

Challenge 1

After the out of court attempt is unsuccessful, the claimants submit a formal request to the Council of State under the ‘extreme urgency procedure’ to suspend licences issued by the Walloon government for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

19 Oct 2017

Challenge 1

Claimants attempt to receive a copy of the licensing decisions from the relevant Walloon authorities.

Read the request here

18 Oct 2017

Challenge 1

Article published in La Libre Belgique that the Walloon Government has granted several licences for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Read the article from La Libre (French)

Analysis

05 November 2020

Are Courts Going to Set a Higher Standard for Human Rights Due Diligence in Arms Exports?

Hans Lammerant (Vredesactie) | First published in IPIS

Belgium Opinion Piece

This article provides a critical overview of the trends in Belgian jurisprudence regarding arms export risk assessment decisions by the government.

16 April 2020

Belgian Arms Exports Halved Due to Court Decision

Vredesactie

Belgium Report / Briefing

This article closely analyses Belgian arms exports statistics from 2017 – 2020 to highlight the potential impact and significance of the 9 March 2020 judgement on arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Contact & More Information

If you would like to know more about this case, please get in touch with our primary contacts Hans Lammerant (Forum Voor Vredesactie) here and Manuel Lambert (Ligue des Droits de l’Homme) here.

Find out more about the work of the claimants at their website:

Forum Voor Vredesactie (FVV)

Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH)

Coordination Nationale d’Action pour la Paix et la Democratie (CNAPD)

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