History and evolution of the procedural indemnity in Belgium

The procedural indemnity as we know it today has existed in its current form since 2008. Before the Law of 21 April 2007, it was not possible in Belgium to recover attorney costs directly from the losing party — only certain court costs could be recovered. This contrasted sharply with the legal systems of neighbouring countries, where cost recovery systems had long been established.

The Law of 21 April 2007, also known as the 'Verwilghen Law', introduced the principle of recoverability of fees. At the same time, a lump-sum system was chosen to avoid the losing party being faced with unforeseeably high attorney invoices. The Royal Decree of 26 October 2007 set out the concrete rates that came into force on 1 January 2008.

Since then, the amounts have been adjusted several times. The indexation mechanism led to regular adjustments, initially through the system of coefficients (each time +/- 10% per 10-point index rise or fall). In periods of high inflation — such as 2022 and 2023 — this resulted in several indexations per year. In 2024, the system was reformed by the Royal Decree of 16 May 2024, which introduced a direct link to the consumer price index.

The current rates are the result of this long evolution. They reflect both the price evolution of legal services and the political choice to keep the indemnity as a lump sum and therefore predictable — a balance between access to justice and cost recovery.