In judgment 158/2004, the Court of Arbitration annulled Article 16 of the Law of 3 May 2003, which allowed police registration alone for adult personal cannabis possession without problematic use or public nuisance. It found the quantity, problematic-use and nuisance criteria insufficiently precise for criminal-law legality. The Court preserved the provision's effects until publication of the judgment in the Belgian Official Gazette, which followed on 28 October. The ruling concerned the special reporting exception; personal possession had remained an offence under the 2003 framework.[1][2]
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for Belgium here.
References
- Belgium Court of Arbitration — judgment 158/2004 of 20 October 2004Reasons B.4.2, B.6–B.9 and B.11; operative annulment and preservation of effects until Gazette publicationarchived
- Belgian Justice Ministry and College of Prosecutors General — joint directive of 25 January 2005, reproduced by OpenJusticeIntroduction identifies judgment publication on 28 October 2004; reproduction of the Belgian Official Gazette of 31 January 2005archived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.