BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Dominique Blommaert, Didier Bracke, Jens Benoot and Lydie Van Muylem, Janson
2.5 Types of Costs Considered Under Third- Party Funding legal proceedings, including: • lawyer fees; • court fees; However, third-party funders will determine what costs can be funded on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the factors mentioned in 2.4 Minimum and Maximum Amounts of Third-Party Funding. 2.6 Contingency Fees Pursuant to Article 446 ter of the Belgian Judicial Code, contingency fees (“no win, no fee”, or “pactum de quota litis”) are not permitted. However, fee agree- ments that include a success fee payable in addition to fees that are not dependent on the outcome of the • expert fees; and • adverse cost risk. matter (fixed fees; hourly fees), are permitted. 2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding Given that third-party funding is not regulated in Bel- gium, there are no time limits for obtaining or dis- closing third-party funding. However, it is advisable to disclose the existence of third-party funding and the identity of the funder to avoid potential conflicts of interest. This is especially the case in arbitration, where disclosure of third-party funding is often gov- erned by arbitration rules. 3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct Pre-action conduct requirements can be imposed either by law or as agreed by the parties. For example: • A claim based on breach of a contractual obli- gation must be preceded by a formal notice or demand letter. However, this is not mandatory law, and parties can therefore agree to derogate from this default rule.
• In commercial contracts, parties will often include a dispute resolution clause that mandates mandatory mediation or settlement negotiations prior to initiat- ing legal proceedings. Contractual arrangements regarding pre-action con- duct are enforceable. The courts can inquire as to the parties’ attempts to settle the dispute prior to the proceedings. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The applicable statutes of limitation depend on the nature of the claim. Broadly speaking, the main limita- tion periods are: • ten years for contractual claims, starting from the day after the due date of the relevant contractual obligation; • five years for claims in tort, starting from the day after the date on which the claimant was aware of both the damage (or aggravation thereof) and the identity of the person liable for the damage; however, the claim will in any case be time-barred 20 years (and one day) after the event causing the damage; • ten years for claims regarding the recovery of real property; this limitation period will be extended to 30 years if the possessor gained possession of the real property in bad faith; and • five years for payment of interest and other recur- rent debts that fall due on an annual (or shorter) basis. Please note that special, often shorter, limitation peri- ods are provided in specific laws. Filing a claim in court suspends the time limitation until a final decision is rendered. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant Subject Matter Jurisdiction The rules on subject matter jurisdiction are set out in the Belgian Judicial Code. Some district courts have exclusive jurisdiction on certain matters (eg, labour courts for employment matters; enterprise courts for insolvency and corporate disputes).
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