The Constitutional Court annuls the nominative subsidy to the non-profit organization Casa legal

The Constitutional Court annuls the nominative subsidy of 1,099,000 euros included in the 2025 budget for the benefit of the non-profit organization Casa legal, ruling that designating a single beneficiary without a call for applications is discriminatory. Judgment No. 86/2026 of July 9, 2026, rendered on cases 8504 and 8574, is published in the Belgian Official Gazette of September 17, 2026, under reference [C − 2026/005708], p. 50477. However, the Court definitively maintains the past effects of the annulled provisions.

An appeal by the Flemish Bar Council

The Orde van Vlaamse balies, represented by Me Matthias E. Storme, lawyer at the Ghent bar, introduced two appeals for partial annulment. The first, sent by registered letter on June 27, 2025, and received by the registry on July 1, 2025, targeted the Finance Act of December 20, 2024, and the Act of March 25, 2025, opening provisional credits for the months of April, May, and June 2025. The second, posted on October 29, 2025, and received on October 30, 2025, targeted Article 2.12.3 of the Act of June 30, 2025, containing the general expenditure budget for the 2025 budget year. The two cases, registered under numbers 8504 and 8574, were joined.

The Council of Ministers contested the admissibility of the appeals, arguing that case No. 8504 had become moot after the adoption of the final budget. The Court rejected these exceptions: the Act of June 30, 2025, did not repeal the previous laws, and the Council demonstrates an interest, as the annulment could lead the legislator to re-examine the entire subsidy regime.

A pilot project for multidisciplinary legal aid

The subsidy finances a pilot project for second-line legal aid with a multidisciplinary approach, led by a socio-legal center bringing together lawyers, social workers and, eventually, psychologists. The budgetary justification assigns four objectives to the subsidy:

• develop an alternative and holistic model of legal aid for French-speaking and Dutch-speaking litigants in complex socio-legal situations;
• develop adapted care for victims of domestic and sexual violence;
• define a standard model for holistic firms with a view to its duplication;
• promote alternative dispute resolution methods.

The amounts involved:

• 367,000 euros in 2023, by Royal Decree of September 12, 2023;
• 1,099,000 euros in 2024, by Royal Decree of July 9, 2024;
• 1,099,000 euros in 2025, by Royal Decree of December 3, 2025;
• 275,000 euros via provisional credit, in the tables annexed to the Acts of December 20, 2024, and March 25, 2025.

The reason: the absence of a call for applications

The Court recalls that it exercises only a marginal review regarding subsidy policy and that it is legitimate to support multidisciplinary aid pilot projects. The principle of equality does not oppose the subsidizing of a single initiative, but the granting of a subsidy to a specific person must, in principle, be preceded by a transparent procedure offering any interested party the opportunity to apply.

By specifically naming the ASBL Casa legal in a budgetary provision, the legislator excluded such a procedure. Nothing established in advance that this association was the only one capable of achieving the pursued objectives. The Court further notes that 2025 is the third consecutive year in which the budget provides for this subsidy, without a clear delimitation of the duration and evaluation of the pilot project.

What the Court annuls and what it dismisses

The Court annuls:

• Article 2.12.3 of the law of June 30, 2025, insofar as it specifically and exclusively targets ASBL Casa legal as the beneficiary of the subsidy;
• Basic allocation 33.00.20 of program 1 (“Legal Aid”) of organic division 56 (“Ordinary Courts”) of section 12 (“FPS Justice”), in the three relevant budget laws.

Conversely, it dismisses the first plea, relating to the competencies of the communities regarding social assistance and first-line legal aid, as well as the branch of the second plea derived from the failure to notify the European Commission of State aid.

Several parties intervened: ASBL Casa legal, the Order of the French- and German-speaking Bars, the French Order of Lawyers of the Brussels Bar, as well as the ASBLs CAP – CAW Family, Le petit vélo jaune, Woman’Dõ, Ulysse, Alias, Pigment, Service Social des Solidarités, Solidarité Étudiants du Monde, and FAIRWORK Belgium.

An impact limited to future effects

Pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 3, of the special law of January 6, 1989, the Court definitively maintains the effects of the annulled provisions: the subsidy represents a considerable portion of the operating resources of ASBL Casa legal and has already been effectively allocated for a completed period of activities. The annulment therefore has no retroactive effect, but it obliges the legislator to rethink the mechanism for the future, with a transparent call for applications. Lawyers, public social welfare centers, and second-line legal aid actors must now deal with a subsidy framework that needs to be rewritten.

Source: Belgian Official Gazette of September 17, 2026, judgment no. 86/2026 of July 9, 2026, rolls 8504 and 8574, [C − 2026/005708], p. 50477.