& DE BANDT has had the honour of representing the trade association of Belgian insurance companies, ASSURALIA, in an action for annulment before the Council of State against the Royal Decree of 17 July 2014 amending the Royal Decree of 10 December 1987 laying down the terms and conditions for the endorsement of agreements by Fedris (formerly the Accidents at work Fund) on the one hand and, one the other hand, the Royal Decree of 17 July 2014 amending the Royal Decree of 5 March 2006 setting out the conciliation procedure for Fedris’ occupational physician.
By its judgment n° 237.391 of 16 February 2017, the Council of State entirely upheld the appeal brought by Assuralia and annulled the contested Royal Decrees.
These Royal Decrees substantially modified the system set up by the legislator by providing for the involvement of medical advisers of mutual societies in the assessment procedure of permanent work-related disability in the private sector and created, in this context, new obligations for the occupational physicians of workers’ compensation insurers.
In a well-reasoned decision, the Council of State ruled that the King did not have a sufficient legal basis in order to do so. The judgment is an interesting application of the principle of abuse of power and violation of Article 108 of the Constitution in the field of occupational accidents.