Under current Belgian criminal law, the scope of unintentional offences is too broad. Even a minor error can already be punishable, for example in the context of ‘unintentional hitting and wounding’. The new Criminal Code therefore sets a narrowing of the concept of criminal negligence.

However, this leads to numerous consequences at the criminal procedure level. Whereas the current broad interpretation ensures a broad competence of the criminal court to award damages, in the future the question will arise in which cases and to what extent the criminal court will still have jurisdiction to do so. After all, not in every case will an error giving rise to liability and compensation, still constitute a crime and result in a criminal conviction. One solution consists of the possibility for the criminal judge himself to refer the case to the civil court. While this solution responds to the need for consistency in the law, many questions remain unanswered, such as regarding the relationship with the existing mechanism of ‘maintaining civil interests’. Another question is the impact of this reform in criminal law on ‘res judicata’, the principle that aims to align the decision of the criminal and civil courts. Finally, the impact on other facets of criminal procedure, such as the role of the victim and the distribution of the burden of proof, should also be examined.