Waiver of procedural rights: self-determination as a key to a better criminal procedure ?

The Belgian criminal procedure code is up for renewal. Written for the 19th century society, where literacy was exceptional, the legislator opted for a predominantly inquisitorial system which would protect the citizen against the governing bodies and himself. The attitude towards parties to the proceedings was rather patronizing. Especially in the pretrialstage, little or no autonomy was granted to the individual. This visionon society is outdated. Moreover, many superfluous and complex procedural rules result in heavy and inefficient criminal proceedings which cannot be finalised within a reasonable timeframe. Finally, the European Court of Human Rights introduces more and more frequently emphasis of an accusatory nature in our predominantly inquisitorial procedure. Assuming that a new Belgian criminal procedure code is required, the research willstudy whether the inclusion of more self-determination by the parties to criminal proceedings could make the procedure fairer and more efficient. After having researched the element of “fairness” in light of the theories on procedural justice and human dignity, we shall ascertain where,within a new procedure, the balance between paternalism and autonomy should be and shall make specific suggestions for the content of a new code.