How much does a lawyer cost at the police court in Belgium, and who pays?

How much does a lawyer cost before the police court (politierechtbank / tribunal de police)? It is often the first question clients ask, even before any question of law. Rightly so: in a traffic case, the cost of your defence is part of the equation, alongside the fine, the driving ban and the insurance consequences. Below we explain the cost of a traffic lawyer in Belgium: how it is made up, which costs are separate from the fee, and which three channels can cover your bill.

Cost of a traffic lawyer in Belgium: what makes up the bill?

• The fee — payment for the legal work: requesting and analysing the case file, gathering documents, advising you, drafting written submissions (conclusies / conclusions) and pleading. It can be charged by the hour or as a fixed amount per service.
• Office expenses — opening the file, correspondence, copies of the criminal case file, travel.
• Court costs — including the cost of analyses and expert reports and the contributions imposed upon conviction. These go to the State, not to your lawyer.

Always ask in advance for a clear agreement on how the fee will be calculated. For most traffic cases a fixed amount per stage is possible — analysis and advice, hearing, any appeal — so that you know from the outset where you stand.

The fee and office expenses are subject to 21% VAT. Court costs, such as a blood analysis, are ordered against the convicted person; after an acquittal in a case brought by the public prosecutor, they are borne by the State.

Who pays your lawyer? Three channels that can cover the costs

1. Legal expenses insurance

Many households are better insured than they think. A legal expenses policy (rechtsbijstandsverzekering / assurance protection juridique), often linked to your motor or home insurance, usually covers your criminal defence before the police court and the recovery of your damage from the other party. As soon as court proceedings are involved, the law guarantees your free choice of lawyer (Article 156 of the Insurance Act of 4 April 2014 – wet betreffende de verzekeringen / loi relative aux assurances): your insurer cannot impose a lawyer on you.

Check what your policy covers, which waiting period applies and whether there is an excess or a ceiling per case. Some policies exclude certain offences or limit cover, for example for driving under the influence. As a rule, we handle these formalities with your insurer ourselves. You can read more on our page about legal expenses insurance.

2. Second-line legal aid (pro deo)

If your income is below the statutory thresholds, the Legal Aid Office of the bar (Bureau voor Juridische Bijstand / Bureau d’aide juridique) can appoint a lawyer for you. The assistance is then entirely or partly free of charge; certain categories, such as people receiving the integration income (leefloon / revenu d’intégration), are presumed to meet the conditions.

The income thresholds are indexed every year; the office will give you the current amount and tell you which supporting documents to provide. Legal aid is also available in traffic cases.

3. The procedural indemnity

Criminal proceedings provide for a flat-rate contribution towards legal fees: the procedural indemnity (rechtsplegingsvergoeding / indemnité de procédure), under Article 162bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It only applies between you and a civil party. If you are convicted and an injured person has joined the proceedings as a civil party, you pay them this indemnity; if you are acquitted after a civil party summoned you directly, the civil party may be ordered to pay it to you (Article 162bis, second paragraph).

No such indemnity exists as against the public prosecutor: a person acquitted after prosecution by the public prosecutor’s office therefore does not recover their legal fees from the State. The amounts are fixed by royal decree, are indexed and depend on the value of the claim. Read more in our article on the procedural indemnity.

When is a lawyer worth the cost?

Not every case calls for the same effort. A first, minor speeding offence with an offer of an on-the-spot fine (onmiddellijke inning / perception immédiate) is usually something you can settle yourself. The balance shifts as soon as one of these elements appears:

• Driving ban: a driving ban (verval van het recht tot sturen / déchéance du droit de conduire) is looming, and you need your licence for work;
• Serious charge: the case concerns alcohol, drugs, hit-and-run or driving while banned;
• Injuries or a civil party: people were injured, or an injured person joins the proceedings as a civil party;
• Reoffending: you have previously been convicted of a traffic offence. For offences committed on or after 1 September 2026, for example, drink or drug driving within three years of a previous conviction for such an offence becomes an offence of penalty level 2 (strafniveau / niveau de peine): a fine of €4,000 to €50,000, and a prison sentence of six months to three years also becomes possible. For offences committed before that date the old rules still apply, unless the new law is more lenient (see the new Criminal Code);
• Novice driver: you have held your category B licence for less than two years. If you are convicted of an offence that can lead to a driving ban, the court must in principle impose a ban and make reinstatement conditional on passing reinstatement tests (herstelexamens / examens de réintégration), under Article 38 § 5 of the Road Traffic Act (Wegverkeerswet / loi relative à la police de la circulation routière);
• Doubts about the findings: you have doubts about the measurement or about the regularity of the procedure.

In such cases the question is not whether you pay the fine, but what you keep: your driving licence, a clean criminal record and sometimes your job. A lawyer can then argue, among other things, for a suspension of the pronouncement, a suspended sentence or community service (opschorting, uitstel, werkstraf / suspension du prononcé, sursis, peine de travail), or for a shorter ban.

What you can do yourself to keep costs down

Provide your file in one go and in full: the summons (dagvaarding / citation), the police report, correspondence from the public prosecutor’s office and the insurer, your employer’s certificate and your pay details. The less time is spent gathering documents, the more goes into the defence itself.

Those pay details also serve your defence: for offences committed on or after 1 September 2026, the court takes your financial capacity into account when setting the fine and may go below the minimum if your financial situation is precarious (Article 52 of the Criminal Code). What to do straight after receiving a summons is explained in our article on receiving a summons to the police court.

Novex Advocaten is here to help

We discuss openly, in advance, what your case will cost and what it can realistically achieve. If you have legal expenses insurance, we contact your insurer. We assist you before the Brussels police court and other police courts.

Call 0484 99 22 72 or email asfour@novexadvocaten.be.