BELGIUM: LAST REFERENCE TO DEATH PENALTY REMOVED FROM LAW

February 14, 2020:

The Chamber of Representatives on 13 February 2020 unanimously approved the bill that proposed to remove the last reference to the death penalty in Belgian legislation.
The death penalty was abolished in Belgium in 1996. However, the Insurance Act still stated that an insurer would not cover the death of an insured person if the person died as a consequence of the death penalty.
“It is unethical and totally outdated for an insurer to take advantage of the execution of a death penalty,” said MEP Kathleen Verhelst.
The Chamber unanimously approved the bill on 13 February, minus the abstention of Vlaams Belang.