Function

Special Constable is vested in the capacity of judicial police officer in the cases for which they are authorised to detect and establish crimes.

After his training, he must be appointed by a Huntsman or Landowner, who has him sworn in by the Governor for a certain area of operation.

In principle, the special constable is not a hunter or fisherman. He is forbidden to do so in the areas where he is appointed. The special constable must protect the interests of his appointers and he must bring the crimes he establishes to the attention of the public prosecutor.

Legal basis

The legal basis for the position of special constable can be found in the Field Code and the Royal Decree and Ministerial Decree regulating the status of the special constable.

The appointment is regulated by the field code. He is therefore working for a hunter, fisherman, a hunting society or fishing club. He can also be appointed by a number of public authorities (such as OCMW, the province, non-profit organisation, etc.). Article 61 of the Field Code states: “In rural municipalities, public institutions and special persons have the right to appoint special guards to protect their fruits and crops, the fruits and crops of their tenants or tenants and their property of any kind, as well as to guard their fishing and hunting grounds.

Special Constable is vested in the capacity of judicial police officer in the cases for which they are authorised to detect and establish crimes.

The appointers are obliged to have them recognised by the provincial governor, after hearing the district commissioner and the public prosecutor, and to indicate in the deed of appointment the nature and location of the property under their care.

The special constable is therefore a judicial police officer with limited authority. The restriction relates to two elements:

• the area in which he is appointed;
• the activity for which it is intended: such as hunting legislation, forest legislation, nature conservation, fishing, etc.;

Article 62 then partly describes the armament of the special constable: “The special constable may be armed with rifles with more than one shot.”

The powers of the special constable are mainly regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Field Code, the Forest Decree, the Hunting Decree, the River Fishing Act and the Nature Conservation Act.

The special constable mainly has a preventive and advisory task.

The Flemish Institute for the Special Constable

Today, the Flemish Institute for the Special Constable represents about 500 special constables. These members come from the 5 Flemish provinces. The association was founded almost 20 years ago and since then it has been an indispensable part of the world of special constables.

For years, the Flemish Institute for the Special Constable has been committed to defending the interests of its members. The establishment of such a non-profit organisation was necessary, as the special constables, were spread over the 5 Flemish provinces and did not have an unambiguous voice at regional and federal level. It took more than ten years, until the year 2006, to acquire a statute for the special constables. A statute that now provides, among other things, for better training and further training.

A number of matters relating to a special constable are still regulated at the provincial level, other legislation is a regional competence and a number of matters are regulated at the federal level. The VIBV is recognized by the authorities, at whatever level, as the mouthpiece of the special constables. It is therefore the intention of the association to obtain the same regulations, obligations and rights for every special constable.

The institute works together with the Special Constable and thus achieves its objectives:

• Refresher courses: in which the new evolutions in the legislation are explained or old legislation is refreshed.
• Practical days: during which the special constable is then taught “on the field” how to act in certain danger situations or how to question or issue fines to others.
• Consultation: with local, provincial, regional or federal authorities.
• Group insurance: an advantageous group insurance policy, to safeguard the rights of the special constable
• Uniform: the sale and distribution of the uniform among the special constables.
• Magazine: 4 times a year a magazine published for the members.
• Vademecum: drawing up other documents (such as a vademecum).
• Flyers: about a specific topic such as “dogs on a leash”.
• Website: with a section that is only accessible to members, on which they can then find examples of blank forms, official reports or interrogations.

We would like to refer here to the website of the Special Veldwachters. Where we not only learn that these “special” Hunters’ Friends not only have a board but are also very strongly provincially organized.

Education

And, if the Hunting Training is the Humanities of Hunting, then the training for Special Constable, the “Higher Studies” in Hunting.

These are organised by the Police Schools.

The lessons for this are given at 4 locations, per region:

You must register in advance for the course you wish to follow in the province of your choice. However, if you are enrolled, you must attend at least 9 of the 10 days of lessons. You can also only take the course in one province, so it is not possible to attend a lesson in another province if you cannot follow it.