THE LAW OF 9 MARCH 1993

Overview of the Law of 9 March 1993 regulating and overseeing the activities of marriage brokers (Belgian Official Gazette of 24 April 1993) as amended by the Laws of 11 April 1999 (Belgian Official Gazette of 30 April 1999) and 15 December 2005 (Belgian Official Gazette of 28 December 2005)

This law has three major aims:

• cleaning up the marriage brokerage industry, primarily by ensuring greater transparency;
• protecting consumers from certain dishonest methods;
• fighting against certain practices that are in violation of human dignity.

The law uses the term marriage brokerage to refer to "any activity that provides a paid service whereby individuals are paired together with the direct or indirect aim of achieving marriage or a stable relationship". As such, the law applies to dating agencies, as well as to clubs, provided that their services include the activities cited in the definition of marriage brokerage.

To achieve this objective of transparency, the law provides for a registration system for dating agencies. It is not an accreditation system that aims to oversee the quality of the services offered; instead, it is a simple register that inventories the businesses working in the industry.

In addition, classified ads from dating agencies must include certain information making it possible to identify agencies and to get further information on members' "profiles".

The consumer-protection measures include:

• the obligation to sign a written contract, which must include certain mandatory information and clauses;
• a mandatory 7-day grace period during which no down payments or any other type of payment can be required or accepted;
• customers are entitled to terminate the contract during the grace period with no fees or penalties;
• the contract must be drawn up for a fixed period of three, six, nine, or twelve months;
• automatic renewal of the contract is prohibited;
• each party may, in exchange for a penalty (the amount of which is determined by law), terminate the contract before its normal term, at the end of:
  • the first or second month, for three-month contracts,
  • the second or fourth month, for six-month contracts,
  • each quarter, for nine- and twelve-month contracts;
• payment must be spread over the full term of the contract, so that it is made in proportion to the services actually provided (monthly payments for three-month contracts, payment every two months for six-month contracts, quarterly payments for nine- and twelve-month contracts, with the possibility to opt for monthly payment regardless of the contract length);
• bills of exchange may or promissory notes cannot be required as security for payment of contractual obligations.

Since 7 January 2006, it is illegal to engage in professional marriage brokerage activities without registering in advance with the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (as per the Administrative Simplification Act II of 15 December 2005).

Agents from the Directorate General of Supervision and Mediation have jurisdiction to inspect for and establish the existence of violations of the Law of 9 March 1993 (Ministerial Decree of 28 May 1993 – Official Gazette of 16 June 1993).

The law provides for sanctions in its criminal provisions that render it possible to put a halt to practices that are deceitful or in violation of human dignity. The law provides for a warning procedure, followed by an injunction procedure, and the possibility for the Minister to suspend non-compliant companies' registration or bar them from marriage brokerage altogether.

http://economie.fgov.be/protection_consumer/wedding_agencies/wedding_agencies_fr_001.htm

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