The total cost of renovating the Palace of Justice that houses the courts of justice in Brussels is expected to exceed €600 million according to figures requested by far-right lawmaker Britt Huybrechts (Vlaams Belang). However, according to Dirk Van Gerven, former president of the Brussels Bar, this high amount is ‘certainly justifiable, because the building is a monument that is very important for Belgium’s judicial system’.
Palace of Justice renovation to cost over 600 million euros, but ‘well worth the expense’
Colin Clapson
Published:
The Palace of Justice has been in scaffolding for more than 40 years. But since October 2023, the façade of this protected historic building is finally being renovated. That part of the renovation should be completed by 2030.
The total cost of this renovation project is currently estimated at over 600 million euros.
Since the 1980s, almost 5 million euros has been spent on renting, installing, purchasing, maintaining and reinforcing the mere scaffolding around the building.
Since 2018, approximately 28.5 million euros has been spent on studies, scaffolding and the initial restoration work on the façade.
A further €100 million is earmarked for the next phases of the façade restoration.
However, the greatest costs are expected to be incurred by the renovation of the interior. According to current estimates, this will cost some €480 million.
'Cost is justified'
Dirk Van Gerven is a former member of the Brussels Bar and director of the Poelaert Foundation, which oversees the preservation of the Palace of Justice. He acknowledges that this is a high amount but insists that it can be justified. After all, the building has been inadequately maintained for decades, he says.
According to Van Gerven, no work was carried out on the building itself between 1984 and 2015, except for minimal maintenance. Renovation work on the dome did start in 2002. And scaffolding was erected for safety reasons. Since the early 1980s, debris has been falling from the dome.
It’s been estimated the renovation of the interior itself will cost another 480 million euros. But according to Van Gerven, there are many public buildings and monuments that incur similar costs.
Will the renovation be fully completed by 2040?
The ultimate goal is to restore the Palace of Justice to its original appearance and adapt the building to the needs of a modern justice system and contemporary requirements in terms of sustainability and technology.
The renovation work on the façades should be completed by 2030. The total renovation, both inside and outside, is not expected to be completed until 2040.
The Palace of Justice in figures
The Palace of Justice was designed by architect Joseph Poelaert and completed in 1883. At the time, it was the largest building in Europe, larger than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
It is still one of the largest courthouses in the world. It covers an area of 26,000 square metres (including the car parks, this rises to 52,000 square metres).
The building is aligned with the Royal Palace and the federal Parliament. The three historic branches of government (the legislative, executive and judicial powers) are thus all located in a straight line.