The draft law, approved on the proposal of the Minister for Justice Annelies Verlinden, seeks to amend the provisions on guardianship of minors set out in Title XIII, Chapter VI, of the Programme Act of 24 December 2002 concerning guardianship of minors. According to the government, the objective is to align Belgian law with the provisions of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. The text would strengthen safeguards for minors, including unaccompanied minors, with implications for the work of the Guardianship Service, in particular regarding age assessment procedures for individuals claiming to be unaccompanied foreign minors, as well as the appointment of guardians.

The draft provides that age assessment procedures for persons not applying for international protection should be multidisciplinary. It would also remove medical examinations as the primary criterion for establishing whether a person is a minor.

It further ensures that a guardian is appointed as quickly as possible, regardless of whether there is doubt about the individual’s minority status. It also provides for the temporary appointment of a guardian until it is established whether the person is indeed an unaccompanied minor. Finally, the draft law would introduce professional secrecy obligations for guardians.

For more details about the draft law, please consult the Council of Ministers press release of 3 April 2026 (in Dutch or in French), as well as the press release from Minister Annelies Verlinden (in Dutch or in French).

For further information, please refer to the EMN ad hoc query on age assessment of third-country nationals and the EMN ad hoc question on the multidisciplinary age assessment procedure.