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At a glance

Structure of Parliament: Bicameral

Are there legislated quotas...

  • Yes for the Single/Lower House?
  • Yes for the Upper House?
  • Yes at the Sub-national level?

Are there voluntary quotas...

  • No adopted by political parties?

Is there additional information?

Yes

Belgium

(Kingdom of Belgium)

Single/Lower house

Chambre des Représentants / House of Representatives

Total seats:150
Total women:57
% women: 38%
Election year:2010
Electoral system:List PR
Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas
Election details: IDEA Voter Turnout
IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Legislated Candidate Quotas		 Electoral law On electoral lists, the number of candidates of either gender cannot be greater than the other. This also applies to the list of alternates. The two top candidates on candidate lists and on the lists of alternates cannot be of the same gender (Electoral Code, Article 117bis).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: Electoral law If a party fails to comply with the gender composition, their list shall be refused by the electoral authorities (Electoral Code, Article 119quinquies).
Rank order/placement rules: Electoral Law The two top candidates on candidate lists and on the lists of alternates cannot be of the same gender (Electoral Code, Article 117bis).

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Last updated 2013-01-31

Upper house

Senat / Senate

Total seats: 71
Total women:29
% women: 41%
Election year:2010
Electoral system:List PR
Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas
Election details: IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Legislated Candidate Quotas
 Electoral law On electoral lists, the number of candidates of either gender cannot be greater than the other. This also applies to the list of alternates. The two top candidates on candidate lists and on the lists of alternates cannot be of the same gender (Electoral Code, Article 117bis).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: Electoral law If a party fails to comply with the gender composition, their list shall be refused by the electoral authorities (Electoral Code, Article 119quinquies).
Rank order/placement rules: Electoral law The two top candidates on candidate lists and on the lists of alternates cannot be of the same gender (Electoral Code, Article 117bis).

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Last updated 2013-01-31

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Quota type:Legislated Candidate Quotas
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Legislated Candidate Quotas
 Electoral law Local elections are the responsibility of the three regions and they have copied the national legislation, and have the quota at 50 % of each gender on lists (Meier 2008, p. 44).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: Electoral law Local elections are the responsibility of the three regions and they have copied the national legislation; non-compliance results in the rejection of the list (Meier 2008, p. 44).
Rank order/placement rules: Yes The two top candidates on candidate lists and on the lists of alternates cannot be of the same gender (Electoral Code, Article 117bis).

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Last updated 2010-11-18

Additional information

In 1994 the first quota law was adopted. The lists of candidates could not have more than two-thirds of the same gender, under penalty of not getting the list accepted. In the first round of elections on the communal and provincial level, in 1994, however, the quota was only 25 %. The federal elections of 1995 were exempted from quotas (Meier 2008, p. 43).

In full effect, the 1994 quota laws was used for the elections at all levels - communal, provincial, regional, federal and European parliament - in 1999 and 2000. The law was then supplemented in 2002 and got its current design. For the first elections for every level that it was used - regional, federal and European - it only stipulated that the first three of every list could not be of the same gender. The communal and provincial are now locally regulated, but quota laws are similar (Meier 2008, p. 43-44).

The first use of the current quota was in 2007 for federal elections and 2009 for regional and European parliament.

Belgium was the first European country to apply a gender quota law to lists of candidates at a national level.
Last updated 2013-04-11

Sources

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