An oversight while drafting the new smoking law means that there is no authority charged with checking up on the workplace smoking ban. That means that if you smoke at work, there is no one to legally stop you. The oversight sneaked in when the law was rewritten in January due to a French word slipping into the Dutch-language text.

No one sentenced to six months or less in jail has seen a day inside since 1993, it was revealed by Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck. De Clerck called for an end to impunity and that anyone sentenced should at least see some jail time or alternative punishment.

On any given day, one in eight Ixelles police officers are off sick and there is no one to cover their beat, according to a scathing police oversight committee report. It said that there were enough officers, but that they were badly organised and demotivated. It noted that too many officers worked on weekends and public holidays to get overtime bonuses.

Four Cameroon men were given one- to two-years suspended sentences for defrauding several people over a period of two years by claiming to be able to make money multiply by magic. One couple had handed over €78,900.

Prince Phillip's motorcade was spotted speeding down the Antwerp-Brussels motorway at 140kph in the emergency lane during last week's smog alert, which limits speeds to 90kph. Police commented that priority vehicles on urgent missions do not have to respect speed limits or smog alerts. However, the nature of Prince Philip's emergency remains elusive.