Belgium faces record prison overcrowding (over 12,000 inmates for roughly 10,400 places in early 2024) and intense drug trafficking through the ports of Antwerp and Brussels. A judicial backlog and police staffing shortages add pressure. Two poles compete: prevention, reintegration and tackling social root causes on one side; firmness, effective enforcement of sentences and tougher repression on the other.
1N-VAN-VANLThe N-VA wants to build new prison capacity, effectively enforce all sentences and create a DEA-style federal police drug agency.82+
2VBVlaams BelangNL⚑ Radical stanceVlaams Belang demands full execution of all sentences, more prison places, a Flemish security corps and a drug fund reinvested into security.88+
3MRMRFRThe MR calls for real state authority: strengthening police presence, increasing prison capacity and ensuring sentences are effectively enforced.78+
4VLDOpen VLDNLOpen VLD toughened some penalties via the Criminal Code reform, wants to recruit police faster and to cut both drug supply and demand through public-private cooperation in the ports.68+
5CD&VCD&VNLCD&V wants to double the number of neighbourhood police officers, use administrative fines against nuisance and apply zero tolerance for violence against emergency services.60+
6LELes EngagésFRLes Engagés reserve prison for the most serious cases, prioritise alternative sentences and prepare reintegration from the moment of sentencing, with additional justice assistants.54~
7VRTVooruitNLVooruit wants every sentence handed down to be served, including short ones, by investing in small-scale detention capacity.48~
8PSPSFRThe PS backs a prevention–security–justice continuum, steers imprisonment toward reintegration, expands alternatives to detention and seeks to curb prison overcrowding.35−
9ECOEcoloFREcolo aims to reduce prison overcrowding by limiting preventive detention, expanding alternatives to prison and decriminalising drug use not tied to another offence.28−
10PTBPTB·PVDAFR·NL⚑ Radical stanceThe PTB prioritises prevention, reintegration and addiction treatment over imprisonment, and focuses enforcement primarily on drug barons and major financial crime.22−
+Closer to: Toughness / repression (≥ 60)~Mixed / centrist stance (45–59)−Closer to: Prevention (< 45)⚑Radical stance
⚑For neutrality, parties with radical positions (PTB·PVDA on the left, Vlaams Belang on the right) are never ranked first, even when their stance is the most pronounced on the axis: they are placed just below the first party of government. The rule applies identically on the left and on the right.
Frequently asked questions
How do you read this Security & justice ranking?−
This is a POSITIONS view, not a "best party" verdict. Each party is placed on a 0–100 axis between two poles — "Prevention" (low) and "Toughness / repression" (high) — based on its official 2024 manifesto, parliamentary votes, the Chapel Hill Expert Survey and Belgian media. A higher score simply means a position closer to the "Toughness / repression" pole, not a better or worse stance.