Gelu Buzincu, Ortelius Law Office: “«The major problem with a case is the Client!» It is essential to establish a trustful relationship”

Q: You have an international background. How did you end up founding a Law Office in Belgium?

A: Indeed, I started my life in Romania but then I moved with my parents to Belgium, where we settled. I also did my studies here – Law being the most important of them. So this is, briefly, my background. I began my apprenticeship as a Lawyer at a Belgian Law Firm, and then I steadily climbed up the ladder. I was a collaborator, then an Associate, and after 15 years I figured it’s time to start my own business. That’s how our Law Firm was born, a year and a half ago. So choosing Belgium for our headquarters was easy, because I studied here, but also because the country is at the core of the European Union and of European institutions.

Q: Your Law Firm’s name – Ortelius - is instantly striking. What made you prefer a Flemish cartographer’s name, over your names as founders?

A: There are many reasons for our decision. Some of them are personal, while others are professional. The former relate to the fact that we wanted to strike our Clients as a concept, and not as individuals.

So Abraham Ortelius is a famous Belgian cartographer, the first to create a world atlas. I’m a big fan of old maps and old books. By using his name, we wanted to express our openness towards the world. When Ortelius lived, many people still believed the world was still flat. Furthermore, in “Ortelius” there’s also “ius”, which of course means “Law” in Latin. Adding to that is that me and my Partner have an international background: I am Romanian, while she is Albanian. Our firm speaks a plethora of languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Romanian, Albanian, Italian and even Greek! So we wanted to show our Clients this international dimension of our Law Office. When a Client comes through our office, the fact that he can come in and he can communicate in his own language is an important asset  and we wanted to transmit that via the name of the firm.

There’s also the logo – the O in Ortelius looks like a windmill. Some say it’s a compass, some that it’s a windmill, but the important idea is that we want to guide our clients through the tempest of the judicial world, to success.

Q: Can you name a few features of Lawyers’ practice in Belgium?

A: Working as a lawyer in Belgium is not easy – you get in easily enough, but going on is not as easy at all! There are many Lawyers here, and the Bars here are now implementing rules to curb the numbers. For example, there are circa 7000 Lawyers in Brussels alone. Many Lawyers do the three-year apprenticeship, and afterwards only those who boast Clients or those who keep collaborating stay in business. I had both options, but took the latter, and as time went by, I began to have my own portfolio of Clients. Romanian clients trusted me quickly and gave me the opportunity to start and evolve in this profession!

The Belgian legal system is really complex. Lawyers have a lot of power, but also a lot of professional responsibilities – both legal and ethical. For example, the Brussels Bar often emphasizes our moral duty. One should not take on a case if it contradicts his personal convictions. I consider such guidelines to be a positive thing. Of course ethics are differently interpreted by one Lawyer or another! (laughs) Some are shocked by the cases taken on by others. But our Office holds ethics in high regard, and I think every person has a right to be defended, once trust is established between Lawyer and Client. I think this is the most important thing for any Lawyer in the world. If there is no trust, how could legal defense work?

The major problem with a case is the Client! (laughs) For example, in criminal cases, if the Client tells you a truncated truth – as so often happens – you end up losing time, and when you will know the criminal case, you will discover he wasn’t completely honest. That’s when something cracks in the relationship. So trust, to us, is the most important thing when managing the relationship with our Clients.

Q: Two of your main practice areas are EU Law and Foreigners’ Law. Given the pandemic-time limitations of the free movement of persons within EU, what were the main challenges you dealt with in the past few years?

A: Pandemic-wise, of course, there are many problems arising from this situation. To get a residence permit in Belgium, there are multiple conditions. Even for Europeans, such a permit still exists. You get a stay permit which is mainly based on your current activity. Obviously, there was a big delay in getting official information from public institutions. But there were also legal hurdles as to leaving Belgium, or to coming here. At the beginning of the pandemic, we had a total lockdown of three months – you can imagine the consequences. So, when you couldn’t arrange meetings to advance paperwork, when people were afraid they were getting infected, and few exceptions were granted, yes – the right to free movement was clearly impeded. You couldn’t get paperwork to which you were entitled, and that was clearly an issue at that point in time.

Fortunately, as time went by, even with the new waves coming in, things improved and institutions are now working almost at normal parameters.

Q: What was the key to getting your Clients through the pandemic?

A: Sheer persistence! Some of them couldn’t be physically present, as they weren’t allowed to leave their home, while others wanted to, but couldn’t get a meeting with the Court, etc.

Additionally, in criminal cases, some court presidents allowed the absence of parties due to the pandemic, while others didn’t and postponed the case ad nauseam. To me, that is a breach of the right to represent your Client.

Q: You are also specialized in Bribery and Corruption. What are current European trends in this area, and what is Belgium’s approach?

A: The Belgian laws regarding Corruption are very complex. It is a heavily regulated domain. It goes back to a law from 1999 (modified in 2007), which stipulates criminal sanctions for public corruption, private corruption and influence peddling.

During my career, I took many courses regarding corruption and what it means to be corrupt. For many institutions, receiving a gift is not corruption! (laughs) But Belgium, having a history in this area, has regulated everything to avoid any problems. That’s why Belgium’s corruption law is thick.

You also have two types of public corruption – an active one and a passive one. The former corrupts, while the latter takes place when you receive the gift. We have a mediatic current case here in Belgium, regarding an administration in Brussels whose one clerk issued false driving licenses. There were many Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian citizens who benefited from this. It is a very big case. Corruption can affect all spheres of the society

On a European level, corruption is not by any means homogeneous. There is no specific Directive or Regulation, yet there is a lot of talk about the European Penal Space. But countering corruption across the EU is still not very efficient, because many things still differ from country to country.

However, the creation of European Public Prosecutor’s Office is to be welcomed!

Q: Civil rights are a hot topic at this point in time. From your point of view, did people rely more on Lawyers in the past two years? If so, in what legal areas?

A: In my opinion, we’ve witnessed many breaches of European and even universal rights for the past two years. The question is whether they were justified. Post-COVID, a lot of cases stemmed from the pandemic situation. We noticed many bankruptcies here, even if the Belgian state tried to prevent them. In Criminal Law, there are many COVID-related crimes. They range from violating rules regarding gatherings, to psychological issues which lead to crimes. Not to mention divorces! They have simply exploded recently. So I think the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is a lot more psychological, than medical or economic.

Q: Please name a difficulty pertaining to the legal system nowadays, which affects both Clients and Lawyers.

A: There are two major problems in the Belgian judicial system today. Firstly, there is the amount of time it takes to judge a case, where we witness immense delays. To give you just an example, one of the more extreme is fiscal litigation. In Belgium, you can contest your tax, and you also maintain the option of a recourse in court. In Brussels, where we are based, this legal recourse can take 3 to 4 years. Furthermore, if you appeal, you add at least 4 or 5 more years to the process. That, to me, is very grave, because justice is the first thing linking citizens to democracy.

Secondly, the budget allotted to justice is insufficient. One of my acquaintances, who also works in the judiciary, recently told me he had to buy a laptop from his own pocket! It’s the 21^st century, after all, when justice should be nearly fully digitalized. These are, in my opinion, two of the major problems affecting justice in Belgium nowadays.

End of part 1

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