Palace of Justice, Brussels

The current Palace of Justice is located on the Galgenberg hill ({{langx|fr|Mont aux potences|link=no}}; "Gallows Mount"), between Brussels' upper and lower town, where in the Middle Ages convicted criminals were hanged, hence its name. A first courthouse had been erected, at a different location, in the Sablon/Zavel district, on the {{lang|fr|Place du Palais|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Paleisplein|italic=no}} (today's {{lang|fr|Place de la Justice|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Gerechtsplein|italic=no}}), between the {{lang|fr|Rue de l'Empereur|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Keizerstraat|italic=no}} (today's {{lang|fr|Boulevard de l'Empereur|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Keizerlaan|italic=no}}) and the (now-disappeared) {{lang|fr|Rue d'Or|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Guldenstraat|italic=no}}.{{Cite web|title=Place de la Justice|url=http://www.reflexcity.net/bruxelles/communes/ville-de-bruxelles/pentagone/place-de-la-justice|access-date=2021-10-30|website=www.reflexcity.net}}

Built between 1818 and 1823 by the French architect {{ill|François Verly|fr|François Verly}} on the site of a former Jesuit church,{{sfn|Snaet|Van Besien|2012|p=78}} this first neoclassical structure had quickly deteriorated, and the question of building a new and larger courthouse arose as early as 1837. The condition was that the building could accommodate all civil and military jurisdictions under one roof.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=24}} The choice of location, however, gave rise to heated controversies. It was indeed initially planned to rebuild it in the same place, but this project, the cost of which was estimated at 3 million Belgian francs,{{efn|name=fn2|Equivalent to €{{Inflation|BE|0.07436|1840}} million in {{Inflation/year|BE}} when taking into account inflation.}} quickly aborted.{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=251–260}} The idea of building it in the newly developed Leopold Quarter in the eastern part of town was no more successful. In 1846–47, another reconstruction project was also buried.

File:Oud jp.png|The former Palace of Justice (Verly, 1823) on the {{lang|fr|Place du Palais|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Paleisplein|italic=no}}

File:Ancien palais de justice de Bruxelles.png|Beginning of the former Palace of Justice's demolition (1892)

File:1892, vue sur les travaux de démolition de l'ancien Palais de Justice et du percement de la rue Lebeau.jpg|Demolition in progress and construction of the {{lang|fr|Rue Lebeau|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Lebeaustraat|italic=no}} (1892)

In 1858, the then-Minister of Justice, Victor Tesch, suggested for the first time the gardens of the House of Merode, where the extension of the {{lang|fr|Rue de la Régence|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Regentschapsstraat|italic=no}} would be constructed. The governor of the Province of Brabant suggested that it would be possible at the same time to link the new Louise/Louiza district to the city centre. Following a proposal from the advisor to the Court of Appeal, {{ill|Gustave Bosquet|nl|Gustave Bosquet}}, aiming at installing the building perpendicular to the Rue de la Régence rather than to the right of this extension,{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=263}} a study was entrusted to the Chief Engineer Groetaers. In his report, Groetaers recommended to erect a building of {{convert|26,000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}, with a {{convert|100|m|abbr=on}} fronting facing a 100 m square. Disagreements having arisen between Groetaers and the city's mayor, the latter called for a competition for the building's design.{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=268}}

File:Joseph POELAERT architecte.jpg]]

On 27 March 1860, an international architectural competition, endowed with three prizes, was therefore organised by royal decree.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=14}} After several failed proposals, Tesch appointed the city's municipal architect, Joseph Poelaert, to draw plans of the building in 1861.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=15}} The architect already enjoyed an excellent reputation, having to his credit a series of very prestigious projects in the capital, such as the commemorative Congress Column (1850), the Church of St. Catherine (1854) and the restoration of the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (1855).{{sfn|Snaet|Van Besien|2012|p=79}}

In April 1862, Poelaert submitted a preliminary draft, which was approved by Tesch. It was then in Paris, far from the pressures and influences of Brussels, that Poelaert withdrew to put the final touches to his plans. There, he gathered a team of designers including {{ill|Charles Laisné|fr|Charles Laisné}} and Édouard Corroyer. Given the prominent place that the Palace of Justice was called upon to occupy in the urban landscape, Poelaert opted for an eclectic style of Greco-Roman inspiration. Although he was inspired by classicism, he created a totally personal and original work.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=24}}

The first stone was laid on 31 October 1866.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=20}} At Poelaert's request, the management of the works was entrusted to the engineer {{ill|François Wellens|fr|François Wellens}}, Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Works and President of the Royal Commission of Monuments between 1865 and 1897.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=25–26}}{{sfn|Snaet|Van Besien|2012|p=79}} After Poelaert's death on 3 November 1879, the construction was taken over by the architect Joseph Joachim Benoît.{{sfn|Snaet|Van Besien|2012|p=79}} The building was inaugurated on 15 October 1883 by King Leopold II in the presence of his wife Queen Marie-Henriette, his daughter Princess Clémentine, and members of the Belgian royal family.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=32}} As for the old courthouse, it was demolished in 1892 for the construction of the {{lang|fr|Rue Lebeau|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Lebeaustraat|italic=no}}, which leads into the Place de la Justice.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=11}}

For the Palace of Justice's construction, a section of the Marolles/Marollen neighbourhood was demolished, while most of the garden belonging to the House of Merode was also expropriated.{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=270}} The 75 landlords belonging to the nobility and the high bourgeoisie, many of whom lived in their homes,{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=166: Plan du géomètre Van Keerbergen indiquant les propriétés nécessaires à l'érection du Palais de Justice de Poelaert, 9 février 1863 (A.V.B., T.P., 26.242)}} received large indemnities, while the other more modest inhabitants, about a hundred, were also forced to move by the Belgian Government, though they were compensated with houses in the Tillens-Roosendael garden city ({{langx|fr|cité-jardin Tillens-Roosendael|link=no}}) in the Quartier du Chat in the Uccle municipality.{{sfn|Quiévreux|1951|p=257}}

Poelaert himself resided in the Marolles, only a few hundred metres from the building, on the {{lang|fr|Rue des Minimes|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Minimenstraat|italic=no}}, in a house adjoining his vast offices and workshops and communicating with them.{{sfn|Vandendaele|Leblicq|1980|p=166}}{{sfn|Mardaga|1994|p=466}} It is thus unlikely he saw himself as ruining the neighbourhood. Nonetheless, many angry citizens personally blamed Poelaert for the forced relocations, and the expression schieven architect (meaning "shameful architect") became one of the most serious insults in the dialect of the Marolles.{{cite web|title=Palais de Justice|url=http://www.buildingsagency.be/realisatieberichten_fr.cfm?key=39|publisher=Belgian federal building registry|date=September 29, 2009|access-date=August 12, 2009|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224042139/http://www.buildingsagency.be/realisatieberichten_fr.cfm?key=39|archive-date=February 24, 2011}} Although the construction took place during the reign of Leopold II, the king showed little interest in the building, and it is not considered part of his extensive architectural programme in Brussels nor his legacy as the "Builder-King".{{sfn|Emerson|1980|p=264}}{{sfn|Demey|2009|p=172}}

File:Inplantingsplan op Popp 1866.png|Development plan (1866)

File:Grondwerken jp.png|Groundwork (1867)

File:Steigerbouw jp.png|Assemblage of the scaffolding (1875)

File:Laatste steenlegging 1 juli 1882.png|Last stone laying (1882)

File:Bruxelles. Palais de Justice LCCN2017659130.jpg

At the end of the Second World War, on the eve of the liberation of Brussels, the retreating German forces started a fire in the Palace of Justice in order to destroy it, as well as the legal records it contained. As a result, the cupola collapsed and part of the building was heavily damaged. The explosion of a V-1 rocket in the Rue des Minimes two months later caused additional damage.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=33}} In 1947, the restoration work was entrusted to the architect-engineer and custodian of the Palace, {{ill|Albert Storrer|fr|Albert Storrer}}.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=34–35}}{{sfn|Demey|2009|p=187}} By 1948, most of the building was repaired, and the cupola was rebuilt {{convert|2.5|m}} higher than the original, whose somewhat flat shape had previously been criticised.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=35}}

Renovations on the building have been in progress since 1984.{{Cite web|date=2019-08-08|title=Bruxelles redécouvre son palais de justice|url=https://www.wort.lu/fr/international/bruxelles-redecouvre-son-palais-de-justice-5d4bb794da2cc1784e34956f|access-date=2021-10-29|website=Luxemburger Wort - Edition francophone|language=fr}} These renovations pertain to the repair and strengthening of the roof structure and the walls, as well as putting a new layer on the gilded cupola. In 2002–03, the roofing was renewed and the structural structure was repaired and reinforced. On 1 September 2003, the protective foil was removed from the dome, thus becoming once again an eye-catcher in the skyline of Brussels.{{Cite news|date=2003-08-30|title=La coupole du Palais de Justice à nouveau blinquante|url=https://www.dhnet.be/actu/belgique/la-coupole-du-palais-de-justice-a-nouveau-blinquante-51b7cd44e4b0de6db98f0c8f|access-date=2022-01-13|work=DH Les Sports +|language=fr}} Progress is slow, however, and in 2013, it was reported that the decade-old scaffolding was so rusted and unsafe that the scaffolding itself was in need of renovation.{{cite news|title=Stellingen Brussels justitiepaleis zelf aan restauratie toe|url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20131130_00864747|work=De Standaard|date=30 November 2013|access-date=23 June 2014|language=nl}}

Since the end of the 20th century, many jurisdictions have successively left the Palace of Justice on the grounds that it no longer meets the criteria required for the exercise of contemporary justice, particularly in terms of the required workspace. The Government of the Brussels-Capital Region ended up issuing two designations orders, on 3 May 2001 and on 28 February 2008, "Because of its historical, artistic and technical interest". In 2008, a proposal was made for the building's recognition as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In 2016, the World Monuments Fund placed the courthouse on its list of endangered monuments.{{Cite web|title=Brussels Palace of Justice|url=https://www.wmf.org/project/brussels-palace-justice|access-date=2021-10-29|website=World Monuments Fund|language=en}} In 2018, following the collapse of part of the ceiling, Jean de Codt, first president of the Court of Cassation and highest magistrate in the country, spoke openly in the media to demand additional financial resources to ensure the building's sustainability and the safety of those who work there.{{Cite news|date=2018-09-06|title=Délabrement du palais de justice: "désinvestissement" et "désorganisation" selon Jean de Codt|url=https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/detail_delabrement-du-palais-de-justice-desinvestissement-et-desorganisation-selon-jean-de-codt?id=10012005|access-date=2021-10-29|work=RTBF Info|language=fr}} Several plans have followed to find solutions to the dilapidated rooms and to security problems, but the work is expected to last for many more years, leaving the building's future uncertain. As of 2022, additional renovation plans have been announced, with completion expected for "2024 or 2025".{{Cite web |last=Chini |first=Maïthé |work=The Brussels Times |date=2 May 2022 |title=Brussels Justice Palace renovation delayed again as 15% of bricks must be replaced |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/220827/brussels-justice-palace-renovation-facing-more-delays-as-15-of-bricks-must-be-replaced |access-date=2022-05-02 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cendrowicz |first=Leo |work=The Brussels Times |date=18 February 2023 |title=The unfathomable scale of justice |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/374303/the-unfathomable-scale-of-justice= |access-date=2023-02-18 |language=en}} In November 2024, the Federal Government announced that the first scaffolding on the building would be removed by the end of the year, with remaining scaffolding to be dismantled by 2030.{{Cite news |work=France 24 |date=8 November 2024 |title=End in sight for 40-year renovation of giant Brussels courthouse |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241107-end-in-sight-for-40-year-renovation-of-giant-brussels-courthouse |access-date=8 November 2024 |language=en}}

Brussels' Palace of Justice was, at the time of its construction, the largest building in the world, and remains today one of the largest courthouses.{{efn|name=fn3|It was not until 1965 that it was surpassed as the largest building in the world by NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Cape Canaveral.}} The edifice is currently {{convert|160|by|150|m}}, and has a total built ground surface of {{convert|26,006|m²|abbr=on}},{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=21}} bigger than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The {{convert|105|m|ft|adj=mid|-high}} dome weighs {{convert|24,000|t|lb}}.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=28}} The building has 8 courtyards with a surface of {{convert|6,000|m²|abbr=on}}, 27 large court rooms and 245 smaller court rooms and other rooms. Situated on a hill with a steep incline, there is a level difference of {{convert|20|m}} between the upper and lower town,{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=41}} which results in multiple entrances to the building at different levels.

The building includes huge interior statues of Demosthenes and Lycurgus by the sculptor {{ill|Pierre Armand Cattier|fr|Armand Cattier}}, and figures of the Roman jurists Cicero and Ulpian by Antoine-Félix Bouré.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=35–36}} The central portico, {{convert|39|m}} high, is surmounted by a helmeted bust of the ancient Greek Titaness Themis, personification of divine law and order, by {{ill|Joseph Ducaju|fr|Joseph Ducaju}}.{{sfn|Van Win|2012|p=272–273}} Moreover, the impressive main hall or salle des pas perdus ({{literal|hall of lost steps}}) is around {{convert|3,600|m²|abbr=on}} including the first floor gallery: {{convert|90|m}} long and {{convert|40|m}} wide. A compass rose with sixteen rays marks the centre of the room.{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=38}}

Many questions remain on this project, which saw its budget exceed 50 million Belgian francs{{sfn|Vandenbreeden|Loits|2001|p=42}}{{efn|name=fn1}} (which was equivalent to an entire year of public works in the country at the time) for an initial estimate of barely 4 million.{{efn|name=fn4|Equivalent to €{{Inflation|BE|0.09916|1880}} million in {{Inflation/year|BE}} when taking into account inflation.}} The excessiveness of the site, and the freedom left to the architect to override almost all the rules initially imposed, remain a great mystery.

File:Justitiepaleis03.jpg|The monumental marble staircase

File:Inside Of The Palace Of Justice Brussels 2017 (209160057).jpeg|The main entry hall or salle des pas perdus

File:Palacio de Justicia, Bruselas, Bélgica, 2021-12-15, DD 68-70 HDR.jpg|Interior view of the salle des pas perdus

File:Porte d'entrée du palais de Justice de Bruxelles (HDR) - 2043-0077-0.jpg|One of the massive neoclassical doors

File:Palais De Justice Brussels 2017 Inside Up To The Cupola (209382509).jpeg|At the centre of the building looking upwards towards the dome

{{Further|Judiciary of Belgium}}

{{Multiple image

| align = vertical

| width1 = 230

| image1 = Hof van Cassatie - gewone zittingszaal.jpg

| caption1 = Standard courtroom of the Court of Cassation (Belgian supreme court) inside the Palace of Justice

| width2 = 115

| image2 = Grote Audiëntiezaal van het Hof van Cassatie, nog zonder portret Leopold I.png

| caption2 = The Court's grand courtroom, used for larger sessions and judicial ceremonies

|}}

The Palace of Justice is the most important court building in Belgium, seat of the country's different courts and tribunals, most notably the Court of Cassation, its supreme court. The Court of Cassation handles cases in the two main languages of Belgium, being Dutch and French, and provides certain facilities for cases in German. The Court of Assizes (criminal court that tries the most serious crimes), the Court of Appeal of Brussels (appellate court), as well as the Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels (general jurisdiction), also seat there. The Palace of Justice also includes within it the prosecution services adjoining these jurisdictions, as well as various libraries.{{Cite web|date=1 June 2014|title=Judiciary – Organization|url=https://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/en_22_00.pdf|access-date=8 November 2020|website=www.dekamer.be|series=Parliamentary information sheet № 22.00|publisher=Belgian Chamber of Representatives}}

• Court of Cassation: 1st president, Griffie-Clerck and Prosecution
• Court of Assizes
• Court of Appeal of Brussels: 1st president, Griffie-Clerck and Prosecution
• Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels

• Library of the Magistrate
• Library of the Bar Association of Brussels
• Library of the Lawyers

Moreover, the Palace of Justice is the seat of the judicial arrondissement of Brussels (covering the entire Brussels-Capital Region), having split from the Flemish part of the former bilingual arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV) in mid-2012 (which made Halle-Vilvoorde a monolingual Flemish electoral and judicial district).

Finally, the Palace of Justice is also home to the Bar Association of Brussels ({{langx|fr|Barreau de Bruxelles|link=no}}, {{langx|nl|Balie te Brussel|link=no}}), a professional order of 7,000 Brussels lawyers, founded on 14 December 1810. Since 1984, the Bar Association of Brussels has been split into two, the French-speaking order ({{lang|fr|Ordre français des Avocats du Barreau de Bruxelles}}){{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.barreaubruxelles.be/|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Barreau de Bruxelles|language=fr-fr}} and the Dutch-speaking order ({{lang|nl|Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten te Brussel}}).{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.baliebrussel.be/|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Balie Brussel|language=nl-NL}}

The {{lang|fr|Place Poelaert|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Poelaertplein|italic=no}}, in front of the Palace of Justice, is the largest square in Brussels, measuring {{convert|155|by|50|m}}. The initial development project, which provided for a large square in a semicircle (1862), could not be implemented due to Poelaert's sudden death. Consequently, this square does not have an architectural unity in the buildings that surrounds it, nor the belvedere coming from the original plan, and instead constitutes a vast transit space unsuitable for pedestrians, not functioning as an urban square but as a roundabout for cars preventing the appropriation of the place by walkers. In 1905, it was the scene of prestigious commemorations for the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence.{{sfn|Bournons|2009|p=34}} Nowadays, it offers one of Brussels' finest views. From the elevated vantage point, the famous tower of Brussels' Town Hall on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt is clearly visible. On a sunny day, the Koekelberg Basilica and even the Atomium can be seen.

Next to the Palace of Justice, on the Place Poelaert, stand two war memorials: the Belgian Infantry Memorial by Edouard Vereycken (1935) and the Anglo-Belgian Memorial by Charles Sargeant Jagger (1923). In addition, the Poelaert Elevators,{{Cite web|title=Constructie van de Poelaertliften|url=https://www.beliris.be/nl/projecten/liftenpoelaert.html|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Beliris|language=nl}} in popular language the Elevators of the Marolles,{{Cite news|title=Bruxelles La passerelle de l'ascenseur des Marolles est arrivée samedi Réconcilier le haut et le bas de la ville|url=https://www.lesoir.be/art/bruxelles-la-passerelle-de-l-ascenseur-des-marolles-est_t-20011015-Z0L1NP.html|access-date=19 June 2021|work=Le Soir Plus|language=fr}}{{Cite news|title=Les ascenseurs des Marolles seront rénovés en 2021|url=https://bx1.be/bruxelles-ville/les-ascenseurs-des-marolles-seront-renoves-en-2021/|date=7 July 2020|access-date=19 June 2021|work=BX1|language=fr-FR}}{{Cite news|title=Lift Marollen in nieuw kleedje|url=https://www.bruzz.be/expo/lift-marollen-nieuw-kleedje-2018-04-13|date=13 April 2018|access-date=19 June 2021|work=BRUZZ|language=nl}} are a set of two public lifts that connects the upper and lower town between the Place Poelaert and the {{lang|fr|Square Breughel l'Ancien|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Breughel de Oudeplein|italic=no}}. They were executed by the AVA Architects office, under the coordination of the architect Patrice Neirinck, and were inaugurated in June 2002.

File:Place Poelaert.jpg|The {{lang|fr|Place Poelaert|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Poelaertplein|italic=no}} seen from the stairs of the Palace of Justice

File:Infantry Memorial - Brussels, Belgium - DSC07698.jpg|Belgian Infantry Memorial (Vereycken, 1935)

File:Anglo-Belgian Memorial Brussels 01.jpg|Anglo-Belgian Memorial (Sargeant Jagger, 1923)

File:20110712 bruxelles018.jpg|Poelaert Elevators (Neirinck, 2002)

File:Palacio de Justicia. Lima, Perú.jpg of Lima, Peru, is inspired by that of Brussels.]]

There is a well-known story that Adolf Hitler was reportedly fond of the building. Albert Speer, the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany, stated in his book Inside the Third Reich that he had been dispatched to Brussels in 1940 to study the building.{{sfn|Speer|1995|p=42}}

Although lacking the dome and being much smaller, the Palace of Justice in Lima, Peru, which houses the Supreme Court of Peru, is based upon Brussels' Palace of Justice.{{cite web |last=Paucescu |first=Alexandra | url=https://europe-diplomatic.eu/politics/history/a-palace-for-justice-a-never-ending-belgian-story/ | title=A PALACE FOR JUSTICE – A never-ending Belgian story | date=4 November 2022 }}

• The Palace of Justice is represented in the album The Last Pharaoh, published in 2019, from the comic strip series Blake and Mortimer, in which it plays a central place of the plot.{{Cite web|title=Palais de Justice (Rue de la Régence, Palais de Justice, François Schuiten, Le Dernier Pharaon)|url=http://www.reflexcity.net/bruxelles/photo/79a6c4bada558ee1b60eb178ffc62a39|access-date=2021-11-07|website=www.reflexcity.net}}

{{Portal|Belgium}}

• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century
• Neoclassical architecture in Belgium
• History of Brussels
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|60em}}

• {{cite book|last=Bournons|first=Éric|title=Bruxelles d'Antan. Bruxelles à travers la carte postale ancienne.|location=Paris|language=fr|publisher=HC Éditions|year=2009|isbn=978-2-357-20017-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Debes|first=Ilona Andrea|title=Der vergessene Löwe - Anmerkungen zu einer Löwenfigur von Léandre Grandmoulin im Justizpalast von Brüssel in: "Mit Belgien ist das so eine Sache ..." - Resultate und Perspektiven der Historischen Belgienforschung|location=Münster|language=de|publisher=Waxmann Verlag|year=2021|isbn=978-3-8309-4317-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjtYEAAAQBAJ&dq=L%C3%B6wenfigur+von+L%C3%A9andre+Grandmoulin+im+Justizpalast+von+Br%C3%BCssel&pg=PA203}}
• {{cite book|last=Demey|first=Thierry|title=Léopold II (1865-1909). La marque royale sur Bruxelles|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Badeaux|year=2009|isbn=978-2-9600414-8-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Emerson|first=Barbara|title=Léopold II, le royaume et l'empire|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Duculot|year=1994}}
• {{cite book|last1=Snaet|first1=Joris|last2=Van Besien|first2=Elisabeth|title=Le Palais de Justice de Bruxelles. Un tour de force monumental.|series=Bruxelles Patrimoines|volume=3–4|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Éditions de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale|year=2012|url=http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-numeriques/versions-pdf/articles-de-la-revue-bruxelles-patrimoines/numero-3-4/article-3-4-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Speer|first=Albert|others=R. and C. Winston (trans.)|title=Inside the Third Reich|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|date=1995|isbn=978-1-84212-735-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Quiévreux|first=Louis|title=Bruxelles, notre capitale: histoire, folklore, archéologie.|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=PIM-Services|year=1951}}
• {{cite book|last1=Vandenbreeden|first1=Jos|last2=Loits|first2=André|title=Le Palais de Justice|series=Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire|volume=31|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Éditions de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale|year=2001|isbn=978-2-930457-78-9|url=http://patrimoine.brussels/liens/publications-numeriques/versions-pdf/bvah/le-palais-de-justice}}
• {{cite book|last1=Vandendaele|first1=Richard|last2=Leblicq|first2=Yvon|title=Poelaert et son temps (exhibition catalogue)|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Crédit Communal de Belgique|year=1980}}
• {{cite book|last=Van Win|first=Jean|title=Bruxelles maçonnique. Faux mystères et vrais symboles|location=Brussels|language=fr|publisher=Télélivre|year=2012|isbn=978-2-930331-09-6}}
• {{cite book|ref={{harvid|Mardaga|1994}}|title=Le Patrimoine monumental de la Belgique: Bruxelles|volume=1C: Pentagone N-Z|location=Liège|language=fr|publisher=Pierre Mardaga|year=1994|url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/files/cities/1000/documents/03-vol-c-fr-def_k.pdf}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Palace of Justice, Brussels}}
• {{in lang|nl}} [http://www.buildingsagency.be/realisatieberichten_nl.cfm?key=39 Justitiepaleis] or {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110224042139/http://www.buildingsagency.be/realisatieberichten_fr.cfm?key=39 Palais de justice]

{{Brussels topics}}

{{Tallest buildings and structures in Belgium}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Palaces in Brussels

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Category:Libraries in Belgium

Category:Government buildings completed in 1883

Category:Government buildings with domes

Category:Terminating vistas