Belgium GAS / SAC Municipal Fines: Traffic Scope, Ceilings and Appeals

A GAS fine, a gemeentelijke administratieve sanctie, or an amende SAC, a sanction administrative communale in French, is a municipal penalty, not a police-court fine, and Belgian municipalities can only use it for a narrow, specifically listed set of violations. This page covers the traffic slice of that system, where a GAS fine can and cannot replace an ordinary federal traffic fine, and how much it can cost.

GAS fines exist independently of the police-court system described on the speeding fines page. A municipality never gains the power to fine a moving violation this way, however the local council might feel about a particular street. That distinction is the single most important thing to understand about this system.

Information last verified on 22 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

What a GAS fine is, and what it is not

Gemeentelijke administratieve sancties, sanctions administratives communales in French, let a municipality impose a fine for behaviour that disturbs a neighbourhood without amounting to a serious federal crime. The base statute is the wet van 24 juni 2013, the loi du 24 juin 2013 relative aux sanctions administratives communales, and it is a federal law that every municipality then applies through its own local police regulation, so the categories a GAS fine can cover are set federally even though the fine itself is municipal.

The fine ceilings, and the 2024 increase

Two ceilings apply, split by age. An adult faces a GAS fine of up to 500 euro since the wet van 11 december 2023 took effect on 8 January 2024, an increase from the previous 350 euro ceiling. A minor's ceiling did not move: it remains 175 euro.

Who imposes the fine, and who hears an appeal

A GAS fine is imposed by a sanctionerend ambtenaar, a fonctionnaire sanctionnateur, an official designated for the purpose, who is barred from also being the person who established the violation, and from leading any mediation offered in the same case.

Appeals split by the age of the person fined. An adult appeals to the politierechtbank, the tribunal de police, by written petition within one month. A minor appeals to the jeugdrechtbank, the tribunal de la jeunesse, by a free petition, and that court keeps jurisdiction over the appeal even if the minor turns 18 before judgment is given. Both courts review the fine for legality and for proportionality, not just for procedure.

The traffic slice of GAS is narrow

This is the part of the GAS system most easily overstated. A municipality may use a GAS fine for traffic purposes only for stopping and parking violations, and for the C3 and F103 sign infringements, including violations caught by camera, under the KB van 9 maart 2014 as amended by the KB van 19 juli 2018. The amount for this traffic category is 58 or 116 euro.

Every moving violation, including speeding, running a red light, or any offence covered on the speeding fines page, stays exclusively federal, prosecuted under the Wegverkeerswet before the politierechtbank, the tribunal de police, and is never a GAS matter, regardless of how a municipality might otherwise wish to handle it. For this traffic category specifically, only a fine is available: no mediation and no community service, unlike the wider GAS system described below.

Minimum age, mediation, and community-service caps

A GAS fine can be imposed on a minor from age 14. Mediation must be offered to a minor before a fine is imposed. Outside the fine-only traffic category above, GAS also allows community service, capped at 30 hours for an adult and 15 hours for a minor.

A forward flag: the new Penal Code, 1 September 2026

A wholly new Penal Code takes effect on 1 September 2026 and is expected to reshape the list of "mixed infractions", offences that can currently be handled either as a GAS fine or as an ordinary criminal prosecution, as some current offences are decriminalised under the new code. Nothing in the GAS system described above has changed yet as a result of that reform; this is a dated future change to watch, not a current rule.

Related Belgian driving-law pages

This page sits under the Belgian driving laws section. For the separate, federal system that covers speeding, see speeding fines. For how a Belgian criminal conviction more generally ends up on a record, see Belgian criminal law.

The following questions come up most often about Belgian GAS fines.

This page provides general information about the Belgian GAS system and does not constitute legal advice for an individual case. Fine ceilings, procedure and the traffic-GAS categories described here can change locally and under the incoming Penal Code; confirm the current position with your municipality, besafe.be, or an advocaat / avocat before relying on anything here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a GAS fine in Belgium?

A gemeentelijke administratieve sanctie, an amende SAC or sanction administrative communale in French, is a municipal administrative fine imposed under the wet van 24 juni 2013, the loi du 24 juin 2013, for a specifically listed set of nuisance behaviours. It is not a police-court criminal fine.

How much can a GAS fine cost?

Up to 500 euro for an adult, since the wet van 11 december 2023 took effect on 8 January 2024 and raised the previous 350 euro ceiling. A minor's ceiling is unchanged at 175 euro.

Can a municipality issue a GAS fine for speeding?

No. Speeding, and every other moving violation, stays exclusively federal and is prosecuted under the Wegverkeerswet before the politierechtbank, the tribunal de police. A GAS fine in traffic is limited to stopping and parking violations and the C3 and F103 sign infringements.

What can I actually be GAS-fined for in traffic?

Only stopping and parking violations and the C3 and F103 sign infringements, including violations caught by camera, at 58 or 116 euro, under the KB van 9 maart 2014 as amended by the KB van 19 juli 2018. No other traffic offence is a GAS matter.

Who decides a GAS fine, and can it be appealed?

A sanctionerend ambtenaar, a fonctionnaire sanctionnateur, imposes it. An adult appeals to the politierechtbank, the tribunal de police, in writing within one month. A minor appeals to the jeugdrechtbank, the tribunal de la jeunesse, which keeps the case even if the minor turns 18 before judgment.

Is there a minimum age for a GAS fine?

Yes, 14. Mediation must also be offered to a minor before a fine is imposed, and the wider GAS system allows community service capped at 15 hours for a minor, except in the fine-only traffic category described on this page.

Is there still a separate, higher GAS fine for a railway level-crossing violation?

The KB of 9 March 2014 did carry a distinct, higher category for stopping or parking on a railway level crossing, but the KB of 19 July 2018 repealed it. The ordinary stopping and parking figures of 58 or 116 euro apply instead. As always, confirm the current amount with your municipality.