 It is a feature of the Belgian judicial system in general, that courts and tribunals having jurisdiction over criminal cases can also decide on any civil damages sought by a victim (referred to as the "civil party").A judgement made by a court of assizes is literally called an 'arrest' (, , ) in order to distinguish it from the judgements of lower tribunals; it might also be translated into English as a 'decision' or 'ruling'.For the sake of readability, the term 'judgement' will be used in this article.