Belgian Interior minister Bernard Quintin (Francophone liberal MR) is amending draft legislation that would have enabled the government to ban extremist organisations. At the end of last year, the minister received critical advice from the Council of State, the body that vets all new legislation. The council stated that the government can only ban the activities of organisations temporarily. For dissolution or prohibition of organisations, the government must follow legal channels through the courts. Earlier, the Federal Institute for Human Rights (FIRM) also issued a damning verdict of the bill.