portfolios and thus assist the mayor in governing the town or city. The total number of schepenen in a town depends on its population. A city like Antwerp has ten; whereas Herstappe, the smallest community in Belgium, has only two. Since a schepen is also an ordinary town councillor, the schepen must be re-elected to remain in the office of schepen. Since 2006, Belgian citizenship has not been a requirement for the position. Netherlands In the Netherlands, schepenen have been replaced by wethouders. Historically, schepenen had administrative and judicial duties in a Dutch seigneury (heerlijkheid). When acting in an administrative capacity, a schepen was similar to an alderman or town councillor, and is usually called that in English. When acting in a judicial capacity, the schepenen were often referred to as the schepenbank. One of the functions of the schepenbank was to pass judgment on criminals, thereby functioning as a jury or magistrates' bench. In this context, they are a sort of magistrate. The phrase schout en schepenen appears in many legal documents prior to the Napoleonic period, including the civil register of marriages. This phrase was used in both administrative and judicial contexts. If they were acting in an administrative capacity, schout en schepenen may be expressed in English as "the mayor and aldermen" (or a similar phrase like "the mayor and councillors"). If they were acting in a judicial capacity, schout en schepenen may be expressed in English as "magistrate's court" (or a similar phrase like "magistrates' bench" or "aldermen's court"). The office of schepen was dissolved by the Napoleonic reforms at the end of the Ancien Régime. See also Voorleser Schöffe, the German equivalent šepmistr, the Czech equivalent scabino, the medieval Italian equivalent References External links Dutch words and phrases Government of Belgium Political history of the Netherlands