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From the Editors: The Story of a Data-Driven Comparative Legal Research Project on FOIA Implementation in Europe Read chapter Read first chapter

2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

5. Transparency and Access to Government Information in the Netherlands

Authors : Kars J. de Graaf, Albert T. Marseille, Hanna D. Tolsma

Published in: The Laws of Transparency in Action

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Some years ago, the Netherlands was regarded as a leading country in terms of transparency and access to government information. The Government Information (Public Access) Act (WOB, Wet openbaarheid van bestuur) came into force in 1980. Since then, many countries have introduced freedom-of-information legislation, and there are doubts as to whether practice and legislation in the Netherlands still meet present-day requirements with regard to transparency and access to information. The Netherlands has fallen behind in comparison with other countries that have recently introduced a Freedom of Information Act.

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previous chapter Access to Information in Belgium
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Footnotes
1
Kamerstukken II (Parliamentary Papers) 2011–2012, 33,328, No. 3, pp. 2–3.
 
2
Act of 9 November 1978, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 1978, 581.
 
3
Act of 31 October 1991, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 703.
 
4
Act of 23 June 2005, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2005, 341.
 
5
Act of 22 December 2005, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2006, 25.
 
6
ABRvS 30 June 2010, ECLI:NL:RVS:2010:BM9675.
 
7
Kamerstukken I 2015–2016, 33,328, A (amended bill).
 
8
See Sect. 6.
 
9
Kamerstukken II 2013–2014, 33,328, No. 9, p. 5.
 
10
Kamerstukken II 2013–2014, 33,328, No. 9, p. 2.
 
11
Kamerstukken II 2016–2017, 33,328, No. 37.
 
12
Van Haeften et al. (2010).
 
13
Boonstra (2013).
 
14
Precise numbers are not available. It is known only that there were 1,049 objection procedures and 483 appeals.
 
16
The numbers for 2008 are based on 140 observations, those for 2012 on 189 observations and those for 2013 on 206 observations. The survey did not ask for the precise number of applications, but whether, in each of the three years, the number was between 0 and 3, 4 and 10, 11 and 20, 21 and 30, 31 and 40, 41 and 50, or 50+. In order to estimate the average number, we have assumed that the averages for the different categories are 1, 7, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 60 requests.
 
17
ABRvS 6 June 2007, ECLI:NL:RVS:2007:BA6497.
 
18
Kamerstukken II 2010–2011, 32,802, No. 1, pp. 3–4.
 
19
Daalder (2015), p. 141.
 
20
Kamerstukken II 1986–1987, 19,859, No. 3, p. 21.
 
21
ABRvS 19 December 2012, ECLI:NL:RVS:2012:BY6779, ABRvS 12 August 2009, ECLI:NL:RVS:2009:BJ5104 and ECLI:NL:RVS:2006:AV5076.
 
22
ABRvS 16 August 2006, ECLI:NL:RVS:2006:AY6317.
 
23
ABRvS 7 August 2013, ECLI:NL:RVS:2013:642.
 
24
ABRvS 9 April 2014, ECLI:NL:RVS:2014:1205.
 
25
ABRvS 5 June 2013, ECLI:NL:RVS:2013:1205.
 
26
ABRvS 20 October 2010, ECLI:NL:RVS:2010:1205.
 
27
Kamerstukken II 1986–1987, 19,859, No. 3, p. 25.
 
28
For example, ABRvS 8 July 2015, ECLI:NL:RVS:2015:2118; ABRvS 21 January 2009, ECLI:NL:RVS:2009:BH0453.
 
29
ABRvS 5 December 2012, ECLI:NL:RVS:2012:BY5117.
 
30
ABRvS 21 August 2013, ECLI:NL:RVS:2013:796.
 
31
ABRvS 30 November 2011, ECLI:NL:RVS:2011:BU6348.
 
32
Kamerstukken II 1986–1987, 19,859, No. 9, p. 13–14.
 
33
Kamerstukken II 1987/88, 19,859, No. 6, p. 24.
 
34
ABRvS 17 August 2016, ECLI:NL:RVS:2016:2273.
 
35
Kamerstukken II 2008–2009, 31,751, No. 3, p. 4.
 
36
Kamerstukken II 2004–2005, 29,877, No. 3, p. 9.
 
37
Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 1993, 112 as amended by Decision of 14 September 2000, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2001, 415.
 
38
ABRvS 22 August 2012, ECLI:NL:RVS:2012:BX5240.
 
39
ABRvS 25 November 1999, ECLI:NL:RVS:1999:AA4098.
 
40
ABRvS 15 June 2006, ECLI:NL:RVS:2006:AX9049.
 
41
Daalder (2015), p. 357. ABRvS 30 November 2016, ECLI:NL:RVS:2016:3165.
 
42
ABRvS 23 December 2015, ECLI:NL:RVS:2015:3976.
 
43
ABRvS 25 March 2009, ECLI:NL:RVS:2009:BH7681.
 
44
ABRvS 7 October 2009, ECLI:NL:RVS:2009:BJ9484.
 
45
For details, see Daalder (2015), p. 295.
 
46
Kamerstukken II 1987–1988, 19,859, No. 3, p. 4.
 
47
ECHR 8 November 2016, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2016:1108JUD001803011 (Magyar Helsinki Bizottsag/Hungary).
 
48
ABRvS 14 May 2014, ECLI:NL:RVS:2014:1708.
 
49
ABRvS 22 February 2017, ECLI:NL:RVS:2017:498.
 
50
Kamerstukken II 2004–2005, 29,877, No. 3.
 
51
ABRvS 30 June 2010, ECLI:NL:RVS:2010:BM9643.
 
52
Kamerstukken II 1986–1987, 19,859, no. 3, p. 29. ABRvS 3 September 2014, ECLI:NL:RVS:2014:3263.
 
53
ABRvS 31 May 2006, ECLI:NL:RVS:2006:AX6362.
 
54
This concerns a total of 944 data sets.
 
55
This is an estimate based on the number of laws subject to public consultation up to the end of July 2015 (88).
 
56
The requirement of first lodging an objection is in accordance with Articles 8:1 and 7:1 GALA.
 
57
This court order is subject to a penalty, usually €100 a day with a maximum of €15,000. Administrative courts can assess whether the administrative authority has made its decision known within the prescribed time frame and order the administrative authority to decide.
 
58
Van Haeften et al. (2010).
 
60
ABRvS 29 November 2014, ECLI:NL:RVS:2014:4129.
 
61
Act of 13 July 2016, Bulletin for Acts and Decrees 2016, 301.
 
63
If the citizen loses, the probability that he/she will lodge an appeal is 43%. If the administrative authority loses, the probability is 11%.
 
64
Marseille and Wever (2016), p. 848.
 
65
Marseille and Wever (2016), p. 847.
 
66
It should be noted that—perhaps counter-intuitively—it was quite possible that citizens would also have been more likely to win the appeal if it had concerned the issue of misuse than if it had concerned the question of whether the application met the content-related criteria for the disclosure or withholding of information.
 
67
See Kamerstukken II 2011–2012, 33, 328, No. 2.
 
68
See for the most recent text in Kamerstukken I 2015–2016, 33, 328, No. A.
 
69
Van der Sluis (2016a, 2016b).
 
Literature
Daalder, E. (2015). Handboek openbaarheid van bestuur. Den Haag: Boom Juridische uitgevers.
Marseille, A. T., & Wever, M. (2016). Snelheid, finaliteit en winstkans in het bestuursrechtelijke hoger beroep, Nederlands Juristenblad 91 (13), 848.
Van Haeften M., Wils, J., & Grimmius T. (2010). Omvangrijke Wob-verzoeken. Aantallen, kenmerken en wijze van afhandeling, Den Haag: ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties.
Van der Sluis, C. N. (2016a). De Wet open overheid in de gemeentelijke praktijk; de behandeling van het Woo-verzoek (deel I), Gemeentestem 2016/135.
Van der Sluis, C. N. (2016b). De Wet open overheid in de gemeentelijke praktijk; besluitvorming bij passieve en actieve openbaarmaking (deel II), Gemeentestem 2016/144.
Metadata
Title
Transparency and Access to Government Information in the Netherlands
Authors
Kars J. de Graaf
Albert T. Marseille
Hanna D. Tolsma
Copyright Year
2019
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Book
The Laws of Transparency in Action

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76459-7

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-76460-3

Copyright Year: 2019

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76460-3_5

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