Dutch government to appeal after court orders coronavirus curfew to be lifted
The measure will stay in place until Friday after an emergency appeal was granted.
Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus, left, and Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte | Bart Maat/AFP via Getty Images
By Adam Bouzi and Eline Schaart
February 16, 2021 3:59 pm CET
A Dutch court ordered the country's coronavirus nighttime curfew to be scrapped — but the measure will stay in place for now after the government won an emergency appeal late on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, judges in The Hague said the curfew, running from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. nationwide, violated freedom of movement and the right to privacy. They also argued it had been pushed through using an emergency law, allowing parliament to be bypassed, even though there was no "acute emergency."
The government immediately applied for the ruling to be suspended until Friday, when the appeal court will consider the merits of the curfew, to avoid people flocking into the streets on Tuesday night. That emergency appeal was granted with just minutes to spare before the start of the curfew.
Following Tuesday morning's ruling, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he believed the government had "a strong case" for appeal. "If the curfew would not have the right legal basis at the moment, it does not mean that it is not necessary."
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Rutte, who is currently caretaker prime minister but hopes to return to the post following next month's election, added: "Suspending the measure would have an immediate and serious consequence for fighting the coronavirus." He called on everyone to stay at home Tuesday night.
The case was brought by campaign group Viruswaarheid ("virus truth"), which has criticized government policy on the pandemic and claims the coronavirus is less deadly than scientists say. The group has also organized marches that at times descended into violence.
Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said the Cabinet was also working on an emergency law to establish a new legal basis for the curfew "as soon as possible." However, he added that this law would be "superfluous," as the government maintains that the curfew order already is legally sound.
Far-right parties — which have also campaigned against lockdowns — were quick to pounce on the government.
"So Rutte wrongly locked up the Netherlands after nine o'clock in the evening. Ignored my adopted motion. Pushed through that dreadful curfew anyway. And now rightly [got] kicked back very hard," Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom, tweeted.
Government adviser Jaap van Dissel, who chairs the Outbreak Management Team, said during the emergency hearing on Tuesday evening that it was crucial to keep the curfew in place. The epidemiological situation in the Netherlands was currently "fragile," he said.
The introduction of the curfew and a rule allowing only one visitor to private homes within 24 hours is having a positive impact on the infection rate, van Dissel said, adding that "the effect may seem small but ... it is stopping us from having to deal with hundreds more cases."
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