On 17 January 2018, the internet consultation was launched in connection with the entry into force of the Environment and Planning Act. This consultation also has consequences for the General Administrative Law Act (GAL). In this blog post, we will discuss the important amendment to Article 5:20 GAL for the enforcement of the duty to cooperate. This amendment provides a general regulation on the basis of which an administrative authority may impose an administrative sanction in the form of an order subject to administrative enforcement or an order subject to penalty if a citizen, company or institution fails to cooperate or cooperates insufficiently with a request made by a supervisor. The consequence of this legislative amendment is that the same enforcement powers for failure to comply with the duty to cooperate in special laws will be withdrawn. The legislative amendment thus provides for the harmonisation of the enforcement powers that are currently still laid down in various special laws.
Date: 29 March 2018
Author: Christien Saris