Parliament rallies for Curfew 2.0
Parliament rallies for Curfew 2.0
Opposition parties untangle 'spaghetti' to support Rutte's 'fallback option'.
AT 11 O’CLOCK ON THE MORNING of February 16, a preliminary relief judge in the Hague decided in favour of a claim by protest group Vereniging Viruswaarheid, Virus Truth. The curfew is unlawful and was lifted with immediate effect.
Not unnecessary, but illegal.
Judge SJ Hoekstra-van Vliet found that imposing a curfew under the provisions of the 1996 Extraordinary Powers of Civil Authority Act - Wet buitengewone bevoegdheden burgerlijk gezag (Wbbbg) - was a misuse of legislation intended for acute emergencies.
By 4pm, government lawyers were back in court to lodge an appeal.
After dismissing a challenge to the impartiality of the judges, the appeal court provisionally suspended the morning’s judgement and reinstated the curfew pending the appeal. That hearing began on February 19 and a verdict could take several days.
The curfew was reinstated at 8.30pm on the same day.
Between the two judgements, prime minister Mark Rutte told an after…