Recent legislation on government disclosure has brought changes, both for government authorities and for members of the public. Besides being required to actively disclose far more documents, administrative bodies also face new ways of handling requests for information.
What this legislation involves
Dutch government disclosure laws provide a general framework for questions about government information and transparency. The basic rule is that all government information is public information and should be disclosed on request.
A request for disclosure may only be denied based on specific exceptions and grounds for refusal, for example confidential business information, personal data or officials’ personal views of certain policies.
A request for disclosure triggers a procedure that is sometimes complicated for both the party that made the request and the authority handling it. If the request is denied, or if only part of the information is disclosed, the matter might need to be litigated.
This begins with filing an objection with the authority that handled the request but sometimes proceeds through the courts all the way to the country’s highest administrative law court, the Council of State.
Public-law bodies, companies and members of the public
The changes affect not only public-law bodies, but also companies and members of the public. An individual who needs information that only the government possesses generally wants a swift decision.
For government authorities, on the other hand, requests for large amounts of information will need to be handled quickly, in dialogue with the party that requested the information.
Our firm has years of experience with disputes about government disclosure, as well as expertise in adjacent areas of the law. Public-law authorities and members of the public can rely on our team for advice and assistance in any dispute involving government disclosure. We also counsel companies that have a request for information, or that are the subject of information a government authority is asked to disclose.
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