Netherlands: Dutch Court of Justice Directs Government to Lift COVID-19 Curfew Immediately
Amsterdam, February 16: The Dutch Court of Justice on Tuesday directed the government to immediately lift the curfew imposed as a COVID-19 preventive measure in the Netherlands. The court observed that the lockdown was not legitimate as the law under under which the curfew was imposed gave the government special power to take such action without prior discussion. Since the said curfew was discussed beforehand, it losses its legitimacy under the law. Dutch Govt to Impose Night Curfew, Flight Ban From UK, South Africa and South America to Curb the Spread of COVID-19.
The curfew is based on a law for emergency situations, where there is no time for debate with parliament,” the court in the Hague reportedly said.“There was no such pressing need in this case. Far-reaching measures such as these need to be based on proper laws,” the Dutch Court of Justice added, as reported by the Reuters. New Variant of Coronavirus Detected in UK, Netherlands and Belgium Suspend Flights From Britain; All You Need to Know.
The court was hearing a case against the curfew by an ant-lockdown group called Virus Truth Foundation. In its petition the group reportedly argued that the government did not make it clear as to why it was necessary to impose curfew at this phase of coronavirus pandemic, as the infection rate in Netherlands has been dropping.
Netherlands imposed curfew between 9 PM to 4 AM on January 23 as a preventive measure against COVID-19 outbreak, which was extended till March 3 in a review meeting last week. So far, the country has reported a total confirmed cases of 1,029,284 and the death toll stands at 14,816.
