New Justice Minister wants to test limits with stricter protest policy

Minister David van Weel of Justice and Security wants to tighten the policy around demonstrations, but without undermining the right to demonstrate, he told the Volkskrant without being clear about how he plans to achieve that. Experts and activists are concerned.

Farmers, climate activists, people showing support for Gaza, and people opposing Koran burnings have all made headlines with their demonstrations in recent months. Speaking to the Volkskrant, Van Weel criticized demonstrators who disrupt traffic with their actions.

“I honestly wonder why you, as a law-abiding citizen, would think it’s a good idea to sit on the highway and stick yourself in place, knowing that you’re keeping hundreds of police officers on their feet on a weekend when we also have a festival and a football match here,” the Minister said.

Criminal lawyer Willem Jebbink, who regularly represents demonstrators, is confused by the Minister’s statements. “Is it really a wonder that protesters look for places and times that are not very convenient for the government?” he told Nieuwsuur. “Demonstrations are about finding the greatest possible reach for your message.”

Van Weel’s intentions are “a disastrous path,” Jebbink said. “He does not want to restrict the right and at the same time set limits. They are mutually exclusive. And the limits the Minister wants to set will not be recognized by the European court.”

Being disruptive is a necessary part of a demonstration, especially if you’re trying to get the government’s attention on something it would rather avoid, Extinction Rebellion climate activist Jelle de Graaf, who gained notoriety by gluing himself to a talk show table, told the program. “All major social changes in history have been forced through disruptive protest.” He is very critical of the government’s attitude. “On the one hand, it actually makes no sense. And on the other hand, it is clearly an attack on groups like ours.”

Jon Schilder, a professor of constitutional and administrative law at the VU University in Amsterdam, doesn’t know why the Minister wants to mess with the demonstration policy. “There actually not much reason to do this,” he told Nieuwsuur. Mayors already have the power to ban protests if they threaten to majorly disrupt public order or to protect traffic or health.

Mayor Jan van Zanen of The Hague, where climate group Extinction Rebellion has blocked the A12 highway in multiple protests, recently asked for more resources to “provide a response to disruptive actions.” But in general, mayors are satisfied with the options they have, Schilder said. He spoke to many mayors for his own research. “The conclusion was: the powers are sufficient.”

Schilder can see only one additional ground the government could give mayors on the basis of which to stop a protest - if the demonstration compromises the rights of others too much. “At abortion clinics, it sometimes happens that women on their way into a clinic are harassed. In such situations, I would give mayors a little more leeway.”

Amnesty International recently said that the right to demonstrate was under pressure in the Netherlands. According to the human rights organization, Dutch politicians and mayors see demonstrations primarily as a security risk and not as an exercise of a human right.