Climate movement wins lawsuit against Heerlen municipality: ‘the right to demonstrate is a great thing’

Bekijk alles
September 8, 2023
News items
Previous
Next

On Sept. 6, 2023, the Limburg District Court ruled that 3 of the 6 restrictions on the 2021 Klimaatalarm demonstration in Heerlen were unlawful. This is good news for the right to demonstrate.

The case was brought by Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad and 6 national organizations of the Climate Crisis Coalition, including: Environmental Defense, Greenpeace, Code Red, Grandparents for Climate, DeGoedeZaak and Extinction Rebellion.

The Climate Alert took place on March 14, 2021, during the peak of the corona pandemic. Demonstrators wore mouth masks and kept the 1.5-meter distance. Yet the Heerlen municipality imposed several restrictions on them. Against 6 of these restrictions the organizers of the demonstration appealed to the municipality and then to the court, on 3 of these issues Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad was vindicated by the court.

The court found that the rule that the number of participants in the demonstration may not exceed 200 was permissible, but ruled that the obligation to send people away when this maximum was reached was wrongly imposed, since this is not a task of the organization of this demonstration, but of the public authority.

Nor should the obligation to provide names of speakers in a timely manner have been imposed. By doing so, the municipality is interfering with the content of the thoughts and feelings of the demonstrators. This violates the right to demonstrate.

Finally, the obligation that deals with not obstructing traffic also cannot stand, since some traffic disruption must be tolerated during a demonstration. It is up to the government to ensure that traffic is managed.

Lotte Keularts of Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad: “Good that the judge recognized that many of the restrictions went too far. Organizing the demonstration was not made easy for us, while the climate crisis is disrupting our world. Just look at the floods in southern Limburg.’

The coalition’s lawyer, Jelle Klaas of PILP, calls the ruling a win for the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands. According to experts, this is under pressure: ‘It is the task of municipalities to facilitate demonstrations. Restrictions may only be imposed if they are necessary and in line with the law and human rights. That was not the case here. The court outlined some clear new boundaries for restrictions. This is good news for future demonstrations.’

Read more about the right to protest on our file page. The full ruling can be accessed here.

Tags: , ,
Previous
Next
Actueel

Gerelateerde berichten

KOZP right to protest Stichting Nederland Wordt Beter
May 12, 2025 Right to protest

Dutch foundations KOZP and Nederland Wordt Beter have been vindicated: infringement of the right to protest in De Lier

Dutch foundations KOZP and Nederland Wordt Beter have been vindicated The appeal of Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) and Stichting Nederland Wordt Beter (NLWB) against the restrictions imposed on their protest by the mayor of the Westland municipality has been upheld. The District Court of The Hague rules that the mayor should not have been […]

right to protest
May 2, 2025 Right to protest

Hearing in court case on right to protest at the Council of State

On 6 May 2025, two climate organizations will be facing the municipality of Heerlen in an important case on the right to protest. The mayor of Heerlen has notably banned music and performances during the climate protests, as they “would give the impression of an event”. However, according to the right to protest, mayors cannot […]

outdoor sleeping fines right to housing
April 16, 2025 The right to housing

Sitchting GOUD sends letter to municipality of Utrecht about outdoor sleeping fines for homeless people

Stichting GOUD sends letter to municipality of Utrecht about outdoor sleeping fines Stichting GOUD has formally requested a meeting with the Utrecht municipality today through a letter about stopping fining homeless people who are forced to sleep on the streets. The letter points out to the municipality that this practice, based on article 2:31 of […]

Gerelateerde berichten

Our Dossiers

Our Dossiers

Support our work

PILP is the legal ally of civil society organizations, movements, communities, and activists dedicated to human rights. Your donation enables us to continue providing this service.