{"id":2874,"date":"2025-05-02T13:50:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T13:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pilp.nu\/?p=2874"},"modified":"2025-06-10T13:53:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:53:38","slug":"hearing-in-court-case-on-right-to-protest-at-the-council-of-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pilp.nu\/en\/hearing-in-court-case-on-right-to-protest-at-the-council-of-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing in court case on right to protest at the Council of State"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cwould give the impression of an event\u201d. However, according to the right to protest, mayors cannot involve themselves in the determination of the content or form of a protest. The highest administrative court has been tasked with evaluating the legitimacy of these restrictions.<\/em><\/p>\n

What happened?<\/h3>\n

In March 2021, the Dutch climate organization Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad<\/em> has staged a protest in the municipality of Heerlen, as part of the national Climate Alarm (Klimaatalarm)<\/em>. The Climate Alarm was a decentralized protest, organized upon the initiative of the Dutch Climate Crisis Coalition \u2013 consisting of 11 national organizations, among which Milieudefensie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Heerlen municipality has however imposed a large number of restrictions on this protest. For instance, music and performances were prohibited, the names of the speakers had to be submitted in advance, and the organisation would be held accountable for keeping the location clean, and for any damages. Upon these restrictions, Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad<\/em> decided to bring this case to court, together with Milieudefensie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the Limburg District Court ruled in favor of the climate organisations on most counts, except for those related to the music and performance ban, and the cleaning and compensation obligation. For this reason, they decided to appeal the decision on those counts.<\/p>\n

The Administrative Law Division of the Council of State \u2013 the high administrative law court \u2013 will now have to decide on the case. Incidentally, the Heerlen municipality has also lodged an appeal.<\/p>\n

What will the hearing be about?<\/h3>\n

Mayors are authorized to impose restrictions on a protest, but only if they are in accordance with the law, and if they are in line with human rights. These restrictions should be considered necessary and proportional.<\/p>\n

The Division must now look into the question if the music and performance ban meets these requirements. According to the Heerlen municipality, the protest would have a \u201cmagnetic effect\u201d, and \u201cgive the impression of an event\u201d without this restriction. The restriction goes against the essence of the right to protest, since a protest is meant to inspire and motivate other people. Recovering the damages from the organisation infringes international law as well. Any condition imposed of a similar nature would raise the threshold to stage protests. It would therefore have a chilling effect.<\/p>\n

Lotte Keularts of Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad<\/em>: \u201cWe have had to wait for this hearing for a very long time, but the stakes are high. The right to protest is under pressure in the entire country. It is important to us that these restrictions on our fundamental right be assessed by the highest authority. Hopefully, this hearing will clarify the matter not only for the Heerlen municipality, but also for other municipalities.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

PILP is providing legal support in this case for Klimaatcoalitie Parkstad<\/em> and Milieudefensie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The public hearing will take place on Tuesday 6 May 2025 at 11:30 a.m., at the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State at Kneuterdijk 22 in The Hague.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cwould give the impression of an event\u201d. However, according to the right to protest, mayors cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[228],"sk_connection":[167],"class_list":["post-2874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-items","tag-right-to-protest","sk_connection-demonstratierecht-en"],"yoast_head":"\nHearing in court case on right to protest at the Council of State - PILP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 6 May 2025, two climate organizations will be facing the municipality of Heerlen in an important case on the right to protest. 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