Objection to a Municipal Decision: Your Rights
Municipalities make daily decisions that directly affect citizens. Consider permits, zoning plan amendments, subsidies, or benefits. When you disagree with a decision of the municipality, you have the right to file an objection under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb). At Arslan Advocaten, we guide you through the entire objection procedure.
What Is an Objection?
An objection is a written request to the administrative body to reconsider a decision. The objection is filed with the same administrative body that made the decision (Article 7:1 Awb). This is the first step in administrative legal protection before you can go to court.
In the objection, you state which decision you disagree with and why. You support your objection with arguments and, where possible, with supporting documents. It is important that the objection is clear and complete.
Deadline for Objection
The deadline for filing an objection is six weeks, calculated from the day after the notification of the decision (Article 6:7 Awb). This is an absolute deadline: if you are too late, your objection will be declared inadmissible. It is therefore of great importance to take timely action.
If you need more time to fully substantiate your objection, you can file a pro forma objection. This preserves your right to object and gives you additional time to supplement the grounds.
The Objection Procedure
After receiving the objection, the municipality acknowledges receipt and invites you to a hearing. During the hearing, you can explain your objection orally. An objection committee or the municipality itself assesses the objection and issues an advisory opinion.
Based on this advice, the administrative body makes a decision on the objection. The administrative body can uphold, amend, or withdraw the original decision. The decision on the objection must in principle be made within twelve weeks after the expiry of the objection period (Article 7:10 Awb).
Appeal to the Administrative Court
If your objection is rejected, you can lodge an appeal with the administrative court within six weeks. The court examines whether the decision was made lawfully. You can potentially lodge a further appeal against the ruling of the court with the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State.
Interim Injunction
In urgent cases, you can request an interim injunction from the interim relief judge alongside the objection (Article 8:81 Awb). For example, when the municipality threatens demolition or a permit is about to expire. The interim relief judge can suspend the decision until a ruling has been made on the objection.
Arslan Advocaten Guides Your Objection
At Arslan Advocaten, we have extensive experience with administrative law procedures. We assess the feasibility of your objection, draft the objection, represent you at the hearing, and assist you in any appeal proceedings. Contact us in time to safeguard your rights.