The Constitution also applies to civil servants; discriminating officials are not necessarily immune.

Posted March 06, 2024, 5:00 PM

Last updated: March 06, 2024, 4:42 PM

The Public Prosecution Service can indeed prosecute officials criminally. Individual civil servants do not necessarily enjoy criminal immunity. That's it judgment by the Court of Appeal of The Hague in proceedings brought by two allowance parents. So far, the Public Prosecution Service has seen no reason to start a criminal investigation. The Public Prosecution Service stated that the officials could assume that they were acting according to the rules, also because the Council of State had approved the cessation and recovery policy all these years.

The ruling of the Court of Appeal in The Hague can have consequences for officials if they “go outside the lines” of their own accord and act criminally when carrying out policy tasks. Acting on your own initiative outside the set frameworks and legislation therefore does not automatically fall under criminal immunity. The Court's wording is very cautious, but offers space to tackle “bad apples” if there is a criminal offence. In its opinion, the Court states that it cannot be ruled out in advance that individual officials may be guilty of criminal offences, even if they have not acted for their own profit.

Acting within appropriate frameworks

The question remains what exactly this will mean for civil servants, says Herman Bröring, professor of administrative law at the University of Groningen. “There will have to be a serious degree of culpability. Violation of fundamental rights, for example.” In the item of News Hour Bröing explains that while an official is employed by the government, he must also be able to take initiatives himself. “If they are not careful about that, it goes quite far to take that into the criminal sphere.”

CNV Government & Public Services Chairman Patrick Fey: “In any case, you always take professional space within the permitted limits. Professional space does not mean that there are no limits anymore. Officials are professionals who are able to act within the appropriate frameworks, regardless of whether it concerns the legislation or the established policy. The government must ensure that legislation and policy are carefully drawn up, leaving no room for discrimination and unjust disadvantage. As an employer, they should also discuss this with their employees. Laws and policies should not have an oppressive effect on officials and should serve the interests of citizens. Officials must be free, and legally protected, to be critical when they see wrongdoing. '

Citizens' recommendations for improving public services

Last year, the State Committee on the Rule of Law was asked to come up with a concrete recommendation to improve the functioning of implementing agencies, municipalities, ministries and the rule of law for citizens. Through citizen panels and hackathons, solutions and improvements are being worked on. The final findings of the State Committee on the Rule of Law's investigation will be published in June 2024. The final report should come out this summer. But at the end of December, the state commission sent the first findings already to (then) informer Ronald Plasterk. That letter already contains a series of concrete recommendations, such as investing in training officials who have many contacts with citizens, in particular with the most vulnerable among them. These proposals should lead to better citizens' access to justice and better contact between citizens and government (public services)

The CNV calls on the future cabinet to follow up on these recommendations from citizens. Invest in solutions that help simplify and clearly formulate rules that bother citizens the most. So that there is room within the current execution capacity to work smarter, easier and more citizen-oriented. This improves the contact between citizens and government.

CNV also calls on the cabinet to focus less on unnecessary details in laws and regulations, but to leave room for implementing organizations to work within the meaning of the law and put citizens first. Finally, we call on the future cabinet to give clear instructions for implementation, so that the leadership of the implementing organizations can (manage) effectively.