The outbreak of Covid-19 in the Netherlands is forcing numerous Dutch government bodies to take action to prevent further spread of the virus. The more the virus spreads, the more emphasis there is on the role of the municipalities and Security Regions. Their administrative bodies have various powers when it comes to taking measures. Because a situation such as the Covid-19 outbreak in the Netherlands is unprecedented, unusual measures will have to be taken. In this blog post we assess the various powers that are available.
Dutch Public Health Act
The powers relating to tackling an epidemic such as Covid-19 are laid down in the Dutch Public Health Act. This Act categorises diseases into groups A, B1, B2 and C. Covid-19 is deemed to be an infectious disease which belongs in Group A. What does this mean for the distribution of powers?
- Placement on the A list means the Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport has central control when it comes to combating the virus. Measures are to be coordinated nationally.
- The Municipal Executive is responsible for general infectious disease control (Section 6). This means that the Municipal Executive must take general preventative measures and carry out source and contact investigations after any notification by a doctor who has diagnosed the virus in a patient. Doctors are obliged to report any diagnosis of the virus to the Municipal Public Health Services [Gemeentelijke Geneeskundige Dienst] (GGD).
- Because Covid-19 belongs to Group A, the chair of the Security Region will take the lead in terms of all the measures aimed at individuals. The mayor does the same in the case of diseases belonging to groups B1, B2 and C. The chair of the Security Region is responsible for combating an epidemic such as Covid-19, and for the measures themselves (Section 6). The chair is exclusively authorised to invoke certain powers referred to in the Public Health Act.
- The fact that the chair of the Security Region can take measures on the grounds of the Public Health Act when combating Covid-19 does not alter the fact that the mayor, in principle, takes decisions relating to emergency powers on the grounds of the Dutch Municipalities Act [Gemeentewet]. In view of current developments, it is perfectly possible that the mayor may have to invoke these powers at a certain point in time.
Powers of the chair of the Security Region
Based on the Public Health Act, the chair of the Security Region has various powers. For example, after obtaining advice from the GGD, the chair can (Section 18):
- order the treating physician of a person posing a danger in terms of transmitting the disease, to provide data which is necessary in order to determine the nature and scope of the danger of spreading the infectious disease (Section 30);
- have a person immediately admitted to a hospital for isolation purposes (Sections 31-34);
- have the person admitted for isolation purposes examined by a doctor (Section 31(3)). Court authorisation is required in the case of internal examinations (Section 31(4));
- place people in quarantine as necessary (Sections 35-39);
- impose a ban on a person posing a danger in terms of transmitting Covid-19 from performing professional or commercial work which would imply a serious risk in terms of transmitting the disease (Section 38);
- have sites, buildings, means of transport, or goods checked for contamination, have these decontaminated, have sites and buildings closed and impose a ban on the use of a certain means of transport (Section 47);
- take measures aimed at the use of aircraft and vessels (Section 53);
- order harbour and airport operators to inform travellers about how to prevent infection, to cooperate with measures relating to examining departing or arriving passengers for the presence of the virus, implement regulations of technical-hygienic nature in order to prevent infection, or to close buildings or sites for that purpose (Section 54);
- issue more or less comparable instructions to transport operators (Section 55).
Anita van den Berg and Jan van der Grinten are lawyers in administrative law, and are experts in the field of public policy law.
If you have any questions, please contact Anita van den Berg or Jan van der Grinten.
