An interested party, in Dutch belanghebbende, is a person whose interest is directly affected by a decision. The concept determines who has access to administrative proceedings. Anyone who is not an interested party receives no decision on the merits: the objection or appeal is declared inadmissible.
Legal basis
Article 1:2(1) of the General Administrative Law Act contains the definition. Paragraph 2 treats administrative bodies as interested parties in respect of the interests entrusted to them; paragraph 3 does the same for legal persons which, according to their objects and actual activities, represent a general or collective interest. Case law has added requirements: the interest must be objectively determinable, personal, current and direct. Since the Administrative Jurisdiction Division’s ruling of 4 May 2021, following the Court of Justice’s judgment in Varkens in Nood, access to the courts in environmental matters involving public participation has been applied more generously to those who submitted a view.
How it works in practice
For environmental permits the question usually turns on line of sight, distance and spatial impact: someone who can see the building from their own plot and lives close by is generally an interested party. For competitors, what matters is whether they operate in the same market segment and catchment area. For foundations and associations the objects clause and, just as importantly, the actual activities are decisive: litigating alone is not enough.
Where it goes wrong
Interest groups regularly fall down on actual activities, because beyond litigation they can point to little. Individuals underestimate the distance requirement: a few hundred metres without any line of sight is usually too far. A third error is leaving one’s own position too late: anyone who could have submitted a view but did not may find their grounds of appeal restricted in certain procedures.
Related terms
The concept sits alongside the administrative decision as the second condition of access, and carries through into the notice of objection and the appeal to the administrative court.
Would you like to know whether you qualify as an interested party? Our administrative law specialists test your position before you litigate.
