An order for administrative enforcement is the heavier of the two restorative sanctions in Dutch administrative law. If you do not comply, the authority steps in itself: it has the unlawful extension demolished, the stored goods removed or the premises cleared, and then sends you the bill.
Legal basis
Article 5:21 of the General Administrative Law Act defines the order as a restorative sanction: an order to remedy the breach in whole or in part, combined with the authority’s power to carry the order out by physical action if it is not complied with in time. Article 5:24 requires the order to be in writing and to state a period within which you can still end the breach yourself. Article 5:25 provides that the costs are in principle borne by the offender. Article 5:31 allows enforcement in urgent cases without a prior order, where the situation admits of no delay. Article 5:32 gives the authority the choice between this order and an order subject to a penalty payment.
How it works in practice
Enforcement is not a free choice: settled case law imposes a duty in principle to enforce, from which the authority may depart only where legalisation is concretely in prospect or where enforcement would be disproportionate. Both the order and the later cost recovery decision are decisions open to objection and appeal. Because the compliance period can be short, an application for interim relief is almost always made at the same time.
Where it goes wrong
Three points recur. First, the wording of the order, so vague that it is unclear what exactly must be done. Second, a compliance period too short to be workable in practice. Third, the question of who the offender is, the owner, the tenant or both, which resurfaces when the costs are recovered.
Related terms
Administrative enforcement connects to the order subject to a penalty payment, to the request for enforcement and to interim relief.
Received an enforcement order? Our administrative law specialists lodge the objection and seek interim relief where needed.
