The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"),
Having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Schouten and Meldrum cases delivered on
9 December 1994 and transmitted the same day to the Committee of Ministers;
Recalling that the cases originated in two applications
(Nos. 19005/91 and 19006/91) against the Netherlands, lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 4 September 1991 under Article 25 (art. 25) of the Convention by Mr Johannes Schouten and Mr Hendrik Alexander Meldrum, both Dutch nationals, and that the Commission declared admissible their complaints relating to the length of certain administrative procedures engaged against the applicants in order to determine the contributions owed by them under certain compulsory social insurance schemes and to the fairness of these proceedings;
Recalling that the cases were brought before the Court by the Commission on 9 December 1993 and by the Netherlands' Government on 24 February 1994;
Whereas in its judgment of 9 December 1994 the Court unanimously:
- held that Article 6, paragraph 1 (art. 6-1), of the Convention was applicable;
- held that there had been a violation of that provision as regards the "reasonable time" requirement;
- held that there had been no violation of that provision as regards "fairness";
- held that the respondent state was to pay each applicant, within three months, 10 000 Dutch guilders in respect of costs and expenses;
- dismissed the remainder of the claim for just satisfaction;
Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of Ministers concerning the application of Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention;
Having invited the Government of the Netherlands to inform it of the measures which had been taken in consequence of the judgment of 9 December 1994, having regard to the Netherlands' obligation under Article 53 (art. 53) of the Convention to abide by it;
Whereas, during the examination of the cases by the Committee of Ministers, the Government of the Netherlands gave the Committee information about the measures taken in consequence of the judgment, which information appears in the appendix to this resolution;
Having satisfied itself that on 16 February 1995, within the time-limit set, the Government of the Netherlands paid the applicants the sums provided for in the judgment of
9 December 1994,
Declares, after having taken note of the information supplied by the Government of the Netherlands, that it has exercised its functions under Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention in these cases.
Appendix to Resolution DH (96) 21
Information provided by the Government of the Netherlands
during the examination of the Schouten and Meldrum cases
by the Committee of Ministers
The General Administrative Code (Algemene Wet Bestuursrecht) entered into force on 1 January 1994. It lays down new uniform rules of administrative procedures which apply also to cases such as the present ones (see also the Court's judgment in these cases, paragraph 42).
Anyone wishing to challenge a decision by an occupational association concerning contributions under social security schemes may, accordingly, henceforth lodge an administrative objection with that body within six weeks from the decision (section 6:7).
If the occupational association fails to decide within a reasonable time or refuses to do so, the party seeking review can lodge an appeal with the regional court (Arrondissementsrechtbank) without waiting any longer for a decision (sections 6:2, 6:12 and 8.1.1). It is thus no longer necessary to request formal confirmation of a decision of an occupational association before lodging an appeal to the regional court.
The decision of the regional court may be appealed before the Central Appeals Tribunal (section 18 of the Appeals Act - Beroepswet).
These legislative reforms should, in the opinion of the Netherlands' Government, be sufficient to prevent the repetition of violations of the kind at issue in the present cases.
In addition, a detailed summary in Dutch of the Court's judgment has been published in the Nederlands Juristenblad,
year 70 (1995), pp. 219-220.
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