Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 130
May 2010
Schuitemaker v. the Netherlands (dec.) - 15906/08
Decision 4.5.2010 [Section III]
Article 4
Article 4-2
Forced labour
Receipt of benefits conditioned by obligation to take up “generally accepted” employment: inadmissible
Facts – The applicant, a philosopher by profession, had been unemployed and in receipt of benefits since 1983. After a change in the legislation, she was informed that her eligibility for general welfare benefits was dependent on her obtaining and being willing to take up “generally accepted” employment and that non-compliance would lead to a reduction in her benefit payments. In her application to the European Court. She complained that under the new legislation she was required to obtain and accept any kind of work, irrespective of whether or not it was suitable, in breach of Article 4 of the Convention.
Law – Article 4 § 2: Where a State introduced a system of social security, it was fully entitled to lay down conditions for persons wishing to receive benefits. In particular, a condition to the effect that a person must make demonstrable efforts in order to obtain and take up generally accepted employment could not be considered unreasonable, nor could it be equated with compelling a person to perform forced or compulsory labour within the meaning of Article 4.
Conclusion: inadmissible (manifestly ill-founded).
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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