THE BOTTOM LINE
- Dutch government bodies cannot automatically refuse to disclose documents related to foreign lawsuits under the “court records” exemption.
- Businesses involved in cross-border litigation or regulatory actions with Dutch authorities face a higher risk of their case documents becoming public through freedom of information requests.
- This ruling expands the reach of the Dutch Open Government Act (Woo), reinforcing that its transparency principles apply even when a public body’s activities cross national borders.
THE DETAILS
This case centered on a freedom of information request filed under the Dutch Open Government Act (Woo), the Netherlands’ equivalent of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The applicant sought documents from the Provincial Executive of North Brabant concerning its legal challenges in Belgium against a permit for a new chemical plant in Antwerp. The request covered everything from the grounds of appeal and procedural files to expert reports. The government body refused disclosure, arguing that the documents were exempt.
The government’s refusal was based on a specific provision in the Woo that excludes “processtukken” (court or procedural documents) from its scope. This exemption exists because the disclosure of such documents is governed by a different law—the Dutch General Administrative Law Act (Awb). The government contended that since the requested files were part of a legal proceeding, this exemption applied, effectively shielding them from public access, even though the proceeding itself was taking place in a Belgian court.
The District Court of Oost-Brabant decisively rejected this line of reasoning. The judges ruled that the exemption for court records is intrinsically linked to the Dutch domestic legal system as governed by the Awb. It cannot be extended to cover documents from a legal procedure conducted in a foreign country, in this instance, Belgium. The court found no legal basis to give this Dutch procedural rule extraterritorial effect. Consequently, the government’s reason for refusal was invalid, and it must now re-evaluate the request based on the standard disclosure rules of the Open Government Act.
SOURCE
Rechtbank Oost-Brabant
