A court in the Hague has told the Dutch government that an overnight curfew to reduce the spread of coronavirus should be lifted, ruling that it breaches the right to free movement, as was reported by the BBC.
The court said the 21:00 to 04:30 curfew was imposed by an emergency law when there was no "acute emergency". Later, a higher court ruled that the curfew could stay in place pending an appeal on Friday. The curfew, imposed in January, led to rioting in several Dutch cities. In their ruling on Tuesday, the Dutch judges said the curfew had been imposed under an emergency law, even though the court said there was no emergency as in the case of a "dyke being breached". The curfew was therefore a violation of the right to freedom of movement and privacy and limited the right to freedom of assembly.
The Netherlands had not seen a curfew since the Nazi occupation in World War Two. Nowadays measures, which came into force on 23 January, was intended to reduce movement, particularly among young people, but triggered days of rioting in several towns and cities.
According to the BBC news agency, the earlier court ruling - which said the curfew should be lifted immediately - was a victory for campaign group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) and a major upset for the government. The government quickly asked for the decision to be suspended until an appeal was heard at the end of the week. An appeals court later granted that suspension.
According to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the ruling against the curfew as a setback and urged people to continue to follow the restrictions, which he said were "simply necessary". Therefore, the Dutch government is urgently working on a new law to enforce the curfew, but that could take time.