Administrative coercion: sometimes necessary, but is it carried out as it should be?

In previous blogs, I have frequently discussed the different types of remedial sanctions. In most cases, this involved an order for incremental penalty payments, but it is also possible for an administrative body to impose an order for administrative coercion, ordering a violator to end a violation, otherwise the administrative body will do so.

The order for administrative coercion was also at the centre of a ruling by the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State on 12 February 2025. The offender had received an administrative coercion order because of an excessive fire load in his home. This was because he had accumulated so many items in his home and he was using electricity in such an unsafe manner that it would be impossible for the fire brigade to provide assistance in the event of an emergency. As the offence did not end the violation, the college applied administrative coercion. The college charged the cost of this to the violator. To carry out the administrative coercion, the administrative body had to enter the house by means of an authorisation. However, such an authorisation is only valid for three days, and in this case the college had only entered the house after four days, so the authorisation was no longer valid. In addition, the college had immediately destroyed the removed items, whereas it should have kept them for a fortnight. 

Given the mistakes the college had made in its implementation, the Division ruled that the college should not have been allowed to recover the costs of the administrative enforcement from the offender. 

What does this mean for practice? If, after receiving an administrative coercive order, you as a citizen or company do not terminate the violation yourself, the college may apply administrative coercion. In that case, pay close attention to whether the college implements the administrative coercion correctly and check whether it can recover the costs from you. 

Do you have any questions about recovering costs of administrative coercion or about recovery sanctions in general? If so, please contact Gerard van der Wende or Fleur Huisman. 

You can read the ruling here.