Lianne van Kalken LLM, lecturer and researcher of Constitutional- and Administrative Law at Erasmus School of Law, and three professors from Leiden University and Maastricht University evaluate the implementation and effects of the Temporary Law digital deliberation and decision-making for provinces, municipalities, regional water authorities and public bodies Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
The Temporary Law, which is set to expire on September 1st, allows decentralized governments to meet remotely and vote digitally during the corona crisis. To properly perform digital deliberation and voting, the Temporary Law has set various requirements. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has set up an evaluation committee to review the launch, use and progress of this law and provide recommendations where needed.
The committee consists of Prof. Bibi van den Berg and Prof. Geerten Boogaard of Leiden University, Prof. Klaartje Peters of Maastricht University and Lianne van Kalken LLM of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Prof. Douwe Jan Elzinga of the University of Groningen also made a legal contribution. The committee's first interim report was published on May 20th. A second interim report and a final evaluation can be expected in the near future.
The committee mainly evaluates based on data obtained from surveys that have been distributed among the administrators of various boards. Testing is based on three clusters: technical and cybersecurity aspects; legal/constitutional aspects; and political-administrative aspects. In the first interim report, the committee concludes that the Temporary Law facilitates a great need but is not ideal. Necessary decisions are generally taken in an adequate and valid manner and there are only a few visible incidents. The committee states that easing the measures can cause decentralized governments to fall back on physical meetings.
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Read the full interim report here (in Dutch).