Speed versus diligence: still deciding Woo request after deadline expires

If you, as a citizen or company, want more information about, for example, an environmental permit from your neighbor, you can submit what is known as a Woo request to the municipality. This can be done through a request under the Open Government Act. You request the information from the administrative body from which you want the information (for example, the Municipal Executive, the City Council or the Mayor, depending on which administrative body made the decision). In doing so, you do not have to justify why you want to receive this information. The administrative body must then decide on your request within a certain period of time. Generally, a decision must be made within 4 weeks, but the deadline can be extended by 2 weeks. There may be exceptions to this deadline. If the administrative body does not respond to the Woo request in time, you can declare the administrative body in default. If no decision is made by then, you can appeal to the administrative judge for not deciding on your Woo request in time. The administrative judge must then decide within what period of time the administrative body must still decide on your request. But what is a reasonable period of time? 

The District Court of North Holland ruled on this issue on July 25, 2024. It ruled that it is up to the administrative court to determine what is a reasonable time for the administrative body to still decide on the Woo request. Indeed, it appears from Article 8:55d Awb that a standard time limit of 2 weeks applies for this. However, Article 8.4 Woo provides that, if the request is of a large size, this standard period must be deviated from. The larger the request, the more likely it is that the organization will be given longer than 2 weeks to respond to the request. Thus, the administrative law judge must make an assessment of how long the organization reasonably needs to review the request and decide quickly but carefully. This must include balancing the size of the request against what can reasonably be expected of the college. 

So keep in mind that an appeal to the administrative law judge does not automatically mean that the college will decide on your request on short notice. If the request is very extensive, the administrative judge may set a long(er) deadline. After all, in addition to speed, due diligence must also be considered. 

If you have filed a Woo request that the administrative body has failed to decide on in a timely manner, or if you need assistance in filing a Woo request, we will be happy to help you. If you have any questions, please contact Gerard van der Wende or with Fleur Huisman 

Link ruling: https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2024:7939 

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)