If the A12 blockade actions by Extinction Rebellion (XR) make anything clear, it is that the ‘demonstration peace’ is over. Protesting according to the polder model, framed in the Public Manifestations Act. Whereby prospective demonstrators legally send a ‘notification’ to the mayor, stating the time, desired location and expected numbers. The municipality often also informs what the demonstrators plan to paint on their signs. So that they can be informed in a timely manner that incitement to hatred, incitement and discrimination are not allowed.
Take the ‘support demonstration’ this weekend. Organized by a handful of well-known environmental clubs, entirely within those classic lines. They wanted to be close to the A12 and sent a map with the location of the Dixy toilets, the stage car and (of course) the food truck. After which, for operational reasons, the mayor decided on a location further away and a shorter duration. Anyone who disagrees can object and appeal. And so there was a hearing at the municipality, with an ‘viewpoint’, followed by a new decision of seven sides. An appeal to the administrative court is possible. An intensely orderly country, where installing a dormer window and holding a demonstration are legally very similar.
No, then XR and many other groups. They put on their own media what they are going to do and when. That’s it. For them, the confrontation, the unexpected character and the repression of authority are inherent in the action itself. In an orderly procession through the city behind a banner, with Uncle Officer in front and behind it, that’s the past. As far as XR is concerned, the fight against ‘fossil subsidies’ constitutes a state of emergency and ‘therefore’ calls for civil disobedience.
At a hearing last Thursday Jacqueline van Stekelenburg, professor of sociology at the VU, the House stated that from 2019 onwards the number of demonstrations without notice in Eindhoven increased from 2.5 percent in 2019 to 74.5 percent in 2021. The increased tensions with the government during corona times may have played a role in this. This trend was confirmed by the mayors of The Hague (2,200 demonstrations per year) and those of Amsterdam (1,700). Today’s demonstrator just comes.
Confrontation, disruption, ignoring orders – Mayor Jan van Zanen expressed at that hearing a cry for help. It is no longer possible to control groups that push for mass arrests, endanger others, walk on highways. Protesters who glue themselves together, block inner cities with tractors or abuse others, for example by burning a Koran. Militant ‘Defend’ groups also emerged in corona demonstrations, which believed they had to ‘protect’ the participants from the police.
In the meantime, as is often the case, criminal law has only limited significance here. Formally, ‘not adhering’ to the mayor’s restrictions is an offense. But practically it means little. If this happens during protests that are, in principle, peaceful, without destruction and with limited nuisance, the judge usually does not impose a penalty.
Arrest, remove and then ‘book’ at the police station is purely symbolic. It is public order theater. The (Hague) mayor, the chief of police and the chief officer are stuck. Community service can still be obtained against persistent agitators or destroyers, but the masses cannot be stopped. Van Zanen warned the House of Representatives of life-threatening situations. What if demonstrators are indeed allowed to decide for themselves from now on whether they care about a simultaneous fair, city marathon or large fair at ‘their’ location and day?
In fact, he warns against the erosion of the right to demonstrate by the demonstrators themselves. The authorities have no answer – mass arrests lead to nothing. And counterproductive, especially if XR becomes a popular movement, which will become apparent in the coming days. Then it would be better to partially abandon the A12 as an access road for the time being. The authority can mainly hope that the blockade will expire, just as the Occupy tents eventually disappeared on their own. Whether the House wants to think about an answer, says Van Zanen. He doesn’t have it himself.
Folkert Jensma’s legal column will now appear every other week on Mondays on the Opinion page. Carolien Roelants is also moving to Opinie with her column about the Middle East, from now on she will write every other week on Wednesdays. Hassnae Bouazza – NRC readers know her from her drop-in columns – writes a column every other week on Friday.
A version of this article also appeared in the September 11, 2023 newspaper.