The case concerned an applicant who applied for asylum in a border procedure in the Netherlands. On 28 March 2023, he was restricted of his liberty by instruction of the State Secretary for Justice and Security. His registration interview took place on 1 April 2023 and the screening of the case took place on 4 April 2023, after which the applicant was released from detention. The State Secretary for Justice and Security based the detention on a new work instruction after which the screening of the case could take place also 3 days after the registration interview due to capacity problems. The applicant appealed against the detention at the border.

The District Court of The Hague regarded the appeal as a claim for damages because the detention was no longer imposed at the time of the court hearing on 11 April 2023. The District Court of The Hague referred to the judgement of the Council of State of 20 December 2018 and held that an instruction pursuant to Article 4.6. of the Aliens Decree 2000 (Vb) could be given to asylum applicants at the external border in cases of overcrowding for a maximum period of one night. Such an instruction was only admissible to judicial review if it continued for an unreasonable period of time.

Based on the above, the District Court of the Hague seated in Amsterdam decided that for the period from 28 March 2023 to 29 March 2023 it was not competent to rule on the restriction of freedom, as the applicant was instructed to stay on grounds of overcrowding. As regards the period from 29 March to 4 April 2023, the District Court of the Hague seated in Amsterdam decided that since (border) detention was only permitted for the shortest possible period of time, the delay in screening the case due to capacity problems should not be at the expense and risk of the applicant.

The District Court of the Hague seated in Amsterdam concluded that  the screening should have taken place on the first day after the application interview. Therefore, it considered the measure unlawful with effect from 3 April 2023 and awarded EUR 200 for two days of unlawful detention.

Note that this judgment was overturned by the Council of State on 1 November 2023: see Netherlands, Council of State [Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State], Applicant v State Secretary for Justice and Security (Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid), 202302778/1/V3, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:4014, 01 November 2023. Link redirects to the English summary in the EUAA Case Law Database.