Abolishing administrative fines for IND a ‘step in the right direction’
The IND is happy that the administrative fines for the service have been abolished. Today, the Senate adopted an amendment that will make this happen. According to the IND, it is a good step in the direction towards abolishing all penalties.
By abolishing the administrative fine, the IND no longer has to pay applicants a fine if the service does not decide on an application for a residence permit within the legal decision period. The administrative fine had already been abolished for the asylum procedure. However, it still applied to other processes.
Administrative fine results in unnecessary workload
The administrative fine was once introduced as a stimulant for the IND to decide on cases faster. But in practice, the Penalty Payments Act (in Dutch: Wet Dwangsom) mostly results in higher work pressure, high costs, and an unnecessary workload, while the goal, faster decisions, has not been achieved. Therefore, the IND is glad that the Senate has passed the amendment. ‘Dealing with penalty procedures requires time and capacity,’ according to Jan Willem Schaper, deputy Managing Director of the IND. ‘We can use this time much better for actually processing applications. This will be much more useful for our applicants and the IND. So, abolishing the administrative fine is an important step in the right direction. The next step is the legal penalty.’
Difference between administrative fine and legal penalty
An administrative fine ensued automatically if, after a default notice, the IND exceeded a deadline when deciding on someone’s file. A legal penalty will only be imposed if an applicant goes to court and another decision period is imposed on the IND which is, again, exceeded. The amendment only abolishes the administrative fine; the legal penalty will continue to exist for the time being.
The IND will still pay fines when applicants are entitled to them
The IND no longer has to pay an administrative penalty in cases where the decision period has not yet expired on the day the law comes into effect. The agency also does not have to pay a penalty in old cases where the decision period has already expired before the law comes into effect, as long as no valid notice of default has been received before the law takes effect. Although foreigners can still send a notice of default in the new situation, it will no longer result in an administrative penalty. However, a notice of default remains a requirement to initiate proceedings due to failure to make a timely decision.
Publication in the Government Gazette
The abolition of the administrative fine will be a legal fact from the day after the amendment has been published in the Government Gazette.