One region appears to be much stricter than the other when it comes to handing out corona fines. The differences are large, according to figures from the Public Prosecution Service (OM) in the hands of the political editorial staff of RTL Nieuws. For example, a striking number of fines were issued in the security region of Gelderland-Zuid, and relatively few in the north and east of the country. “That is difficult to stomach”, says expert Wim Voermans.
The Public Prosecution Service keeps track of how many criminal fines have been imposed per region. These are fines handed out by boas or agents to people (not entrepreneurs) who have not complied with the emergency ordinance. Such as the group size or ignoring the one and a half meter rule.
Adults who have received a corona fine must pay 390 euros.
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Also read:
No more criminal record after a corona fine, also for old cases
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Penalty amount
A number of municipalities stand out: for example, in the municipality of Zaltbommel (Gelderland region), the most number of fines per person is handed out. A total of 118 fines were handed out there up to 13 September.
This is followed by the municipality of Bunschoten (Utrecht) and Nijmegen. 660 fines have been imposed in Nijmegen.
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Hubert Bruls
In the top 3 municipalities there are two in the security region of Gelderland-South. This is striking: the chairman of this safety region is Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen. He is also chairman of the National Security Council, which promotes cooperation between security regions and plays a major role in tackling the corona virus.
It is up to the security region to determine the extent to which efforts are made to enforce the corona rules. The mayors are responsible for enforcement in their municipality. One mayor is a lot stricter than the other.
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Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen.
© ANP
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‘This cannot be sold’
According to Leiden professor of constitutional law Wim Voermans, it is ‘difficult to accept that in one region you have a higher chance of being fined for comparable behavior’.
Voermans continues: “There is a regional approach. The 25 presidents of the Safety Regions direct the policy. The situation is therefore different everywhere. Mayor Halsema, for example, does it differently from Bruls. It is not legal inequality, but it is strange that you are in the one region is fined and another not for similar behavior. It is even more strange that you do not subsequently have to give normal political accountability to municipal councils or another parliament.
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No fines in 24 municipalities
There are 24 municipalities where so far no fines have been issued for violating the emergency ordinance. The largest of these is the municipality of Emmen, with 107,000 inhabitants.
The Dutch Boa Bond says in a response to RTL Nieuws that they would like to have a national guideline for enforcement.
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