The Dutch government launched a double offensive on Friday to save the curfew decreed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a court in The Hague, a lawyer asked the judges to annul an appeal against the curfew imposed by a judge at the request of a group that opposes the national quarantine.
At the same time, the senators in the compound were debating and getting ready to vote on a bill drafted in a hurry in support of the curfew, in effect from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. If the law is approved, the court’s ruling would be irrelevant.
A vast majority of legislators in the lower house, both ruling and opposition parties, approved the bill on Thursday. If the same parties vote in favor of the measure in the Senate, the bill will become law.
Although its passage last month sparked protests against it, the curfew has broad support and compliance.
In a summary ruling on Tuesday, a judge in The Hague rejected the legal basis for the curfew because the situation was not so pressing that the government appealed to a law that allows it to act quickly in cases of acute emergency.
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