Following the judgment of 27 March 2019, Court of Justice of the European Union C-545/17, ECLI: EU: C: 2019: 260 (Pawlak / KRUS), the Dutch Administrative High Court (Centrale Raad van Beroep) has ruled in its judgment of 16 June 2020, ECLI : NL: CRVB: 2020: 1207, that dispatch by post within the meaning of Article 6: 9, second paragraph, of the Dutch General Administrative Law Act (Awb) is no longer exclusively understood to mean dispatch via PostNL. A notice of objection or (higher) appeal is also submitted in time if it has been delivered to the postal service by a postal provider other than PostNL before the end of the term, provided that it is received no later than one week after the term has expired. Mail provider is understood to mean any mail transport company registered with the Authority for Consumers and Markets.

Pursuant to Article 6: 7 of the General Administrative Law Act (Awb), the term for submitting an objection is six weeks. Pursuant to Article 6: 8, first paragraph, of the Awb, the period commences on the day after the day on which the decision was announced in the prescribed manner. Article 3:41, first paragraph, of the Awb stipulates that the publication of decisions addressed to one or more interested parties is made by sending or distributing them. Article 6: 9, first paragraph, of the Awb stipulates that a notice of objection must be submitted in time if it is received before the end of the term. Pursuant to Article 6: 9, second paragraph, of the Awb, a notice of objection for dispatch by post has been submitted in time if it has been delivered by post before the end of the period, provided that it is no later than one week after the end of the period receive. Pursuant to Article 6:11 of the Awb, a declaration of inadmissibility is inadmissible in respect of a notice of objection submitted after the term has expired if it cannot reasonably be concluded that the petitioner has been in default.

It is settled case law (see, for example, the judgment of 26 February 2009, ECLI: NL: CRVB: 2009: BH5408) that only dispatch via PostNL can be regarded as dispatch by post within the meaning of Article 6: 9 (2) of the Awb. By judgment of 27 March 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court), C-545/17, ECLI: EU: C: 2019: 260 (Pawlak / KRUS), ruled that the Directive on common rules for development of the internal market in Community postal services and the improvement of the quality of service (97/67 / EC), as last amended by Directive 2008/6 / EC, precludes national rules which, without any objective there is no justification on grounds of public policy or public security, only the issue of a procedural document in a post office of the sole provider designated for the universal postal service as equivalent to the submission of the procedural document to the relevant judicial authority. Due to this decision of the Court of Justice of EU the Dutch Administrative High Court judged that sending by post within the meaning of Article 6: 9, second paragraph, of the Awb, is no longer exclusively understood to mean sending by PostNL. This means that an objection or appeal is also submitted in time if it is delivered to the postal service by a postal provider other than PostNL before the end of the term, provided that it is received no later than one week after the end of the term. For postal services delivered in the Netherlands, postal service is understood to mean any postal transport company registered with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM).

 

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