
The government in the Netherlands must “immediately” lift a nightly curfew designed to reduce coronavirus infections, a court in the country has ruled.
A judge in The Hague upheld a claim from the foundation viruswaarheid.nl, which means “virus truth."
The curfew has has been in effect nightly from 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. since January 23. The Dutch government earlier this month extended the curfew to remain in place until at least March 3, claiming that the restrictions have been successful in reducing social interaction.
The judge said Tuesday that the implementation of the curfew did not meet the requirements of “special urgency” required to bypass the normal legislative process. The judge also ruled that the government's use of the “extraordinary powers of civil authority" act was “not legitimate."
“The curfew is a far-reaching violation of the right of freedom of movement and privacy and limits [indirectly] among other things the rights to freedom of assembly and demonstration. This makes a very diligent decision-making process necessary," the judge said.
In response, the Dutch Ministry of Justice said it was "studying” the ruling.
“We cannot say more about it yet,” spokesperson Anna Sophia Posthumus told CNN in a statement Tuesday.
The Netherlands has reported more than 1 million total Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began and almost 15,000 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University.