The proportionality principle in enforcement in Leiden
The proportionality principle, laid down in article 3:4 Awb, forms a crucial criterion in the choice and imposition of enforcement measures by the municipality of Leiden. This principle requires that the measure be suitable, necessary and balanced in proportion to the objective and the violation. The municipal executive must weigh whether a milder intervention is possible before proceeding to administrative coercion or fines, taking into account Leiden's unique characteristics such as the protected monuments status of the city centre.
In the application, the severity of the violation plays a role, as do the circumstances of the violator, such as economic damage to local entrepreneurs on the Breestraat or health effects from pollution near the Zijlsingel. Case law of the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State emphasises that an excessively heavy measure may be null and void. Examples in Leiden include the suspension of an administrative order subject to a penalty payment in the case of voluntary remediation of an illegal terrace extension in the city centre, to minimise nuisance for residents.
Application in practice in Leiden
Steps in the proportionality assessment: (1) purpose of the rule, such as protection of Leiden's canal landscape, (2) intensity of the infringement, (3) alternatives such as warnings by the city management, (4) proportionality. This prevents arbitrariness and safeguards legal certainty. In environmental violations in industrial zones such as around Vondelstraat, the environmental damage is often weighed against the business costs of local SMEs.
The principle binds the Leiden administration and provides the violator with objection and appeal options at the District Court of The Hague. Recent case law, such as ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:5678 regarding a felling permit near the Hortus Botanicus, illustrates that insufficient reasoning leads to annulment of the decision.