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Help with Dutch government decisions, permits and objections

Are you dealing with a Dutch municipality or government body about a permit, an enforcement notice, a decision you disagree with or a Woo request? Hanna Legal helps individuals and businesses understand their position and take the right next step, in English.

Describe your situation

I will contact you within 48 hours to discuss your situation and options.

In short

  • Direct contact with the adviser who handles your question.
  • A proposal with work and costs before anything is charged.
  • Based in Amsterdam; help across the Netherlands, online or by phone.

Situations I can help with

Objecting to a decision

A refused application, a decision that affects your home or business, or an outcome you disagree with. I assess whether an objection (bezwaar) or appeal makes sense and which deadline applies.

Permits

You want to apply for a permit, your application is delayed or refused, or a permit granted to someone else affects you.

Enforcement

A notice of intended enforcement, an order subject to a penalty (last onder dwangsom) or administrative enforcement. Often several deadlines run at the same time.

Requesting government information (Woo)

Help with a request under the Dutch Open Government Act and with an incomplete or refused response.

Disclosure of your business information

A government body intends to publish documents about your company after a Woo request. I assess what deserves protection and help with your response.

The government does not decide on time

Your application, request or objection is left without a decision. I check whether the deadline has passed and what you can do now.

Portret van Shirak Hanna

You work directly with me

I am Shirak Hanna, an administrative law legal adviser and founder of Hanna Legal in Amsterdam. I worked within the Dutch central government as a senior Woo jurist, handling requests under the Open Government Act and coordinating Woo files. I know how a government decision is prepared and where you can influence it.

Hanna Legal is a legal advisory firm, not a law firm: I am not an attorney (advocaat).

Clear about the work and the costs in advance

1

You describe your situation

A few sentences are enough. Mention any deadline in the letter you received.

2

I contact you within 48 hours

A short call or e-mail about what is going on and whether I can help.

3

You receive a proposal and decide

Work and costs are agreed in advance. Paid work only starts after your approval.

Good to know

Do I need an attorney?

In most Dutch administrative law procedures, you are not required to be represented by an attorney (advocaat). I am an administrative law legal adviser, not an attorney. If your case needs an attorney, I will tell you.

Can we communicate in English?

Yes. Decisions and procedures with Dutch authorities are in Dutch; I explain them to you in English and we can correspond in English.

What does it cost?

The first contact is without obligation. If you want to proceed, you receive a proposal with the work and costs in advance. Where the question is well defined, we can agree a fixed price or a cost ceiling. Paid work only starts after you agree.

Does contacting you stop a deadline?

No. A request for contact does not suspend any legal deadline. Keep track of deadlines yourself until we have explicitly agreed that I will act on your behalf.

Describe your situation

Tell me briefly what is going on. I will contact you within 48 hours. Please do not send documents yet.

How can I help you?

Tell me briefly what is going on and when you need support. I will assess whether your question fits my expertise and whether the desired timing works.

Step 1 of 3 What do you need help with?
Step 2 of 3 What is going on and what do you need help with?

A few sentences are enough. For example, mention which application or decision it concerns and what you want to achieve.

What is the current stage? (optional)
Is there a deadline or date to take into account? (optional)

Not sure of the exact date? Leave this empty.

A request for contact does not suspend a deadline. Please keep track of it yourself.

When do you need support? (optional)
Is an attorney or other lawyer already involved? (optional)

Please do not send documents or extensive confidential information yet. We will discuss what is needed in our first conversation.

Which situation are you in?

How to tell the difference

  • Does the letter say you can give your view before a certain date? Then it is usually a proposed disclosure.
  • Does it say the authority has decided, with an explanation about objecting? Then it is usually a decision.

Not sure? Choose “I don’t know which situation applies”. I will check it with you.

Why I ask: responding to a proposed disclosure is different from objecting to a decision. The stage determines what is still possible and which date matters.

A few details

No date in the letter, or not sure? Leave this empty.

Have you received the documents that would be disclosed? (optional)
Roughly how many documents are involved? (optional)

Why I ask: with a Woo decision, if the authority expects an objection, the information is released only two weeks after the decision is announced. An objection alone does not stop that; a request for interim relief suspends the release. The date in the decision is therefore often more important than the objection period.

Has an objection already been lodged? (optional)
Has interim relief already been requested? (optional)

What is your question about? (optional)

The dates you enter are your own information. I only check deadlines once we have agreed an assignment.

Which information is involved?

Which type of information concerns you? (you can choose more than one)

I currently do not take on assignments about disclosure of agricultural emission data, such as animal numbers, housing systems and related data from the “Gecombineerde opgave”.

General information about the Dutch Open Government Act (in Dutch)

I therefore cannot take on this question. You do not need to leave any details; nothing is stored.

Why I ask: different exemptions apply to different types of information. No type of document is automatically protected; what matters are specific passages and the harm disclosure would cause.

What would you like help with?

A few sentences are enough: what kind of business, which information, and what you want to achieve. Please do not send documents yet.

What help are you looking for? (optional)
Is an attorney or other lawyer already involved? (optional)
What is your issue or project about?
For which organisation?
Are you contacting me on behalf of the board? (optional)

A few sentences are enough: what is going on and why now?

Is there a decision or letter from a public authority? (optional)
When do you need support? (optional)

Mention any deadlines. Submitting this form does not mean an assignment has been accepted or that a deadline is being monitored.

What is the expected scope? (optional)

Please do not send documents or confidential material yet. First I assess whether the assignment fits and whether I can accept it independently.

Step 3 of 3 How can I reach you?

So I can call you back.

I will contact you within 48 hours. This request does not commit you to anything.

What happens after you send this?

  1. I assess whether your question fits my expertise, whether I can act independently and whether the timing works.
  2. I will contact you within 48 hours.
  3. If appropriate, you receive a proposal with defined work and costs.
  4. Substantive work only starts once we have agreed on that.

I only use your details to contact you about your request. Read the privacy statement (in Dutch)

Describe your situation