"The loop" was an administrative procedure that allows the state to rectify, retroactively, errors and omissions without interrupting the major work. It was a useful tool in theory, but in practice, the loop was used to silence citizens when they criticized such things as environmental legislation. When a citizen was able to prove that the state had violated a law, the authorities used this procedure, without any possibility of appeal. Following an appeal by civil society groups, including by the Belgian League of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court decided to annul the procedure.