In this case, the man from Oss was assisted by the Public Interest Litigation Project, a two-yearly pilot of the Dutch section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM). The case was represented pro bono by attorneys of the Amsterdam-based law firm Kennedy van der Laan.

The Oss municipality intended to evict the plaintiff from the caravan and to permanently remove the caravan from the site, based on its so-called extinction policy of mobile sites. The fact that this man shared the household with his mother and had become the new caravan owner was completely ignored by the municipality.

Human rights at stake

The municipality also failed to take into account his cultural rights as a Traveller. However, in the decision issued by the Court in Oost-Brabant January 14, 2016, the judge found that there was in fact a sustainable joint household and therefore assigned the claim in favor of the plaintiff entailing the maintenance of the rental agreement.

PILP’s coordinator, Jelle Klaas, is satisfied with the decision of the court that ensures the right of the plaintiff.

"With this, is has once again become clear, for both caravan occupants and municipalities, that the extinction policy as it is carried out by some municipalities, cannot hold.’ At the same time, he regrets that the court didn’t mention any of the raised arguments on human rights violations, ‘even though they likely have had an impact," according to Jelle Klaas.

The Public Interest Litigation Project took up this case because of its human rights-related aspects. In a letter to the court, the PILP explained to the parties why the culture and the identity of caravan dwellers – also called Travellers – should be taken into consideration when setting up caravan policy and its enforcement.

Besides the applicant’s tenancy law, human rights are at stake here: There is the right to respect of one’s home, private- and family life (Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights), the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 of the ECHR) and the right to protection of property (Article 1 Protocol I of the ECHR).

The PILP has also emphasized the findings of the Netherland Institute for Human Rights that qualified the extinction policy of Oss as discriminating.

Municipal extinction policy

Since the abolition of the Woonwagenwet (Dutch Caravans Act) in 1999, there is no national caravans policy anymore. In a guideline of the former Ministry of VROM (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment), five policy options are presented to municipalities to maintain the mobile home sites. The first policy variant is the zero option, which aims at the extinction of caravan sites. Municipalities reach this by moving away the vacant places or by offering the occupants relocation.

Read here more about the extinction policy held by municipalities.