The Ombudsman highlights that, too often, Digital Accessibility laws, decisions, and regulations are not available online or are difficult to find. Moreover, there are cases where published content online is not updated regularly.
This makes it difficult for citizens to know their rights and understand the obligations of administrative bodies and institutions in accordance with the law. It also results in legal limitations for citizens.
The Ombudsman, an institution for second-line oversight, signifies that before escalating issues to the Ombudsman, citizens should first address them with the relevant authority. If an issue involves a law or regulation, and it is not accessible, citizens may be disadvantaged. It is important to the Ombudsman that citizens can easily access the correct governmental institutions in order to resolve their concerns.
This problem affects both citizens and administrative bodies. Citizens often do not know which regulations are valid for them. In turn, administrative bodies cannot be properly controlled to ensure compliance with regulations.
A well-functioning rule of law requires that all laws, regulations, and management documents be easily accessible and free to consult.
In this context, the Ombudsman sent a letter of concern (Zorgenbrief) to the Minister of General Affairs, Mr. Mike Eman, on February 3, 2026.
As an independent and impartial institution, the Ombudsman offered several recommendations to make laws, regulations, and management documents more accessible online. These documents must be fully available, easy to access, and regularly updated.
For more information on the issue, the letter provides further details on the accessibility of digital laws, regulations, and management documents.
