Legal certaintyknowing where you stand in front of the law and knowing your rights |
Harry
Morskate | 21
Fevrier
2010
|
| One
of the basic tasks of government is formulating a legislation and
regulations and their enforcement. This is a widely shared principle in
a democracy. A good definition of legal certainty: the condition in
which each person can count on the enforcement and respect of his
rights. The increased dependence on the government and on its decision makes the provision of legal certainty all the more important. Citizens should know where they stand in regard to their rights and obligations. The administration has to determine where they legally stand. People and companies need to take important decisions (build, invest, work anywhere ...) and would like to know first how legal areas such as taxes, social and building standards must be interpreted and understood, even more, how the administration interprets and understands the texts and how they will apply them. Therefore the municipality should ensure legal certainty. First, the policy of the municipality has to be transparent. So, for example, it is compulsory for the community to establish an urban or land use plan, to deal with permit applications and test them. The council must ensure that the applicant and all concerned can understand and lodge any objections. We cannot find that any legal certainty is recognised or guaranteed in our community. |
An
urban plan is missing. Planning applications are either not treated or
badly, and / or incompletely treated. Rejections are not clarified and
in some cases building permits issued, or building work started
without the public or even the local communities having access or being
allowed to study whether there exists building plans or permits. The administration also has another duty, namely to ensure the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure such as access to land and ensure a safe and free passage. That the municipality must charge the cost of opening up land to the owner of the plot is evident. But none of these points is guaranteed in our community. Each aspect of the needed transparency is lacking. In one case letters are not treated, denied or business agreements left to drift. In other cases, residents are treated with contempt as they question and wish to exercise their normal rights. In these cases in our community we cannot speak at all of legal certainty. This situation does remind us of the legal conditions that existed at the time before the French Revolution. |
