Samenvatting

This article contains an analysis of changes in the access to justice in administrative law disputes in the Netherlands. In analysing these changes, it is necessary to look not only at court procedures, but also at the objection procedure that precedes them. A large majority of administrative law disputes are resolved in such an informal objection procedure. The analysis shows that, more than the legislator and the administrative courts, administrative authorities are responsible for changes concerning (the interpretation and execution of the rules on) access to justice. They increasingly use their discretionary powers in the objection procedure to try to solve conflicts about their decisions by interpreting and using the rules of access in a flexible way.