The Dutch administrative procedure needs to become more informal and socially effective. This has to be accomplished by implementing the projects ‘In pleasant contact with the authorities’ (Prettig contact met de overheid) aimed at government institutions and a ‘New case procedure’ (Nieuwe zaaksbehandeling) aimed at the administrative courts. Both projects expressly provide more space to deal with a case from more than just a legal perspective. As of yet, the review committee does not make use of a standard procedure. It has been criticised in literature for limiting its assessment of a case to aspects of lawfulness, rather than embracing notions of justice and fairness in its procedure. In this article the author discusses the application by the review committee of guidelines derived from the aforementioned projects in order to make the hearing during the objections proceedings more informal and socially effective.

Deepening democracy could be a way to meet contemporary and future challenges of society. In such a way there is place for engagement and wisdom of civilians, accomplished by mediated discussion.