Background
In Parents and Guardians v Belastingdienst/Toeslagen, multiple families challenged decisions by the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration requiring full repayment of childcare benefits after minor or alleged irregularities. The Council of State upheld the administration’s strict policy, holding that the agency was legally entitled to recover benefits in full, regardless of intent or proportionality. This interpretation was later recognised as a root legal cause of the national childcare-benefits scandal, leading to mass injustice and government resignation in 2021.
AI interaction
‘De Belastingdienst/Toeslagen mocht op grond van de wet de gehele toeslag terugvorderen’ (‘The Tax Authority was entitled under the law to reclaim the entire allowance’). Though the ruling itself did not mention algorithms, it indirectly legitimised an automated risk-scoring system later shown to discriminate based on dual nationality and ethnicity. Its significance lies in demonstrating how judicial deference to opaque administrative automation can perpetuate structural injustice. The subsequent Parliamentary Inquiry Report “Ongekend Onrecht” (2020) condemned the combination of algorithmic profiling and rigid enforcement as a “black hole of accountability.”
Note: The 2019 Council of State ruling validated the Tax Authority’s strict recovery policy, while the 2020 Parliamentary Inquiry exposed the algorithmic and discriminatory dimensions behind it. Together, they form the judicial and political core of the Toeslagenaffaire, demonstrating how automated decision-making without human-rights safeguards can produce systemic injustice.
See also: Dutch Parliamentary Inquiry Report “Ongekend Onrecht” (2020)