The coronavirus pass system and whether or not it is discriminatory against people who are not vaccinated will be looked at by judges in The Hague on Tuesday in a fast-track hearing brought by two Breda lawyers.

Since Saturday everyone over the age of 12 has to show a QR code and ID to go to a cinema or indoor restaurant in the Netherlands. The code states they have either had coronavirus recently, been fully vaccinated or have a negative test no older than 24 hours.

One of the lawyers, Bart Maes, has described the rules as illegal, criminal and discriminatory in a post on LinkedIn. He also contends that the measure conflicts with both the constitution and international treaties.

The lawyers say they have received 78,000 messages of support and more than 300,000 people have signed a petition against the introduction of the CoronaCheck system.

In the LinkedIn post, Maes says that vaccination should always be voluntary and that there should be no separation between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. And that, he says, is exactly what the coronavirus pass system does.

In addition, he said, the pass system has been introduced to improve the vaccination rate, not reduce the pressure on the healthcare system as the government claims.

The case will be heard on Tuesday afternoon and the judge can given an immediate ruling if he feels it important enough to do so.

Utrecht

Meanwhile, a restaurant in Utrecht was surrounded by anti-pass demonstrators on Monday evening after mayor Sharon Dijksma ordered it to be closed for failing to check coronavirus passes.

Dozens of people sat outside the Waku Waku restaurant and refused to leave, despite police urging them to move on.

Owner Floris Beukers said he did not plan to check QR codes because he believed it to be discriminatory.

Tests

The number of coronavirus tests booked through the ‘test for entry’ portal trebled in the week before the CoronaCheck app became compulsory for most indoor venues. Tests are currently still free.

Stichting Open Nederland (SON) said 211,000 tests were booked in the seven days to Sunday, with the largest number on Saturday, September 25, the day coronavirus checks replaced social distancing.

In the previous week, when the pass was only required for outdoor events such as concerts and football matches, 65,000 bookings were made.

There are also signs more people are signing up for a vaccination since the government gave the green light to the pass system.