4 KONSTATINOV v. THE NETHERLANDS JUDGMENT exclusion order, on account of her criminal record in the Netherlands. As regards Article 8 of the Convention, the Deputy Minister considered that the applicant's personal interests in exercising her family life in the Netherlands were outweighed by those of the Netherlands authorities in protecting public order and preventing crime. 16. On 30 November 1998, the applicant lodged an objection (bezwaar) against this decision. On the same day, she applied to the Regional Court (arrondissementsrechtbank) of The Hague for a stay of expulsion pending the final outcome of the proceedings. 17. On 3 March 1999, after a hearing held on 6 January 1999, the Regional Court of The Hague sitting in 's-Hertogenbosch accepted the applicant's request for a provisional measure and ordered the applicant's expulsion stayed until four weeks after the Deputy Minister had given a decision on the objection. Having noted the seven years that had elapsed between the filing of the applicant's request for a residence permit and the first decision taken on that request, the Regional Court failed to see what interest the Deputy Minister had in not allowing the applicant to await the outcome of her objection in the Netherlands. 18. On 10 August 2000 the applicant appealed to the Regional Court of The Hague against the notional dismissal (fictieve weigering) of her objection, the Deputy Minister not having given a decision by that date. On 10 January 2001 the Regional Court accepted the applicant's appeal and ordered the Deputy Minister to give a decision within six weeks or within ten weeks if there was to be a hearing before an advisory board. 19. On 29 May 2001 the applicant was heard on her objection before the Advisory Board on Matters Concerning Aliens (Adviescommissie voor vreemdelingenzaken). She stated, among other things, that her son L.G. had been suffering from asthma since his birth, and that since her last conviction in 1995 she no longer had had any dealings with the Netherlands criminal justice authorities. Her lawyer referred to a policy, set out in a letter dated 10 January 1984 from the Deputy Minister of Justice and which had still been in force in 1991, under which requests for residence permits lodged by Roma for marriage purposes were given favourable consideration. 20. The Deputy Minister gave a decision on 12 July 2001. The objection was dismissed on the ground that Mr G. (still) did not comply with the minimum income requirement under the applicable immigration rules whereas he was not dispensed of this requirement. In addition, when heard on 29 May 2001, the applicant had denied that she had had recent dealings with the Netherlands criminal justice system, whereas in reality she had amassed further convictions of theft since 1998 and had been arrested for shoplifting in May 2001; from this it could be concluded that the applicant was a danger to public order. The applicant's criminal record also rendered her ineligible for a residence permit under the three years policy. The Deputy Minister further rejected the applicant's argument that – given the