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The Netherlands

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The present constitution of the Netherlands dates back to 1815. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary Representative democracy, a Constitutional monarchy and a The Netherlands and The Kingdom of the Netherlands are two distinct geographical and administrative entities The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom ( Dutch: Ministerraad van het Koninkrijk or Rijksministerraad) is the executive council of the Kingdom of the The Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba (Gevolmachtigd Minister van Aruba represents the constituent country of Aruba in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom The Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles (Gevolmachtigd Minister van de Nederlandse Antillen represents the constituent country of the Netherlands Antilles The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the The Human rights of the Netherlands are codified in the Dutch constitution. The Netherlands has been an independent Monarchy since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange (in Dutch: Prins van Oranje The States-General ( Staten-Generaal) is the Parliament of the Netherlands. The Eerste Kamer ( First Chamber) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament the States-General The Historic composition of the Eerste Kamer gives an overview of the composition of the Higher House of the Dutch parliament The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal ( literally "Second Chamber of the States-General" short Tweede Kamer, is the Dutch Lower house. The Historic composition of the Tweede Kamer gives an overview of the composition of the Lower House of the Dutch parliament The Dutch Council of Ministers is the executive council of Dutch government, formed by all the ministers This executive council initiates laws and policy The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. This is a list of cabinets of the Netherlands Note first party mentioned provided prime minister The Prime minister of the Netherlands is the Head of government of the Netherlands and is the chair of the Dutch cabinet, and This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands since 1848 Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a Multi-party system with numerous parties in which any one party has little This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Netherlands. This article gives an overview of socialism in the Netherlands, including Communism and Social democracy. This article gives an overview of Christian democracy in the Netherlands, which is also called confessional politics, including political catholicism and Elections in the Netherlands are held for six territorial levels the European Union (beyond the scope of this article the state the 12 Provinces Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands, on March 7, 2007. The 2006 Dutch general elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday November 22, 2006, and followed the call for new elections after The Dutch municipal elections of 2006 were held on March 7 2006. The Dutch referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was a consultative Referendum that was held on 1 June 2005 to decide if the The European Parliament election of 2004 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional The States-Provincial ( Provinciale Staten, or PS - commonly known as simply the Staten, or States) is the provincial parliament and legislative Dutch water boards (waterschappen or nl ''hoogheemraadschappen'' are regional government bodies in the Netherlands. |||} All provinces of the Netherlands are divided into municipalities ( gemeenten) together 443 (2007 The European Union is a unique entity possessing elements of Intergovernmentalism, Supranationalism and a Multi-party Parliamentary democracy The Foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments to the atlantic cooperation, to European integration, to International This page lists embassies and consulates posted in the Netherlands. Listed below are the embassies and consulates of the Netherlands, excluding honorary consulates Europe Tirana A High Council of State (in Dutch: Hoog College van Staat) is a council of which the independence is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Netherlands. The National Ombudsman (in Dutch: Nationale Ombudsman) is a Dutch political office In the Netherlands, the Council of State ( Raad van State) is a Constitutionally established advisory body to the Government which consists of The General Chamber of Auditors (in Dutch: Algemene Rekenkamer) is an independent organ that Audits the spending of the national government on its Efficiency The Sociaal-Economische Raad (Social Economic Council SER is a major economic advisory council of the Dutch government The Hoge Raad der Nederlanden ( High Council of the Netherlands) is the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, situated in The Hague. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB The Dutch Bank) is the Central bank of the Netherlands. Rise of Socialism In the beginning of the 20th century socialism began to develop in the Netherlands Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands

Contents

History

The first constitution of the Netherlands, in the sense of a fundamental law, is the 1579 constitution, which established the confederal republic of the Seven United Provinces. A confederation is a group of empowered states or communities usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The constitution was empowered by the Union of Utrecht, thus by treaty. The Union of Utrecht (Unie van Utrecht is a treaty signed on January 23, 1579 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, unifying the northern Provinces A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. Article XIII of the treaty granted each inhabitant of the Republic freedom of conscience. Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience and freedom of ideas) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact viewpoint The Union of Utrecht treaty inspired the American Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, also the Articles of Confederation was the governing Constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and

After the French invasion of 1794 the Batavian Republic, a unitary state, was proclaimed. The Batavian Republic (Bataafse Republiek was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. A unitary state is a State whose three Organs of state are governed Constitutionally as one single unit with one Constitutionally created On 31 January 1795 it issued a Bill of Rights, the Verklaring der Rechten van den Mensch en van den Burger. A Bill of Rights is a list or summary of rights that are considered important and essential by a group of people On 1 May 1798 a new constitution, the first in the modern formal sense, the Staatsregeling voor het Bataafsche Volk, written by a Constitutional Assembly, went into force, approved by the National Assembly. The Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, a constitutional monarchy, was established by the Constitutie voor het Koningrijk Holland on 7 August 1806. Not to be confused with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of Holland 1806 - 1810 (Koningrijk Holland Royaume A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is In 1810 the kingdom was annexed by the French Empire.

After the French troops had been driven out by Russian Cossacks, the new independent state of the Netherlands, a principality, was established by the constitution of 29 March 1814, the Grondwet voor de Vereenigde Nederlanden. The Cossacks (Каза́ки́ Kazaki; Козаки́ Kozaki; Kozacy are a group of martial people living in the southern Steppe regions of Eastern A principality (or princedom) is a monarchical feudatory or Sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of Prince William VI of Orange, instated on 2 December 1813 as "Sovereign Prince" by acclamation, and only accepting "under the safeguard of a free constitution, assuring your freedom against possible future abuses", had first appointed a number of men of good standing as electors and these approved the constitution, written by a commission headed by Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp. An acclamation, in its most common sense is a form of Election that does not use a Ballot. Gijsbert Karel Count van Hogendorp ( October 27, 1762 &ndash August 5, 1834) was a conservative Dutch statesman On 24 August 1815 William — since 16 March King William I of the Netherlands — having proclaimed himself King of the larger United Netherlands six days earlier, issued the first version of the current constitution, the Grondwet voor het Koningrijk der Nederlanden or Loi fondamentale du Royaume des Pays-Bas, establishing the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now expanding his realm with the territory of the present state of Belgium, which would again secede from it in 1830. William Frederick (William I, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau ( The Hague, 24 August 1772 - Berlin, 12 December 1843 was a Prince of United Kingdom of the Netherlands (or Kingdom of the United Netherlands) (1815 - 1830 (1839 (Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas was the unofficial The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those It included a limited unentrenched bill of rights, with freedom of religion, the principle of habeas corpus, the right of petition and freedom of the press as its main points. A Bill of Rights is a list or summary of rights that are considered important and essential by a group of people Freedom of religion is the freedom of an individual or community in public or private to manifest religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance Habeas corpus (ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔɹpəs ( Latin: command that you have the body is the name of a legal action or Writ, through which a person can seek relief The right to petition is the freedom of individuals (and sometimes groups and corporations to Petition their government for a correction or repair of some form of Freedom Constitutional or statutory protections pertaining to freedom of the press In the Treaty of London of 1814 the Allies had ordered that the original Dutch state would devise the new constitution. The Eight Articles of London, also known as the London Protocol of June 21 1814, were a secret convention between the Great Powers United Kingdom of Great Britain It had been approved by the new States-General of the Northern Netherlands, but rejected by the majority of appointed electors (796 against 527) of the Southern Netherlands. The Southern Netherlands (Zuidelijke Nederlanden Países Bajos del Sur Pays-Bas du sud were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain ( Spanish As 126 however had indicated that they were against because of the (by them still considered too limited) freedom of religion, which was mandatory under the Treaty of Vienna that ordered the union of the Northern and the Southern Netherlands, their votes and those of the men having refused to vote, were added to the minority, and by this infamous "Hollandic Arithmetic" William felt justified to proclaim the new kingdom. The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of the major powers of Europe, chaired by the Austrian statesman Clemens Wenzel von Metternich

Regarding the frame of government the 1815 constitution did not diverge much from the situation during the Republic: the 55 members of Second Chamber of the States-General were still appointed by the Provincial States (for three years; each year a third was replaced), who themselves were filled with nobility members or appointed by the city councils, just like under the ancien régime. A lower house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Upper house. Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in However, now also some rural delegates were appointed to all Provincial States (first only true for Friesland) and the city councils were appointed by electoral colleges which were in turn elected by a select group of male citizens of good standing and paying a certain amount of taxes, so very indirectly there was a modicum of democracy introduced to the system. Friesland ( West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office. In all the administration was very monarchal, with the king appointing for life the members of the First Chamber, that mockingly was called the Ménagerie du Roi. An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house.

In 1840, when a new revision was made necessary by the independence of Belgium, a first step to a more parliamentary system was taken by the introduction of penal ministerial responsibility.

The constitution as it was revised on 11 October 1848 is often described as the original of the version still in force today. Under pressure from the Revolutions of 1848 in surrounding countries, King William II accepted the introduction of full ministerial responsibility in the constitution, leading to a system of parliamentary democracy, with the Second Chamber directly elected by the voters within a system of single-winner electoral districts. The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European William II (Willem Frederik George Lodewijk van Oranje-Nassau ( December 6, 1792 &ndash March 17, 1849) was King of the Netherlands Ministerial responsibility or Individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that a A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures goals or loyalty Parliament was attributed the right to amend government law proposals and to hold investigative hearings. The Provincial States, themselves elected by the voter, appointed by majorities for each province the members of the First Chamber from a select group of upper class citizens. A commission chaired by Johan Thorbecke was appointed to draft the new proposed constitution, which was finished on 19 June. ( January 14, 1798 – June 4, 1872) was one of the most important Dutch politicians Suffrage was enlarged (though still limited to census suffrage), as was the bill of rights with the freedom of assembly, the privacy of correspondence, freedom of ecclesiastical organisation and the freedom of education. Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the Freedom of association, is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively The secrecy of correspondence (Briefgeheimnis brevhemlighet kirjesalaisuus or literally translated as secrecy of letters, is a fundamental Legal principle enshrined Freedom of education' incorporates the right of any person to manage their own education start a school or to have access to the education of their choice without any constraints

In 1884 there was a minor revision. In 1887 the census suffrage system was replaced by one based on minimal wealth and education, which allowed an ever growing percentage of the male population to be given the right to vote; therefore this provision was at the time nicknamed the "caoutchouc-article". The election interval for the Second Chamber was changed from two (with half of it replaced) to four years (with full a replacement of now hundred members). Elegibility for the First Chamber was expanded. Any penal measure not based on formal law was prohibited.

In 1917, like in 1848 influenced by the tense international situation, manhood suffrage was introduced combined with a system of proportional representation to elect the Second Chamber, the Provincial States and the municipality councils. Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes The First Chamber continued to be elected by the Provincial States, but now also employing a system of proportional representation, no longer by majorities per province. The Christian-democrat parties allowed manhood suffrage in exchange for a complete constitutional equality in state funding between public and denominational schools, ending the bitter Dutch School Wars which had antagonised Dutch society for three generations.

By the revision of 1922 universal suffrage was explicitly adopted in the constitution, after it had already been introduced by law in 1919. Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to Each three years half of the members of the First Chamber were to be elected by the Provincial States for a period of six years, within a system of proportional representation.

In 1938 there was a minor revision, introducing some elements of the then fashionable corporatism by giving a constitutional base to public bodies regulating sectors of the economy. Historically corporatism (corporativismo refers to a political or Economic system in which power is held by civic assemblies that represent Economic A proposal to make it possible to impeach "revolutionary" members of representative bodies, directed against communists and fascists, failed to get a two thirds majority.

After the Second World War in 1946 a revision failed attempting to simplify the revisional procedure. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including However a change was accepted allowing to send conscripts to the colonial war in the Dutch East Indies. See http//enwikipediaorg/wiki/WikipediaFootnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags and the template below

In the revision of 1948 a complete new chapter was added to facilitate the incorporation of the new state of Indonesia within the Kingdom. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Soon it would become irrelevant as Indonesia severed all ties with the Netherlands in 1954. Also the revision created the office of secretary of state, a kind of subminister or junior minister but one fully subordinate to a certain minister. Secretary of State is a commonly used title for a Government Official. Junior ministers are usually ministers of below cabinet rank such as Ministers of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State in the UK

In 1953 new articles were introduced concerning international relations, as the Netherlands were abandoning their old policy of strict neutrality.

In the revision of 1956 the constitution was changed to accommodate the full independence of Indonesia. The number of Second Chamber members was brought up to 150, of First Chamber members to 75.

The revision of 1963 accommodated the loss of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia. Netherlands New Guinea was the official name of Western New Guinea while it was a colonial possession of the Netherlands. The voting age was lowered from 23 to 21. A voting age is a minimum age established by Law that a person must attain in order to be eligible to Vote in a Public Election.

In 1972 there was a minor revision; the main change was a lowering of the voting age to 18.

In 1983 the constitution was almost entirely rewritten. Many articles were abolished. Social rights were included, most articles were reformulated (the main exception being article 23 about the still sensitive freedom of education) using a new uniform legal terminology and their sequence was changed. The term "social rights" is sometimes used to distinguished those rights arising from the Social contract, akin to Natural rights arising from nature but before The bill of rights was expanded with a prohibition of discrimination, a prohibition of the death penalty, a general freedom of expression, the freedom of demonstration and a general right to privacy. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively

In 1987 there was a minor revision. In the revision of 1995 the introduction of a professional army, replacing the conscript army, was regulated. In the revision of 1999 a proposal to introduce an advisory referendum was rejected by the First Chamber. A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita After a minor revision in 2002, the last changes were made in 2005; a proposal to introduce an elected major was rejected by the First Chamber.

Unwritten constitutional law

Some of the most basic fundamental laws in the Dutch constitutional system are not explicitly expressed in the written Constitution. These include the rule that a cabinet must fall or an individual minister resign if a motion of non-confidence is passed by the Second Chamber; that the King cannot dissolve more than once a Second Chamber because of a conflict over a single political issue; that the ministerial responsibility extends to even private acts of the King if these have public consequences and that the First Chamber shall never block legislation for mere party politics, so that coalition governments (all Dutch governments since the 19th century) do not need a majority in the First Chamber. A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate

The unwritten laws are most influential when a cabinet is formed; the procedure is not regulated by the Constitution but purely based on tradition. At the eve of the elections the old cabinet offers its resignation to the King, who takes it into consideration; the cabinet is now "demissionary". After the elections the King consults his advisors among which the chairmen of the Second and First Chamber and the vice-president of the Council of State. He then appoints an "Informer" who is informed by the parties which coalitions they would prefer and are willing to enter in — no modern party has ever obtained a majority by itself. On the basis of this information the King then appoints a "Former" who literally forms the government by negotiating an "accord of government" between the coalition parties, describing — always in great detail — the future policy, and the division of the ministries between them; he also invites the candidate ministers and often becomes Prime Minister himself. The King now dismisses the old cabinet and appoints the new one. As Dutch political parties are strongly internally divided, shift alliance easily and are hesitant to commit themselves to any future coalition before the elections, a competent King can often have a decisive personal influence on what coalition is formed. This has raised considerable concerns about the democratic content of the procedure, especially as it normally takes some months to complete (in 1977 seven) and all important political decisions are taken while negotiating the accord in more or less secret discussions outside of Parliament. It has often been proposed to codify the procedure in the constitution and to let the population elect the Prime Minister separately, but this has always been rejected because of the possibility of a simultaneous election of a prime minister and parliamentary majority of an opposite political signature.

In common law systems these rules would not be seen as laws but as mere legal conventions as they cannot be upheld by judges; within the Dutch civil law system however they are part of the more extended Dutch-German legal concept of the Recht, the total "legal" normative structure, be it written or unwritten, so that they have full normative force. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted Standards norms social norms or criteria, often taking the form of Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. Indeed that force is much larger than with written constitutional rules; any breach of the unwritten rules would cause an immediate constitutional crisis. A constitutional crisis is a severe breakdown in the orderly operation of Government.

Content

Absence of a preamble

Contrary to many others, the Dutch constitution has no preamble stating the sovereignty by which it would be founded or the general principles on which it would be based. A preamble is an introductory statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself This is in line with a long tradition within the Dutch legislative to avoid any explicit reference to ideology or legal doctrine in its written laws. An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Legal doctrine is a framework set of rules procedural steps or test often established through Precedent in the Common law, through which judgments can be determined Even the typical terminology of the trias politica is mostly absent: nowhere in the constitution the executive or legislative power is named as such to be explicitly attributed, although of course such an attribution is implicit within the whole of the constitutional system. Separation of powers, a term ascribed to French Enlightenment Political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the Governance In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation

Systematics and terminology

Civil law systems are characterised by their emphasis on abstract rules and methodology. Since the Second World War there has been a dominant movement within the Dutch legal community to be fully consequential in this and incorporate the total of case law accumulated during the generations while the old French Code Napoleon derived law books remained basically unchanged, into a completely new set of modern codes. The Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des Français) is the French Civil code, established under Economy of style, clarity of expression, conceptual coherence and unity of terminology were striven for. The total revision of the Dutch constitution of 1983 is part of this process. Combined with an absence of explicit legal doctrine the result can be deceptive as the simple phrases hide the underlying implicit doctrine.

Because there is no Constitutional Court testing laws and acts against the constitution, much of the systematics is centered on the problem of delegation. Delegation (also called deputation) is the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate to carry out specific activities If the legislative were allowed to delegate its powers to the government or to lower decentralised bodies, this would threaten democratic legitimisation and the constitutional protection of the citizen as the latter has no recourse to a Constitutional Court. Therefore delegation is only allowed if articles contain the terms "regulate" or "by force of law"; otherwise it is forbidden. This rule itself however, being legal doctrine, is nowhere explicitly expressed within the written law and can only be learned from the official commission reports and ministerial commentaries accompanying the bill. For other uses see Bill. A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a Legislature that has not been ratified, adopted

Chapters

Chapter 1: Basic rights

Chapter 1 is mainly a bill of rights. There is no normative hierarchy indicated by the constitution: in principle all basic rights are equal. Some rights are absolute, most can be limited by parliamentary or "formal" law, many can be limited by delegated limitative powers. They include:

In addition to these classic rights the revision of 1983 introduced a number of social rights. The distinction between the two categories is not strictly based on any legal doctrine and in fact the social right articles contain many freedom rights. The social rights are:

There is also a basic right present that doesn't easily fit within the division of classic and social rights, the:

Chapter 2: Government

Dutch constitutional doctrine holds that the King and ministers together form the government and this indivisibly, so that the King in any of his public acts always acting under ministerial responsibility is not the Head of Government, but embodies it fully. This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State The King is however head of state and so a special paragraph is dedicated to the King in this quality. Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state

§1: King

Article 24 stipulates that there is kingship and that this kingship is held by William I of the Netherlands and his lawful successors. William Frederick (William I, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau ( The Hague, 24 August 1772 - Berlin, 12 December 1843 was a Prince of Articles 25 and 26 regulate the succession; since 1985 female successors have equal rights to the throne. Further articles regulate abdication (Article 27); parliamentary approval of royal marriage on penalty of loss of the right to the throne (Art. Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning renouncing from ab, away from and dicare, to declare to proclaim as not belonging to one 28); the exclusion of unfit possible heirs (Art. 29); appointment of a successor if heirs are absent (Art. 30 and 31); the oath and inauguration in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam (Art. An inauguration is a ceremony of formal Investiture whereby an individual assumes an office or position of authority or power The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, even though the States-General and the government have been both situated in The Hague since 1588 Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west 32); the age of royal majority at eighteen (Art. 33); guardianship over a minor King (Art. 34); declaration by Parliament of the King's inability (Art. 35); temporary relinquishment of the exercise of royal authority (Art. 36); regency (Art. 37 and 38); the membership of the Royal House (Art. A royal house or royal dynasty is a familial designation or Family name of sorts used by Royalty. 39); its payment (Art. 40) and its organisation by the King (Art. 41).

§2: King and ministers

Article 42 states the main principles of Dutch government: that it is formed by King and ministers (Subarticle 1) and that "the King is inviolate; the ministers are responsible" (Subarticle 2). Before 1848 the inviolacy of the King was interpreted as a judicial one: he could never be tried in court for whatever reason. This is still so, but ministerial responsibility implies there is since the revision of 1848 primarily a political inviolacy. This means that the King cannot act in a public capacity without ministerial approval: externally the governmental policy is always represented by the responsible minister who, should he feel that the King's personal influence in it threatens to become too predominant, has to resign if he cannot prevent it; what happens internally between King and ministers is the Crown Secret, never to be divulged. What little of it nevertheless has come to the public attention, shows that the common conception that the kingship since the reign of William III of the Netherlands has in fact been almost fully ceremonial, is not supported by the facts. William III ( Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk, anglicised William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis of Orange-Nassau) ( February 19, Often it is assumed that there is a "derived ministerial responsibility" for all members of the Royal House.

The Prime Minister and the ministers are appointed and dismissed by Royal Decree (Article 43). This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. A decree is an order made by a Head of state or government and having the force of Law. Such decrees are also signed by the Prime Minister himself, who signs his own appointment and those of the others (Article 48). Like the King the Dutch Prime Minister is also not the Head of Government — the Netherlands have none — but he is normally treated that way abroad. Royal decree also institutes the ministries (Article 44), which have tended to be very variable in number and scope, and non-departmental ministers (Subarticle 2), who officially have no ministry but whom in fact is assigned the necessary personnel and who sign and are responsible for a partial budget. The ministers together form the Council of Ministers (Article 45), presided by the Prime Minister (Subarticle 2), which assembles (in fact weekly) to promote the unity of the general governmental policy (Subarticle 3). Though existing since 1823, this council has only been mentioned since the revision of 1983; its constitutional powers as such are almost nil. The proceedings are secret for a period of fifty years. Outwardly the council acts as if there were complete agreement between all ministers: the so-called "homogeneity". By Royal Decree are appointed secretaries of state (Article 46); these are subordinate to a certain minister who is fully responsible for their acts (Subarticle 2). All laws and Royal Decrees have to be countersigned by the Prime Minister and the responsible minister(s) or secretaries of state (Article 47). The countersign has been mandatory since the revision of 1840. Since 1983 such laws and decrees also have to be affirmed by a signed affirmation; it is usually assumed these acts coincide. All ministers and secretaries of state have to swear an oath of purification (declaring to not having bribed anyone to obtain their office, nor having been bribed to commit certain acts when in office) and swear allegiance to the Constitution (Article 49).

Chapter 3: States-General

§1: Organisation and composition

Article 50 states that there are States-General and that these represent the whole of the people of the Netherlands. Thus a clear distinction is made to the situation under the confederal Dutch Republic when the States-General represented the provinces. "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Doctrine holds that the article also entails that political parties have to give priority to the public interest, as opposed to the particular interests of their constituents. According to the parties themselves, this is indeed the case. Article 51 specifies that the States-General consist of a Second Chamber of 150 members and a First Chamber of 75 members — the constitution deliberately mentions the Second Chamber first to emphasize its political primate. Subarticle 4 mentions that both Chambers can gather in an indivisible United Assembly of 225 members, a joint session necessary to perform some acts, such as the appointment of a new King in absence of royal heirs. When in United Assembly the chairman of the First Chamber is chairman of the States-General (Article 62); the Second Chamber has tried to change this in the revision of 1983 but has twice been defeated by the First Chamber defending its privilege. Their duration is four years (Article 52). They are elected on basis of proportional representation (Article 53) and by secret vote (Subarticle 2). The Second Chamber is elected by all Dutch citizens over the age of eighteen (Article 54), except those who have been disqualified by a court sentence as part of their punishment for a crime or those who have been declared incapable by court because of insanity (Subarticle 2). Formal law can limit the right to vote to resident nationals only but presently does not. The First Chamber is elected by the Provincial States (Article 55).

To be eligible to be elected it is necessary to be of Dutch nationality, to be over eighteen in age and not to have been excluded from the right to vote (Article 56); there are also certain incompatibilities of function (Article 57), the most important of which is that a minister not belonging to a demissionary cabinet cannot be a member of the States-General, a stark contrast with the situation in England or Germany. The Chambers investigate the Letters of Credence of new members, in this case a written affirmation by the central voting office that they have indeed obtained the necessary number of votes. A letter of credence is a formal letter sent by one Head of state to another head of state that formally grants Diplomatic accreditation to a named After the investigation new members swear four oaths: the oath of purification, the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the oath of loyal discharge of their office are demanded by Article 60; the oath of loyalty to King and Statute is demanded by Article 47 of the Statute of the Kingdom, the higher Constitution of the Realm. All other issues pertaining the elections are regulated by formal law; delegation is possible (Article 59).

Each Chamber appoints its own chairman from its members (Article 61) and a clerk, not from its own members; no officials of the States-General may be member of the States (Subarticle 2). Law regulates the remuneration of the members; delegation is possible; such law can only be approved by a two thirds majority (Article 63).

Article 64 states that government can dissolve each Chamber by Royal Decree. Within three months elections have to be held (Subarticle 2). The duration of a new Second Chamber after dissolution is determined by law and not to exceed five years (Subarticle 4). The dissolution only takes effect when the new Chamber meets, to avoid a period without representation. Dissolution of Parliament was in the 19th century an instrument for government to decide a conflict with the Second Chamber by submitting the issue to the voter. Unwritten law developed between 1866 and 1868 that this should not be done more than once over the same issue. In the 20th century such "conflict dissolution" became rare and was replaced by "crisis dissolution" whenever a political coalition fell apart and could not be reconciled; the government then resigns and instead of trying to find a new coalition majority, decides on holding new elections, normally in accordance with the wishes of parliament itself. Earlier typically an "interim cabinet" was formed to arrange for the elections, but this hasn't happened since 1982.

§2: Procedures

Article 65 states that the parliamentary year is opened on the third Tuesday of September (Prinsjesdag) by the King holding the Speech from the Throne — very appropriate as Tuesday is the day of the Thing. Prinsjesdag (Day of the Princes is the day on which the Queen of the Netherlands addresses a joint session of the Upper and Lower Houses See also Medieval Scandinavian laws A thing or ting ( Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: þing; other modern The same day the minister of finance presents the yearly national budget. The finance minister is a Cabinet position in a Government. A minister of Finance (also called financial affairs the treasury the economy or economic The sessions of the States-General are public (Article 66), but the session will be secret (In camera) when the Chamber in question so decides (Subarticle 3) which can be proposed by a tenth of the quorum or the chairman, on which proposal the doors are closed immediately for the vote (Subarticle 2). In Camera was a musical project of Andrew Gray, who later formed The Wolfgang Press. In Law, a quorum is the minimum number of members of a Deliberative body necessary to conduct the business of that group Normally there is a quorum of a half to start a session or to take any decision (Article 67). Decisions are taken by absolute majority (Subarticle 2) and without mandate (Subarticle 3) — a reference to the situation under the Republic when each delegate had to vote on instruction from the nobles or city councils he represented. On demand of a single member the vote must be oral and by roll call; no member may abstain. Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a list ( Roll) to determine the presence or absence of the listed people (also known as a register in countries such as the

The States-General have an absolute right to information from the government in writing or in person, only constitutionally limited by State interests, such as the national security (Article 68). Doctrine holds that there can also be "natural impediments" justifying that a minister fails in answering questions, such as the circumstance that he simply doesn't know the answer, that he has already answered or that he is about to answer much more completely by issuing a written report on the question. Another doctrinal limitation is the ministerial responsibility: a minister is not obliged to give information about a subject for which not he is responsible but his colleague. Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues Definition of collegiality Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common Purpose and respecting Government members have access to the sessions and can freely partake in the discussions (Article 69); they can also be invited to do so by the Chambers (Subarticle 2). Such an invitation is in fact an order: government members are not at liberty to refuse. They do however have the right to invite any expert to assist them in the discussions (Subarticle 3). All persons partaking in the deliberations of parliament or in the parliamentary commission meetings have legal immunity regarding any communication they made, either in speech or in writing (Article 71). Otherwise the members have no parliamentary immunity. Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity is a system in which members of the Parliament or Legislature are granted partial immunity from

The States-General have the right of inquiry (Article 70). They can by majority vote empower a commission that in public or secret hearings can investigate any subject. Any person in the Realm is obliged to appear and answer their questions; it is a crime not to obey. This right can be limited by formal law; delegation is possible. Sixteen such inquiries have been held since 1848, one of them, about the events in the Second World War, lasting from 1947 till 1956. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

The Chambers each determine their own Rules of Procedure (Article 72). As the legislative is in the Netherlands formed by parliament and government in cooperation, these Rules of Procedure are not formal laws but have a sui generis "legal" status. Sui generis (English pronunciation ( IPA) /ˌsuːiˈdʒɛnərɪs/ roughly "SOO-ee JEN-a-ris" Latin pronunciation /ˌsuːiˈgeneris/ is a Neo-Latin

Chapter 4: Council of State, General Audit-Office, National Ombudsman and Permanent Advisory Colleges

Chapter 4 covers certain other high state institutions apart from government and parliament. The most important of these is the Council of State (Raad van State). In the Netherlands, the Council of State ( Raad van State) is a Constitutionally established advisory body to the Government which consists of Any proposal of law in the broadest sense and any proposed treaty is in principle first submitted to the Council of State for legal comment; this can be limited by formal law, which however only does so for trivial cases (Article 73). Though officially such comment is merely an advice, it is very rare for law proposals to remain unchanged if the judgment of the Council is negative. The Council is seen as the guardian of legislative quality; no minister can ignore its opinion without the direst effects on his own reputation. Thus the Council in fact codetermines the legislative process. The Council also acts as the highest court for administrative appeal (Subarticle 2 and 3); it thus has the final say on the way the country is actually ruled, though this is limited by the fact such appeals can only be made on formal or procedural grounds. The large influence of the Council is not always appreciated by external and internal observers. If the King is unable to exert the royal authority and there is as yet no regent, the Council exerts the royal authority (Article 38). The Council is officially presided by the King (Article 74); in view of the ministerial responsibility he in fact only does so on special occasions: normally the actual chairman is the vice-president of the Council, the "Viceroy of the Netherlands". The probable heir becomes a member of the Council when he reaches the age of eighteen and often does attend the meetings. Law can give other members of the Royal House the right to attend; it in fact determines that they nor the heir have voting powers. The members of the Council, the Staatsraden, are appointed by Royal Decree for life (Subarticle 2); they can be dismissed on demand by Decree, or in cases determined by law by the Council itself, and law can determine an age limit (Subarticles 3 and 4). The competence, organisation and composition of the Council are regulated by law; delegation is possible (Article 75). This competence may exceed the functions indicated in Article 73; in this case no delegation is allowed (Subarticle 2).

The second is the General Audit Office (Algemene Rekenkamer). Its task is to perform financial audits (Article 76). The members are appointed for life by Royal Decree from a shortlist of three, proposed by the Second Chamber (Article 77). They can be dismissed on demand by Decree or when reaching an age determined by law (Subarticle 2); or dismissed by the Supreme Court in certain other cases determined by law (Subarticle 3). Law determines the organisation, composition and competence of the Audit Office (Article 78); delegation is possible; this may exceed the functions indicated by Article 76; in this case no delegation is allowed (Subarticle 2). In fact the Audit Office not only performs financial audits but also "value for money" efficiency analyses; it also reports on the effectiveness of all governmental policy via performance audits. Performance audit refers to an examination of a program function operation or the management systems and procedures of a governmental or Non-profit entity to assess whether Dutch legal doctrine believes in a clear distinction between efficiency and effectiveness reports and this is reflected in two separate types of investigation carried out. The budget as such is alway officially approved, be it with "comments" when irregularities have been discovered; these then have to be remedied by special law. The effectiveness reports, carried out in great detail, in full independence and without the slightest regard for political sensitivities, have given the Audit Office a large political influence, even more so than the British National Audit Office. The National Audit Office (NAO is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments

The third is the National Ombudsman, a relatively new function; he may investigate by his own initiative or on request of anyone, the actions of State bodies or other governmental bodies indicated by law; this indication can be delegated (Article 78a). The National Ombudsman (in Dutch: Nationale Ombudsman) is a Dutch political office The ombudsman and his substitute are appointed by the Second Chamber for a certain period of time, to be determined by law. An ombudsman ( English plural conventionally ombudsmen) is an official usually (but not always appointed by the government or by parliament who is charged with They are in any case dismissed by the Second Chamber on demand and when reaching a certain age (Subarticle 2). Law determines the competence of the ombudsman and the way he proceeds; delegation is allowed (Subarticle 3). His competence may by law be determined to exceed that given in Subarticle 1; delegation is allowed (Subarticle 4) — in contrast with the arrangement given for the Council of State and the Audit Office.

The constitution has a general Article 79 founding the establishment of other advisory bodies, the "permanent advisory colleges". The law regulates the organisation, composition and competence of these bodies (Subarticle 2); other competences than mere advisory ones may be attributed by law (Subarticle 3); in both cases delegation is allowed. There used to be a great many of these advisory bodies; after 1996 their number was brought back to a few to economise. The advice of all bodies indicated in Chapter 4 is in principle public; the law regulates the way it is published; delegation is allowed (Article 80); it is submitted to the States-General (subarticle 2).

Chapter 5: Legislation and Administration

§1: Laws and other prescripts

The Legislative is formed by Government (i. e. King and ministers) and the States-General in cooperation (Article 81), although the term "legislative" is not actually used: the article simply states that government and the States-General together make laws. This means that the Dutch concept of "formal law" cannot simply be equated to "Act of Parliament", as government and parliament act in unison in creating laws. In the Dutch constitutional system there is no decisive referendum, although sometimes consultative referendums are held, like the one in 2005 in which the people advised to reject the European Constitution; the Dutch people is thus not a direct lawgiver. A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE commonly referred to as the European Constitution, was an unimplemented international Treaty intended

Bills are presented by the King or by the Second Chamber, which thus has the right of initiative (Article 82). In Political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizen's initiative) provides a means by which a Petition signed by a certain Some bills have to be presented by the States-General in United Assembly (subarticle 2). The First Chamber cannot propose law. The ministers can but in fact act through the King who sends a Royal Missive (Article 83), containing the proposal, which is only signed by himself, thus without countersign. The Second Chamber has the right of amendment; government too may amend (Article 84). The First Chamber only can pass or reject laws in full (Article 85), defended by the responsible minister or by the Second Chamber members having taken the initiative to propose the law; however, in practice it can send the proposal back asking for a novelle to be passed by the Second Chamber, in fact an amendment of law. Bills may be withdrawn by the proposer until passed (Article 86), but only by a majority of the Second Chamber if the bill has been presented by some Second Chamber members and has been passed by the Second Chamber. Bills become valid law once they have been passed by Parliament and have been affirmed by the King (Article 87). It is generally assumed that this also fulfills the demand of signature by Article 47. The affirmation needs sign and ministerial countersign but also the older Royal Order has to be signed and countersigned, ordering to publish the law in a special publication, the Staatsblad. Only after such publication the law has an external binding force (Article 88).

In the Dutch constitutional system there is not only formal law; also other general governmental regulations are recognised, binding the citizen; the overarching concept is called "material law". These other regulations are the "other prescripts" mentioned in the heading of §1. Only the most important subcategory of these is explicitly mentioned in the constitution, in Article 89: the Algemene maatregelen van bestuur, "General Administrative Orders". To avoid doctrinal strive over what orders exactly are covered by this concept, a consensus has developed that a strict formal definition can be applied: all general orders made by Royal Decree (Subarticle 1) that have been submitted to the Council of Ministers and to the Council of State and have been published by the Staatsblad, are General Administrative Orders. Since the Second World War a doctrinal consensus has gradually developed that all general Royal Decrees have to conform to these conditions to be valid and that earlier practices to issue general Royal Decrees without meeting these three formalities — such Decrees, general or otherwise, are called "minor Royal Decrees" — can no longer result in regulations with binding force towards the citizen. Since 1889 the constitution determines that all prescripts with a penal character have to be based on formal law and that this law imposes the penalty (Subarticles 2 and 4). This includes the Royal Decrees and thus the General Administrative Orders. A doctrinal consensus has developed however that all General Administrative Orders, not just those with penal content, have to be based on formal law to be valid, with the competence to regulate delegated by such law.

§2: Other prescripts

The second paragraph of Chapter 5 contains several articles of disparate administrative content; but they are not the same as the "other prescripts" of §1; the redaction of the headings is generally seen as confusing and infelicitous on this point. Most articles in §2 are combined in coherent groups.

The first of these groups consists of articles pertaining to international law and treaties. Article 90 states that it is the duty of government to promote the international rule of law. The rule of law, in its most basic form is the principle that no one is above the law The Netherlands are home to several International Courts. International courts are formed by Treaties between nations or under the authority of an International organization such as the United Nations — this Doctrine holds that this article also attributes the general right to conclude treaties. Article 91 states that the Kingdom shal not be bound by treaty without prior approval of the States-General, except for those cases where law determines no such approval is necessary. Such approval may be tacit (Subarticle 2). Despite this, if not either a reservation of approval is made on conclusion of the treaty, or the treaty contains a ratification clause, treaties are according to international law binding upon conclusion. The article must thus be seen as imposing a duty upon government to arrange for such reservation or clause. Subarticle 3 determines that if a treaty conflicts with the Constitution, it has to be approved by a two thirds majority of both Chambers. Whether such conflict exisists is decided by the States-General, article 6 of the lower Rijkswet goedkeuring en bekendmaking verdragen determines that this decision has again to be made by special formal law. A special implementation by law of the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht determines that certain European Community decisions having force of treaty have to be approved by Parliament prior to even the conclusion itself. The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 By treaty legislative, administrative and judicial powers may be conferred on organisations established under international law (Article 92). This has been done on many occasions, e. g. on the Benelux, the European Community, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and NATO. The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The Council of Europe (Conseil de l'Europe is the oldest International organisation working towards European integration, being founded in 1949 The North Atlantic Treaty

According to present doctrine, that of "treaty monism", treaties are in the Dutch legal system in principle self-executing; no special transformation is needed by implementing special law, as in countries with a "dualistic" system (such as the United Kingdom). However, when the present articles covering this subject were last revisioned, in 1953, doctrine was divided and some defended a more dualistic position, that of "limited monism". They demanded the consititution to be neutral on this issue and this has led to some infelicitous results. Government originally intended that Article 93, stating that treaties of a generally binding nature would only have such binding force after they had been published, to be simply a safeguard, protecting the citizen against duties imposed on him by such treaty. However, the "limited monists" held that only such published treaties are self-executing and that thus Article 93 is the basis for all treaty monism; to appease them government stated that the article should in any case be read as covering also the treaties conferring rights on the citizen and imposing duties upon government. The unintendeed result was that government might thus in principle withhold rights to the citizen by not publishing the treaty. Article 94 determines that legal prescripts are inapplicable if they conflict with treaties of a generally binding nature. This means that laws can be tested against treaty norms and obligations. Dutch courts have however been very reluctant to do so, limiting this to cases where government has been left no freedom of policy at all by the treaty, or to severe formal and procedural defects. The case law is very complex and contradictory, complicated by the fact that the phrase "generally binding nature" is assumed to have exactly the same meaning in both articles. Article 95 states that law regulates the publication of treaties or (binding) decisions of international organisations; delegation is allowed.

A second group of articles consists of those pertaining to the national security. Before the revision of 1983 these were combined in a separate Chapter 10; the articles as such remained largely unchanged in 1983, but were finally fully revised in 2000. Article 96 states that a prior approval of the States-General is necessary for the government (since 1983 no longer the King) to declare that the Kingdom is in a state of war. This approval must be given by the United Assembly (Subarticle 3), as it would be most embarrassing if the Second Chamber approved but the First Chamber withheld approval. If the existing war conditions make such an approval impossible it is not required. Indeed the approval has little value in any case: it should be noted the subject of the article is not the classic declaration of war, as such a declaration according to doctrine might constitute a war crime by implying a war of aggression forbidden by international law. A declaration of war is a formal performative Speech act or signing of a document by an authorised party of a government in order to initate a state of War War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied A war of aggression is a Military conflict waged in the absence of "a necessity of self-defense instant overwhelming leaving no choice of means and no moment of deliberation It is a simple declarative statement of fact, without legal consequences, that a war situation has come to exist. The doctrine of many other nations makes no such distinction. Article 97 states that a defence force exists to defend the Kingdom and its interests and to maintain and promote the international rule of law; Subarticle 2 determines that the supreme authority over this defence force is exercised by the government; there is thus no constitutional supreme commander. A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces This defence force consists of volunteers and may contain conscripts (Article 98). Since Napoleonic times conscription had been the rule and voluntary service the exception; this has now been inverted to accommodate the creation of a fully professional army in 1997. Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority However the old laws regulating conscription have only been suspended, to be reactivated in case of emergency; this is given a constitutional basis by Subarticle 2; delegation is allowed. A provision that has remained unchanged is Article 99, stating that law regulates the exemption of military service for conscientious objectors; delegation is allowed. Military service in its simplest sense is service by an individual or group in an Army or other military organization whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support In 2000 a new Article 99a was inserted, that law has to regulate civil defence; the older legal system regulating this issue had been largely abolished since the end of the Cold War. Civil defense or civil defence (see spelling differences) is an effort to prepare Civilians for Military attack Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Delegation is allowed. Government has to inform the States-General about any intended foreign deployment of Dutch forces outside of defence treaty obligations, thus to protect the international rule of law and for humanitarian missions (Article 100). In an emergency situation such information can be given after the facts. Both government and parliament tended to present this duty as a kind of implicit approval, as parliament could in principle force government to call off the mission, but the Council of State has made clear this is at least formally not the case. Article 101 (mobilisation) has been abrogated in 1995, Article 102 (defence budget and prohibition of billeting) in 2000. A billet is the US term for quarters which is a place to which a person generally a Soldier, is assigned to Sleep. Article 103 states that law has to determine in which cases a Royal Decree may declare a state of emergency to maintain external or internal security; delegation is allowed. A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors or order government agencies The powers of lower administrative bodies can be limited; the basic rights expressed in Articles 6,7,8,9, 12 Subarticle 2, 13 and 113 Subarticle 1 and 3 can be infringed upon (Subarticle 2). Royal Decree may end the state of emergency. The States-General decide in United Assembly whether the state of emergency must be maintained, immediately after its declaration and as often as they see fit afterwards (Subarticle 3).

The third group consists of articles pertaining to financial issues. Imposed taxation must be based on formal law (Article 104). Delegation is allowed. However, to indicate this must be done hesitantly, parliament insisted on a slightly different terminology: instead of krachtens de wet the phrase uit kracht van wet was used; both mean "by force of law" or "pursuant to law"; but the second expression puts somewhat more emphasis on the force of the law and thus on the fact all delegation is ultimately derived from law. A yearly budget is on Prinsjesdag presented to the States-General, its balance sheet approved by the Audit Office (Article 105). Delegation is not allowed. The budget debates are held by the Second Chamber, with a separate treatment of each departmental budget and of special interdepartmental budgets; the First Chamber since 1971 immediately approves the budget formally in exchange for full policy debates. Article 106 states that formal law regulates the monetary system. A monetary system secures the proper functioning of Money by regulating economic agents transaction types and Money supply. Delegation is allowed. The article has lost its relevance by the introduction of the euro in 2002; doctrine holds that the constitution does not demand a purely national system. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e

A fourth and last group of articles pertains to judicial issues. Article 107 is the "codification article". In Law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a Jurisdiction in certain areas usually by subject forming a Legal code. It imposes that that private law, penal law and the separate procedural laws covering these subjects must indeed be formal law and treated in a general Civil Code and a Penal Code, although certain subject might be covered by special laws. Private law (Civil law is that part of a Legal system that involves relationships between individuals In the most general sense penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation as opposed to civil law that seeks Procedural law comprises the rule by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal proceedings The rules are designed to ensure A civil code is a systematic compilation of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of Private law. A penal code is a portion of a State 's Laws defining Crimes and specifying the Punishment. Delegation is allowed but doctrine holds that criminal law (which is seen as a more limited field than general penal law) must be determined by formal law only. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential This means provinces and municipalities cannot create their own criminal codes and government cannot make a certain act a crime by a Royal Decree not based on formal law. A Criminal Code is a compilation of government Laws that outline a nation's laws regarding criminal offenses and the maximum and minimum punishments that Courts As the administrative law of the Netherlands is so complex, it was deemed impossible to incorporate it in a single code, but its general rules must be covered in a general code (Subarticle 2) as has indeed gradually been done since the nineties, be it with great difficulty. Administrative law is the body of Law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of Government. Article 108 (investigative bodies for civil complaints) has been abrogated in 1999. Article 109 states that the position of civil servants, including their protection and workers' participation must be determined by law. See also Bureaucrat The term civil service has two distinct meanings Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis This has as yet not been done in any general way. Doctrine holds that civil servants enjoy full protection by constitutional basic rights. Article 110 imposes a duty upon government to safeguard by formal law sufficient public access to information regarding governmental activities. Delegation is allowed. The government does not see this as some general "right to public access to information" and this has been the reason not to insert it into Chapter 1, but this interpretation is quite popular in doctrine as the right does even more resemble a freedom right than a social right.

Article 111, the last of this paragraph, stands alone; it determines that formal law shall instate honorary Royal Orders of Knighthood. These are in fact the Order of William, the Order of the Netherlands Lion and the Order of Orange-Nassau. The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William ( Dutch: Militaire Willems-Orde Abbreviation: MWO is the oldest and highest The Order of the Netherlands Lion (De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw is an order of the Netherlands which was first created on 29 September 1815 by the The Order of Orange-Nassau ( Orde van Oranje-Nassau) is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was first created on 4 April 1892 They do not include Royal House Orders, which are the personal prerogative of the King, such the House Order of Orange and the later Order of the Crown and The Order for Loyalty and Merit. For other versions of this award see " Order of the Crown " The Order of the Crown (Kroonorde is a house order of the Each year many thousands are honoured by the constitutional orders.

Administration of justice

  1. Lower government (provinces, municipalities, polders in charge of a polder board, and other public bodies)

Revision of the constitution

There used to be several additional articles with Roman numbering, however all except articles IX and XIX are now abrogated.

Statute of the Kingdom

The constitution of the Netherlands is only applicable to the territory in Europe. Each of the three countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (The Netherlands, The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) has its own constitution. The Netherlands and The Kingdom of the Netherlands are two distinct geographical and administrative entities The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela These constitutions are legally subjected to the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is the constitution of the entire Kingdom. The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the The Statute however mainly describes the relations between the different parts of the Kingdom. In addition it stipulates that each country is obliged to promote human rights, listed in a special bill of rights, and decent governance. The relation between the three countries has elements of a confederation, as there is no central Parliament of the Kingdom, but also of a federation as there is a Government of the Realm, a Legislative of the Realm and a Supreme Court of the Realm. However these bodies are only fully formed on special occasions and by appointing special Antillian members to the normal Dutch government, parliament and Supreme Court. One of the members of the Dutch council of ministers is always also appointed a permanent "Minister of Antillian Affairs"; when he is acting in this capacity the council has the status of the Government of the Realm to treat minor issues. Though the Statute is in principle higher than the Dutch Constitution, there is no legal mechanism to enforce this. The Dutch Supreme Court has consistently ruled that it is forbidden for judges to test laws and administrative acts against the Statute. However the Government of the Realm can strike void any law of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba for being incompatible with the Statute. This asymmetry and the fact that foreign affairs and the defence of the Kingdom are administered by the Dutch Government in its capacity of Government of the Realm show that the frame of government of the Kingdom has also elements of a decentralised unitary state. A unitary state is a State whose three Organs of state are governed Constitutionally as one single unit with one Constitutionally created The Statute can only be changed with the consent of all countries within the Kingdom; the laws to this effect can be adopted with a simple absolute majority in each of their parliaments.

In December 2008 Curaçao as well as St. Maarten will become separate countries; constitutions are in preparation. Curaçao (ˈkjuːrəsaʊ in English Dutch: Curaçao, Papiamento: Kòrsou) is an Island in the southern Caribbean Sea, Saint Martin is a tropical Island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km (186 miles east of Puerto Rico. The three smaller Antillean islands will become special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, extending that country outside Europe, and these islands will then be subject to the Dutch constitution.

Constitution versus other laws

Dutch judges may not test the validity of other laws against the constitution. As a consequence, the Netherlands does not have a Constitutional Court. A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with Constitutional law. The reasoning for this is that changes to the law should be made by politicians, since they have a mandate from the people.

International treaties on the other hand may overrule Dutch law, even the constitution, and judges are allowed in most cases to test laws against them. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations.

Amending the constitution

To amend the constitution, the proposed changes must first be approved by both the Second and the First Chamber of the States-General with a common majority of 50% + one vote. The States-General ( Staten-Generaal) is the Parliament of the Netherlands. Then parliament must be dissolved and general elections held. After that the proposed changes to the constitution are discussed a second time in both houses of parliament, this time needing a two-thirds majority to approve them. This is intended to give voters a say in the matter. However, the Second Chamber has never been dissolved and elections held specially for a constitutional change. Until 1996 however, the First Chamber was automatically dissolved, whenever elections were held for the Second Chamber and both Chambers had approved of a constitutional change. As the First Chamber is elected by the Provincial States and these themselves were not dissolved, invariably the First Chamber had the same composition before and after its re-election, so this ineffectual rule was abolished. Changes that involve the relations between the countries of the Kingdom must be proposed by a law formulated by the Government of the Realm.

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