News item | 06-12-2024 | 4:00 PM
On the recommendation of State Secretary Struycken (Legal Protection), the Council of Ministers has approved the appointment of two new Advocates General to the Supreme Court. Prof. PHPHMC (Piet Hein) van Kempen will be appointed as of April 1, 2025. Mr. ME (Martijn) van Wees will be appointed as of April 14, 2025. They will both be part of the criminal law section.
Van Kempen is currently professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law and head of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Radboud University Nijmegen and deputy judge at the Court of Appeal in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Van Wees already works at the Supreme Court as deputy advocate general in the criminal law section.
Advocates general work in the public prosecutor’s office at the Supreme Court and provide advice to the court, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. These so-called conclusions are weighty legal advice in cases that are before the Supreme Court in cassation. The Supreme Court is the highest court in civil, criminal and tax matters. As the highest court, the Supreme Court can rule on judicial decisions against which an appeal in cassation is open. The Supreme Court then assesses whether the law has been applied correctly, whether the correct procedures have been followed and whether a ruling is sufficiently and comprehensibly substantiated.