News item | 11-25-2022 | 4:15 pm
The Council of Ministers has approved the establishment of a State Committee on the Rule of Law. The commission is tasked with analyzing the functioning of the rule of law and making proposals for strengthening the rule of law. In this assignment, the Committee will pay explicit attention to protecting citizens against unforeseen and undesirable consequences of government measures.
The State Committee on the Rule of Law is set up on the recommendation of the Ministers Weerwind for Legal Protection and Bruins Slot of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The committee arises from the report Unknown Injustice about the benefits affair. The report finds that the basic principles of the rule of law have been violated in the benefits affair and that citizens have been seriously trapped as a result. In response to this report, the House of Representatives has adopted a motion by MPs Omtzigt and Van Dam asking the government to set up a State Commission to examine the functioning of the rule of law.
The commission will investigate the functioning of the legislative, judiciary and executive branches. In doing so, the Committee looks at these three powers separately as well as at their interdependence. Proper protection of citizens against government decisions and effective legal protection of citizens are important points of attention in this regard.
Professor H. Kummeling will chair the State Committee on the Rule of Law. The committee will present its advice to the cabinet before 1 June 2024.