The Senate voted against the bill to extend the community service order on Tuesday. 35 members of the Senate voted in favor of extending the prohibition of community service and 37 voted against. This means that judges can still impose community service for violent crimes against police officers, ambulance personnel or firefighters.
In 2020, the then ministers Ferdinand Grapperhaus (Justice and Security, CDA) and Sander Dekker (Legal Protection, VVD) sent the bill to the House of Representatives. In doing so, they largely met a motion submitted by MPs Lilian Helder (PVV), Foort van Oosten (VVD) and Chris van Dam (CDA). When the bill was announced in 2019, Dekker wrote in a letter to parliament that he found violence against aid workers “unacceptable”.
In February, a majority of the House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill: Krol, 50Plus, VVD, SGP, CDA, PVV and FVD. In the Senate, 50Plus voted against the proposal. Member of Parliament for 50Plus Martine Baay-Timmerman stated that both the Council of State and the Council for the Judiciary have advised against the introduction of the bill.
Also read this article from 2019: Dekker wants to punish attempts to use violence against aid workers harder