Criticism of the Council of State, one of the high colleges of State, is of all times. In fact, the cabinet – now outlines and only 32 of the 150 seats – mentioned the independence of the Administrative Jurisdiction Department in its outline agreement. That was not further elaborated, but can be a possible solution for one of the biggest criticisms: the double function of the Council of State, which is both legislative adviser of the government and the highest referee in cases where the citizen and government face each other.
What was rightly not torn in the coalition agreement was the Ról of the Council of State (RVS). After all, the four parties promised, in their insert skin about respecting the rule of law, that “for the proper functioning of the democratic constitutional state independent institutions […] be of great importance.
Since then, the stainless steel seems like a head of Jut. A stand-in-the-way. A body with ‘even an opinion’ of ‘unelected bureaucrats’ (Geert Wilders, PVV) that would be’ too politically colored (Caroline van der Plas, BBB). In the television program WNL on Sunday she claimed that There “many D66 people in it”, she wants the state councils to be appointed by the House of Representatives (now they are suggested by the RVS itself, nominated by the Council of Ministers and appointed by Royal Decree). Van der Plas did not know how many state councils the Advisory Department has (17) and that two of them present themselves as a D66 member.
It is easy to get rid of her idea as a campaignoric or, as happened on social media, to laugh about her ignorance. The venom, however, was in a different statement. According to Van der Plas, the RVS gives ‘a lot of negative advice’. “Striking how much,” and “We just see happening that the Council of State actually shoots everything.”
Such disinformation, especially if it is not contradicted, weakens one of the pillars on which the rule of law supports. The annual report of the RVS shows the opposite: 92.9 percent of the legislative proposals received a positive advice in 2024, in 7.1 percent it was advised to adjust (large) parts. That is in line with previous years. The Montesquieu InstituteKnowledge Center for Parliamentary Democracy, concluded at the beginning of this year that ten so-called D advice had been given in the last 25 years, with the RVS ” serious objections’ and advised the bill not to submit to the Lower House at all.
BBB’er and Minister Mona Keijzer (Housing) received such an exceptional D-advice last week. The stainless steel pointed out that a ban on giving priority to status holders in the allocation of rental properties is contrary to Article 1 of the Constitution. Earlier, the RVS ruled negatively about a proposal from BBB person and minister Femke Wiersma (agriculture) to allow small disadvantages of nitrogen to work without a permit.
This suggests that this is the Kinnesinne of the BBB. That’s bad. After all, the Advisory Department is not about the political color of a bill, but whether it meets the Constitution and European Laws. Whether the bill is feasible, and solves the problem for which it must be the solution. Instead of standing in-the-way, the Council of State is the right-wing conscience. It points the cabinet to sloppy homework. Let party leaders’ criticism about that.
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