The Netherlands is found in the north-western part of Europe with a population of 17 million people. The country borders Germany and Belgium in the east and south respectively while the North Sea covers the north and western part of the nation. The Dutch are people who occupy the country, and Dutch is also their official language. The state is well known for land reclamation from the sea which comprises of about 7,000 square kilometers of land.
Organisation
The country has 12 provinces that help in the governance of the local municipalities in the devolved government. The provincial government is made up of three parts. The state Provincial which comprises between 39-59 members who are elected after every four years. This is the parliament of the province, chosen to oversee the governance of that particular region. The Provincial Executive who has the mandate for overall management of the province. The leader is elected by the state provincial members, and thirdly the king’s commissioner-This position is for a single person who presides over the provincial executive and the state provincial. The term for a king commissioner is six years, and the Crown makes his/her appointment. These provinces include; Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant, North Holland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Zeeland.
Type of government
Netherlands practice both Constitutional monarch and democratic parliamentary representative. The vital role of the monarch is to form the government only they do not interfere with the decisions of the state of the day. The mandate to initiate and formulate government policies lies with the Council of Ministers. The country was ranked as one of the most democratic countries in the world because of its culture of achieving consensus on important issues.
Constitution
The constitution of Netherlands is the one governing the country; They are based on the tradition. The kingdom has statutes that assist in governance within its territories while the constitution is mostly used in the European part of the kingdom. In case of any desire to change the law, two Houses of State general must debate and upon agreement, approve the amendment. In this country, there are constitutional courts and judges have no powers to review laws. Despite having their internal constitution, international treaties and statutes overrule the constitution and Dutch laws. International law is supreme.
Legal system
The Dutch law is divided into; Administrative law, civil law, constitution law, European law, criminal law and international law. Civil laws are that part of the law that regulates people, companies, and corporations. The monarchy constitution comprises of civil law legal system that incorporates the French penal theory code which controls commercial contracts, Administrative laws, on the other hand, controls all activities of government and the procedures of appealing decisions of the government by persons or legal entities.
Being a member of the United Nations, Netherlands is subjected to the law of nations which has been allowed in the Dutch constitutions to be directly applied in Dutch courts. International laws are laws that regulate relationships between countries and majorly involve treaties (Andeweg, " Irwin, 2014).
Religious, political and economic freedom
The Dutch government is a constitutional monarchy headed by Queen Beatrix who is responsible for appointing the prime minister who is tasked with the responsibility of leading the government. The Queen’s powers are mainly ceremonial since the prime minister controls most of the government activities. Apart from the prime minister, the country has advisory committee known as Council of the state which formulates and approves policies. The legislative wing is the State General-parliament comprising of two chambers tasked with the initiation of legislation and its amendments (Andeweg, " Irwin 2014).
The private sector owns the most business in this country hence the government doesn't play a significant role in this. There has been privatization process by the government turning state-owned businesses to private companies, for example, the massive control of transport and telecommunication sectors by the private companies. Majority of the Dutch population do not conform to any religious affiliation. According to 2015 statistics, 50.1% of the people claimed to be unreligious while Christians comprised of 43.8%. There is a freedom of worship as long as it does not affect the welfare of the people.
International legal concept
The Netherlands is a member of the United Nations and European Union. EU presidency has been led by a Dutch in 13 times since 1960. Dutch officials have also been on the forefront in formulating European agricultural policies over the years proving the trust of leadership attained in the Union. The country also hosts the International Criminal court which has enabled successful prosecutions for charges against humanity of member countries leaders.
Court system
The court system interprets and assists in the application of the law in the Netherlands. The judiciary follows the hierarchical pattern. The courts present are the district courts, courts of Appeal, Supreme court, and exceptional courts. District courts are 11 in number throughout the country, and it is broken into the administrative section, criminal section, and the civil section. Minor cases involving the cases mentioned above are heard here. The Court of Appeal is responsible for re-examining cases appealed from District Courts and made their verdicts. There are four Courts of Appeal in this country. Supreme Court is located in The Hague and is the highest court in the Dutch land. It hears the appeal from the Joint Court of Justice and also deals with civil, criminal and tax law cases (Radovic, Meynen, " Bennet 2015).
Special courts are tribunals that deal with specific issues relating to the administrative law. They include Central Appeals Tribunal in Utrecht that deals with civil service and social security, The Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal in The Hague dealing with socio-economic laws and Administrative Jurisdiction Division in The Hague that hears appeals against companies and government bodies.
Legal profession
The legal profession comprises of lawyers, judges, attorney general and the public prosecutor. To be a judge, one has to have seven years of professional experience mostly through judiciary training or practice in another judicial system. The law only allows the Dutch to be judges and are appointed by the Crown through the minister of security and justice. The roles of judges are to be unbiased while solving legal disputes even if the government one of the parties involved. According to the Dutch constitution, judges are also tasked to give the decision of disputes, hear cases in their discretion without outside interference and determine the length of the proceedings. District court judges hear claims on their own whereas judges in Courts of Appeal hear the cases with a panel consisting of three. The Supreme court hears the case with five judges on the bench.
Law enforcement
Law enforcement task here is mostly covered by the governmental polices agencies. The National police are divided into three, the ten regional units, the Royal Marechaussee, and a central unit. The primary job of the agencies is investigations on cases, taking suspects to courts and temporarily detains suspected criminals. Regional police unit is led by a unit chief who does daily management of the police force. The smallest unit has about 300 police officers while a larger one consists of about 5000 police.Royal Gendarmerie is made up of the armed forces members who operate regular police duties as well as policing the armed forces (Terpstra, 2015).
Reflection
I focused in this country because of my urge to know it better since I encounter many instances where it is mentioned or taken as an example in the agricultural sector, manufacturing of electrical and also tourism sector. In totality, I can say their legal system is transparent, organized and fair on a broader perspective. It wasn't a mistake to be ranked as one of the most democratic countries in the world, and all is there for us to see in Netherlands systems.
References
Andeweg, R. B., " Irwin, G. A. (2014). Governance and Politics of the Netherlands. Palgrave MacMillan.
Bigo, D., Carrera, S., Hernanz, N., " Scherrer, A. (2015). National security and secret evidence in legislation and before the courts: Exploring the challenges. Centre for European Policy Studies.
Peri-Rotem, N. (2016). Religion and fertility in Western Europe: Trends across cohorts in Britain, France, and the Netherlands. European Journal of Population, 32(2), 231-265.
Radovic, S., Meynen, G., " Bennet, T. (2015). Introducing a standard of legal insanity: The case of Sweden compared to The Netherlands. International journal of law and psychiatry, 40, 43-49
Terpstra, J. B. (2015). Police reform in the Netherlands and Scotland compared. Scottish Justice Matters, 3, 31-32.
