The Ministry of Justice and Security (; JenV) is the
Dutch ministry responsible for justice, imprisonment and
public security
Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...
. The ministry was created in 1798 as the ''Department of Justice'', before it became in 1876 the ''Ministry of Justice''. In 2010, it took over the public safety duties from the
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (; BZK) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, relations with local governments, intelligen ...
and became ''Ministry of Security and Justice''. In 2017 the ministry was renamed to ''Ministry of Justice and Security''.
On 1 March 2020, future prime minister of the Netherlands
Dick Schoof
Hendrikus Wilhelmus Maria "Dick" Schoof (born 8 March 1957) is a Dutch politician and civil servant serving as the prime minister of the Netherlands of the Schoof cabinet since 2 July 2024.
Schoof previously worked as secretary-general of the M ...
became secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice and Security, the most senior non-political position within the ministry.
In his role, he was involved in negotiations on asylum reform. Upon reaching the legal retirement age in March 2024, Schoof chose not to retire and was granted an exemption to continue working for three more years; however, that year he became prime minister.
The ministry is headed by the Minister of Justice and Security,
David van Weel (
VVD) since 2 July 2024.
Responsibilities
The ministry has the legal tasks of:
* providing workable legislation for the public, the government and the courts;
* preventing crime, in order to build a safer society;
* protecting youth and children;
* enforcing the law, in order to build a safer society;
* providing independent, accessible and effective administration of justice and
legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...
;
* providing support to the victims of crime;
* providing fair, consistent and effective enforcement of punishment and other
sanctions;
It is also responsible for the coordination of counter-
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
policy. The ministry oversaw migration policy until the separate
Ministry of Asylum and Migration was established in July 2024.
Because it shares many responsibilities and has twin buildings (both old and new) with the
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (; BZK) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, relations with local governments, intelligen ...
, they are sometimes called the twin ministries.
Organisation
The ministry is headed by Minister
David van Weel, who is supported by State Secretaries
Ingrid Coenradie (Justice and Security) and
Teun Struycken (Legal Protection). It employs almost 30,000 civil servants, located at the ministry in the Hague and all around the Netherlands. The ministry's main office is located in the centre of
the Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
in the same building as the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The civil service is headed by a secretary-general and a deputy secretary-general, who head a system of three directorates-general:
* The Directorate-General for Legislation, International Affairs and Immigration
* The Directorate-General for Prevention, Youth and Sanctions
* The Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice and Law Enforcement
The Board of Procurators General () which heads the Public
Prosecution
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
Service (in Dutch: ''
Openbaar Ministerie'', OM) is a relatively independent organisation which forms part of the
Judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
and prosecutes persons suspected of breaking the law.
The
Netherlands Forensic Institute is an autonomous division of the Ministry of Justice, falling under the Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice and Law Enforcement. The
Custodial Institutions Agency is an agency of the ministry.
See also
*
List of ministers of justice of the Netherlands
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Security and Justice (Netherlands)
Justice and Security
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
Ministries established in 1798
1798 establishments in the Batavian Republic
Skyscrapers in The Hague
18th-century architecture in the Netherlands