Ernst Maurits Henricus Hirsch Ballin (born 15 December 1950) is a retired Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) party and jurist. After the election of 1989 Hirsch Ballin was appointed as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the Cabinet Lubbers III, taking office on 7 November 1989. Hirsch Ballin was also appointed as Minister for Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Affairs, taking office on 14 November 1989. Hirsch Ballin served as acting

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 10 January 1994 until 18 January 1994 following the death of

Ien Dales Catharina Isabella "Ien" Dales (18 October 1931 – 10 January 1994) was a Dutch politician and social worker. Born in Arnhem, she received a degree in education from the University of Amsterdam and worked in social services before her career in ...

. Hirsch Ballin was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1994, taking office on 17 May 1994. On 27 May 1994 Hirsch Ballin and Minister of the Interior

Ed van Thijn Eduard van Thijn (; 16 August 1934 – 19 December 2021) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and historian. He was a member of the Municipal Council of Amsterdam (1962–1971), member of the House of Representatives (1967–1981; ...

resigned following the conclusions of a

parliamentary inquiry In parliamentary procedure, requests and inquiries are motions used by members of a deliberative assembly to obtain information or to do or have something done that requires permission of the assembly. Except for a request to be excused from a duty ...

report into illegal interrogation techniques used by the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

. Hirsch Ballin also served again as a professor of

International law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the Tilburg University from 1 July 1994 until 22 September 2006 and also as a professor of

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

at the Tilburg University from 1 September 1996 until 22 September 2006. Hirsch Ballin was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1995, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 1 June 1995 and was installed as a Member of the Senate, taking office on 13 June 1995. In October 2000 Hirsch Ballin was nominated as Member of the Council of State, he resigned as a Member of the Senate the same day he was installed as a Member of the Council of State, taking office on 1 November 2000. Hirsch Ballin was appointed again as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Balkenende III following the resignation of

Piet Hein Donner Jan Pieter Hendrik "Piet Hein" Donner (born 20 October 1948) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2018. Early life and care ...

, taking office on 22 September 2006. Shortly thereafter Hirsch Ballin announced that he would not stand for the election of 2006. Following the cabinet formation of 2006 Hirsch Ballin continued as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Balkenende IV, taking office on 22 February 2007. The Cabinet Balkenende IV fell on 20 February 2010 after tensions in the coalition over the extension of the Dutch involvement in the Task Force Urozgan of the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

(ISAF) in Afghanistan and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity with Hirsch Ballin continuing as Minister of Justice and also took over as

Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ( nl, Minister van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties) is the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and a member of the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers. The in ...

, taking office on 23 February 2010. In April 2010 Hirsch Ballin announced that he would not stand for the election of 2010. Following the cabinet formation of 2010 Hirsch Ballin was not giving a cabinet post in the new cabinet, the Cabinet Balkenende IV was replaced by the Cabinet Rutte I on 14 October 2010. Hirsch Ballin semi-retired from active politics and became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards ( Institute for Multiparty Democracy, European Christian Political Foundation,

The Hague Institute for Global Justice The Hague Institute for Global Justice, or simply The Hague Institute, is an international think tank based in The Hague, Netherlands. It was established in 2011 by a consortium of partners including the Municipality of The Hague, an academic coa ...

, Carnegie Foundation, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, National Archives,

Cordaid Cordaid is an internationally operating value-based emergency relief and development organization, mostly working in conflict-affected countries. It is one of the biggest international development organizations in the Netherlands, with a netwo ...

and the

Anne Frank Foundation The Anne Frank Foundation ( nl, Anne Frank Stichting) is a foundation in the Netherlands originally established to maintain the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This foundation also advocates the fight against antisemitism and racism and publishes t ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Scientific Council for Government Policy, the Dutch Probation Agency and Public Pension Funds APB) and as an advocate and lobbyist for human rights,

anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

, and democracy. Hirsch Ballin also returned as a distinguished professor of constitutional law and

European law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

at the Tilburg University since 1 April 2011 and as a distinguished professor of human rights at the University of Amsterdam since 1 May 2011. Hirsch Ballin is also a prolific author, having written more than sixty books since 1979 about politics, democracy, and law. Hirsch Ballin is known for his abilities as a manager and '' policy wonk''. Hirsch Ballin continues to comment on political affairs as of and holds the distinction as the longest-serving Minister of Justice with 8 years, 223 days.

Biography

Early life

Hirsch Ballin was born to a Jewish father Prof. Dr. Ernst Danny Hirsch Ballin, and a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

mother. After completing his secondary education, he studied law at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and became a practicing

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He graduated in 1974, and he received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1979 for his dissertation on public law and policy, which focussed on fundamental issues surrounding the work of the Advisory Council on Government Policy (WRR). Hirsch Ballin was a research assistant in constitutional law at the

from 1974 to 1977. He was subsequently employed as a legal officer at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. In 1981 he was appointed professor of constitutional and administrative law at

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilburg University h ...

Politics

From 7 November 1989 to 27 May 1994 Hirsch Ballin served as

and Minister for Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers III. In 1994 he offered his resignation, after turmoil about the Dutch Criminal Investigation Department. After the Cabinet Kok I with a coalition of the

Dutch Labour Party The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

and Democrats 66 came to power the

was pushed to the opposition and Hirsch Ballin became a Member of the House of Representatives a post he held until 1995. During this period he was also professor of legislative issues at the

. In 1995 he was appointed professor of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the same university and later became Member of the Senate. He was elected as a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. In 2000 Hirsch Ballin was appointed to the

Dutch Council of State The Council of State ( nl, ) is a constitutionally established advisory body in the Netherlands to the government and States General that officially consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political ...

and he resigned as a Member of the Senate. Hirsch Ballin has held numerous other positions, among them government commissioner for the review of legislation, member of the Board of the Netherlands Atlantic Association, member of Committee 2004 (for the relationship between the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) and deputy justice on the Central Appeals Tribunal and the ''Administrative Court for Trade and Industry''. He has been editor of the Dutch administrative law journal "Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Bestuursrecht" and the book series European and

International Law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. On 23 May 2008 satirical cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot was arrested which caused (inter)national controversy. Hirsch Ballin wanted to pass a bill on blasphemy, but failed. He was accused of causing the cartoonist to be brought to court for blasphemy to get a verdict to bypass the parliament. Hirsch Ballin is also an active member of the Justice Leadership Initiative.

Family

Ernst Hirsch Ballin is married; he and his wife have two children.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Prof.Mr.Dr. E.M.H. (Ernst) Hirsch Ballin
Parlement & Politiek *
Prof.Mr.Dr. E.M.H. Hirsch Ballin (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch Ballin, Ernst 1950 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Dutch academic administrators Dutch democracy activists Dutch human rights activists Dutch lobbyists Dutch magazine editors Dutch people of German-Jewish descent Dutch political writers Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch scholars of constitutional law European Union law scholars Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Jewish Dutch politicians Jewish Dutch writers Jewish educators Knights of the Holy Sepulchre International law scholars Jurisprudence academics Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Scientific Council for Government Policy Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Politicians from Amsterdam Scholars of administrative law Tilburg University faculty University of Amsterdam alumni University of Amsterdam faculty 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch jurists 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch politicians