THE NETHERLANDS

History

The area has been invaded by many cultures; Roman, French, German, and Spanish. Independence was finally recognized in 1648 and the country embarked on a massive commercial and colonization period. However, wars with Britain and France left the country defeated in the late 1700's. During the 1800's The Netherlands were united with Belgium but independence was once again obtained and the country became socially and politically stable. The country was invaded during World War II and suffered vast areas of destruction and death. After the war, the nation recovered rapidly.

Government

The country is a constitutional monarchy. Legislative authority lies with the government and Parliament. Members of the Second Chamber are directly elected for four years, while those in the First Chamber are elected for six years by the provincial councils. Government is conducted by the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister.

There is a large number of political parties, of which the most significant are the Christian Democratic Appeal, the Labour Party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, and Democrats '66.

The Netherlands has two dependencies in the Caribbean. Aruba has a population of some 68,000, while that of the Dutch Antilles is just over 200,000.

Local Government

The Netherlands is divided into 12 provinces, each of which has a directly elected council which chooses the members of the executive, the chair or Queen's Commissioner being appointed by the government.

At the local government level the municipalities, of which there are 672, are run by directly elected councils. Each chooses an executive which is chaired by the Burgemeester or mayor, appointed by the government.

Judicial System

Responsibility for the administration of justice lies with the independent judiciary. Judges sit in all the courts and trials by jury do not occur. At the lowest level, the 62 Magistrates Courts have jurisdiction over many minor criminal and civil matters. The 19 District Courts handle more serious offences and also hear appeals from the lower courts. Above them are 5 Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) is the final court of appeal.

The Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code identify crimes and their seriousness. Criminal proceedings are instituted by the public prosecutor. There are, in addition, various tribunals for resolving disputes between citizens and the state.

Economy

This prosperous and open economy is based on private enterprise with the government’s presence felt in many aspects of the economy. Industrial activity features food processing, petroleum refining, and metal working. The highly mechanised agricultural sector employs only 4% of the labour force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. As a result, the Netherlands ranks third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. Sharp cuts in subsidy and social security spending since the 1980s helped the Dutch achieve sustained economic growth combined with falling unemployment and moderate inflation. The economy achieved a strong 3.7% growth in 1998. Unemployment in 1999 was expected to be less than 5% of the labour force. The Dutch joined the first wave of the 11 EU countries launching the Euro system on 1st January 1999.

Police

The Dutch police exists of twenty five geographical regional forces, ranging in size from 450 to 4,500 officers. In addition, a Special Central Police Force (KLPD) has been created. This force contains all the services which support the regional forces in certain aspects of their work. For example, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Water Police and the Highway patrol will be part of the Special Central Police Force. In 1996 an official counting resulted in 43,145 police employees.

One mayor from each region is appointed as Korpsbeheerder or administrative official over that regional force, and chairs regional committees in which all mayors and the Chief Public Prosecutor participate. This committee is the final decision maker on financial and organisational matters. Daily operational command is the responsibility of a Korpschef or Chief Constable.

The Minister of Interior is responsible for the financial matters of the police forces, and also sets minimum standards for professional aspects of policing and quality or best practice within the police service.

The Korps Landelijke Politie Diensten (KLPD) have an expanded role to certain services. The services are traffic police on roads and waterways, criminal intelligence and analysis, the protection of the royal family and other VIPs, and national facilities and telecommunications and equipment. The Centrale Recherche Informatiedienst (CRI) is the National Criminal Intelligence Service with headquarters in The Hague. It is an independent external service of the Police Directorate, which in turn has responsibility for police matters within the Ministry of Justice. It is involved with data collection and analysis relating to criminal activity, with establishing international police contacts, and with assisting the national police forces with their enquiries. The Interpol National Central Bureau function is incorporated into the CRI's structure. The CRI does not have executive powers of its own. Its files contain a comprehensive crime index on types of crime, criminal working methods, fingerprints and other information. It also has a criminal investigation department with specialised branches in narcotics, organised crime, firearms, fraud, counterfeits, arts and antiques, stolen motor vehicles and terrorism.