Migration proposals violate fundamental principles of the rule of law

The Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) has once again set up an independent committee of academics and lawyers to assess election programs in terms of their constitutionality. The committee cites migration as the most worrying issue: a halt to asylum, austerity measures in reception facilities, and the abolition of priority for status holders in social housing. Many proposals touch on the core of our constitutional state: equal treatment, access to justice, and compliance with international treaties. Read the full NOvA report (in Dutch) here.

Our colleague Thomas van Houwelingen-Boer, a member of the committee, discusses this matter during this segment in KRO-NCRV’s Spraakmakers (only available in Dutch).

In the run-up to the elections, it is particularly important to take a critical look at the legal sustainability and constitutionality of political plans, especially on sensitive issues such as migration. The rule of law cannot be taken for granted.