Dutch Government / Parliament

Government.nl - the official Dutch Government website (English)
Overheid.nl - the official site of the Dutch Government (Dutch)
Ministers of the Balkenende government - (in English)
Helpdesk of the official Dutch Government website - helpdesk.overheid.nl (only in Dutch)
Eerste Kamer - the Upper House (in Dutch, partly English)
House of Representatives of the States General - (in English)
Tweede Kamer - Dutch Parliament, the Lower House (in Dutch)
Belastingdienst - the official site of the Netherlands Tax and Customs administration
Official Government publications - Officiële overheidspublicaties
CFI - Education - Regelgeving van het onderwijs
Postbus 51 - Lots of Dutch Government information (in Dutch)
Public Prosecution Service - Openbaar Ministerie (partly in English)

The Dutch Constitution

Constitution of the Netherlands

The constitution lists the basic civil and social rights of the Dutch citizens and it describes the position and function of the institutions that have executive, legislative and judiciary power.

It should be noted that the constitution of the Netherlands is only applicable in the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom as a whole has its own Statute, describing its federate political system which also includes the Caribbean islands of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

The Netherlands do not have a Constitutional Court and judges do not have the authority to review laws on their constitutionality. International treaties and the Statute of the Kingdom, however overrule Dutch law and the constitution and judges are allowed to review laws against these in a particular court case. Furthermore all legislation that is not a law in the strict sense of the word (such as policy guidelines or laws proposed by provincial or municipal government) can be tested on their constitutionality.

Amendments to the constitution must be approved by both Houses of the States-General twice. The first time around, this requires a simple majority of fifty percent plus one vote. After parliament has been dissolved and general elections are held, both Houses must approve the proposed amendments with a two thirds majority.

Political Institutions of The Netherlands

Major political institutions are the monarchy, the cabinet, the States General (parliament) and the judicial system. There are three other High Colleges of state, which stand on equal foot with parliament but have a less political role, of which the Council of State is the most important. Other levels of government are the municipalities, the waterboards and the provinces. Although not mentioned in the constitution, political parties and the social partners organised in the Social Economic Council are important political institutions as well.

It is important to realise that the Netherlands does not have a traditional separation of powers: according to the States-General and the government (the Queen and cabinet) share the legislative power. All legislation has to pass through the Raad van State and the social-economic council advises the government on most social-economic legislation. The executive power is reserved for government. Note however that the Social-Economic Council has the special right to make and enforce legislation on several sectors, mostly in agriculture. The judicial power is divided into two separate systems of courts. For criminal law the independent Hoge Raad is the highest court. For administrative law the Raad van State is the highest court, which is ex officio chaired by the Queen.

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Source: Wikipedia.org