Chapter 9: Limitations of the Rule of Law

The Rule of Law comes under pressure when:

 People want to abolish certain rights
 The government publicly comments on the administration of justice
 Loud calls are heard for severe punishments
 The police and court are making big mistakes
 The investigation of powers are extended under the pressure of criminal or terrorist
developments
§9.1 Fundamental rights under discussion
Different fundamental rights:
 Right to equal treatment
 Right to freely confess you religion of philosophy of life
 Right to openly confess your thoughts
Freedom of speech is limited by adding the condition ‘without prejudice to his responsibility under
the law. Libel and slander are forbidden, as well as inciting people to violence. Because these rules
leave room for different interpretations, the fundamental rights can be in conflict. When does
something become discrimination? Another conflict: may a school forbid wearing headscarves when
a religion tells women to do so?
Spinoza (1632-1677) was of opinion that he could say what he wanted and believe what he wanted.
But Pim Fortuyn went a step further. He wanted to be able to say everything, so article 1 must be
abolished. He wanted a ban on the article about discrimination. Later, Pim Fortuyn was murdered.
§9.2 The fight against organised crime
To catch criminals, the police is using the most sophisticated technology. The Special Investigative
Powers Act gives the police powers by which they may secretly search premises or tap phone calls.
But this can be in conflict with our fundamental right to privacy. Do we thing it is justifiable for the
police to commit crimes as part of their infiltration for criminal organisations? The violation of the
right to privacy is almost there as nowadays cameras, satellites and tapping devices are used very
often.
§9.3 The fight against terrorism
Examples of erosion of legal certainty:
 The CIA had widespread powers to tap phonecalls
 Terror suspects who were not being charged or put on trial while they had been caught
However, the police is given more and broader powers in order to prevent terrorism. They closely
work together with collegues in other countries. Another point is the interpretation that is given to
the terms: ‘preparing a terror attack’, ‘a serious threat to public order’, etc. How must you interprete
them? A few changes in the Dutch criminal law after threats of terrorist attacks:
 Sentences for terrorist crimes were raised by 50 %
 A new definition of the term ‘suspect’: you are also a suspect if you are only preparing or
thinking of doing a terrorist attack
 The new Witness Protection Act gives wider powers to prosecution
A thing we also more often hear is that terrorism is no longer simply a case of broader powers of
investigation, but also about how Youth Care and Mental Health Care authorities function.
Words
Freedom of speech=The possibility to say whatever you want
Freedom of religiton=The possibilty to follow whatever religion you want and also practise this
religion
Special Investigative Powers Act=Act which gives the police the possibilty to secrety search through
places
Infiltrate=To attack on another's territory
Right to privacy=The right to conceal certain things from the public
Legal certaincy=The certaincy of e.g safety for citizens, given to them by the law
Crimes on terrorism Act=Act which also makes the planning of a terrorist attack illegal
Terror suspect=Suspicion by the police that someone might plead a terrorist attack
Witness protection act=Act that gives the possibilty to use intelligence supplied by the AIVD in
criminal trials
'Lone wolf'=Lonely people who tend to commit crime

Chapter 1: What is politics?

§1.1 Why are politics important?
 Politics = the way in which a country is governed
 Netherlands is a representative democracy or an
 Parliamentary Democracy
§1.2 Dictatorship
Characteristics of a dictatorship:
 Restriction of individual freedom.
 Restriction of Political freedom.
 Much government violence.
 There are no independent courts.
 Censorship of mass media for example.
Not all dictatorships are the same, you have autocratic and a totalitarian dictatorship.
Autocratic dictatorship:Most military dictatorships are under autocratic rule. In this
dictatorship the power lies in the hand of one person. Examples are: North Korea, Syria, and
Zimbabwe.
Totalitarian Dictatorship: in a totalitarian dictatorship the power often lies in the hand of a
group of people who want an ideological revolution. Often these governments use
indoctrination to influence their people, just like in 1984 which is also a totalitarian regime.
Theocracy: Theocracy is another form of a Totalitarian Dictatorship, it is based on
religion.
§1.3 Democracy
On the contrary, in Democracy there is the power of the many. The power of rulers is limited
and therefore the citizens can exert influence on the political decisions and how to country is
governed.
General characteristics of a Democracy are:
 Citizens have individual freedom.
 There are fundamental political rights.
 The police and the army have limited power.
 There is a separation of power, trias politica.
Characteristics of the Dutch democracy:
 18+ means right to vote.
 Everybody has the right to set up a political party.
 Everybody has the right to demonstrate.
 The members of the States General (1st and 2nd chamber) are elected via a secret
form (ballot = stembiljet).
 The government and States General establish laws jointly.
Direct Democracy: Direct democracy means that everything almost everything is decided
directly through for example a referendum. A true direct Democracy isn’t very common
nowadays.
Indirect Democracy: Means that the people elect representatives who make the major
decisions. Indirect Democracy occurs in two forms: Presidential and Parliamentary.
Presidential Democracy: In this form of Democracy the President has more power and can
appoint or dismiss ministers.
Parliamentary Democracy: In this form the people elect the members of the Parliament.
Chapter 2: Political movements
§2.1 Ideologies
Ideology = a system of ideas about man, human relationships, and the organisation of
society.
Ideologies have clear views on:
 Moral standards; they are primarily concerned with the bounderies of personal
freedom.
 Socioeconomic relationships; what is a fair distribution of wealth?
 Distribution of power; should employees be entitled to have a greater say in their
company or should the managment take all the decisions?
§2.2 Simple Classification
Progressive: Believing in change and futureorientated.
Conservative: Preservation, orientated to the past and present.

§2.3 Ideological movements

Liberalism: Freedom, individual responsibility, and tolerance are key points in Liberalism.
 Free market economy.
Socialism:Socials starts out from the idea that opportunities for individuals to develop
themselves are unqually distributed.
 Equality and freedom.
Communism: Wanted to overthrow the social structure and the workers should have
all the power.
Social Democracy: Want to achieve equality through democracy.
Confessionalism(Denominationalism):For people who base their political opinions on their
religious beliefs. “Society can be compared to a human body. Every part is fixed in a place
and has a fixed task.”
Other Ideologies:
Facism: Starts with the inequality of races. (Mussulini)
Rightwing extremists: NeoNazi’s.
Ecological movements: Partij v/d Dieren.
Populism: Focussing on the things people want to hear. (PVV, Front National)