{ Adopted: 17 Feb 1983 / Status: 1989 }
Article 1 [Equality]
All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally
in
equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion,
belief, political opinion, race, or sex or on any other grounds
whatsoever shall not be permitted.
Article 2 [Citizenship]
(1) Dutch nationality shall be regulated by Act of Parliament.
(2) The admission and expulsion of aliens shall be regulated by
Act of Parliament.
(3) Extradition may take place only pursuant to a treaty.
Further regulations concerning extradition shall be laid down by
Act of Parliament.
(4) Everyone shall have the right to leave the country, except in
the cases laid down by Act of Parliament.
Article 3 [Eligibility Right]
All Dutch nationals shall be equally eligible for appointment
to public service.
Article 4 [Right to Vote]
Every Dutch national shall have an equal right to elect the
members of the general representative bodies and to stand for
election as a member of those bodies, subject to the limitations
and exceptions prescribed by Act of Parliament.
Article 5 [Petitions]
Everyone shall have the right to submit petitions in writing to
the competent authorities.
Article 6 [Religion, Belief]
(1) Everyone shall have the right to manifest freely his religion
or belief, either individually or in community with others,
without prejudice to his responsibility under the law.
(2) Rules concerning the exercise of this right other than in
buildings and enclosed places may be laid down by Act of
Parliament for the protection of health, in the interest of traffic
and to combat or prevent disorders.
Article 7 [Expression]
(1) No one shall require prior permission to publish thoughts or
opinions through the press, without prejudice to the
responsibility of every person under the law.
(2) Rules concerning radio and television shall be laid down by
Act of Parliament. There shall be no prior supervision of the
content of a radio or television broadcast.
(3) No one shall be required to submit thoughts or opinions for
prior approval in order to disseminate them by means other
than those mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, without
prejudice to the responsibility of every person under the law.
The holding of performances open to persons younger than
sixteen years of age
may be regulated by Act of Parliament in order to protect good
morals.
(4) The preceding paragraphs do not apply to commercial
advertising.
Article 8 [Association]
The right of association shall be recognized. This right may be
restricted by Act of Parliament in the interest of public order.
Article 9 [Assembly]
(1) The right of assembly and demonstration shall be
recognized, without prejudice to the responsibility of everyone
under the law.
(2) Rules to protect health, in the interest of traffic and to
combat or prevent disorders may be laid down by Act of
Parliament.
Article 10 [Privacy]
(1) Everyone shall have the right to respect for his privacy,
without prejudice to restrictions laid down by or pursuant to Act
of Parliament.
(2) Rules to protect privacy shall be laid down by Act of
Parliament in connection with the recording and dissemination
of personal data.
(3) Rules concerning the rights of persons to be informed of
data recorded concerning them and of the use that is made
thereof, and to have such data corrected shall be laid down by
Act of Parliament.
Article 11 [Personal Integrity]
Everyone shall have the right to inviolability of his person,
without prejudice to restrictions laid down by or pursuant to Act
of Parliament.
Article 12 [Home]
(1) Entry into a home against the will of the occupant shall be
permitted only in the cases laid down by or pursuant to Act of
Parliament, by those designated for the purpose by or pursuant
to Act of Parliament.
(2) Prior identification and notice of purpose shall be required
in order to enter a home under the preceding paragraph, subject
to the exceptions prescribed by Act of Parliament. A written
report of the entry shall be issued to the occupant.
Article 13 [Secrecy of Communication]
(1) The privacy of correspondence shall not be violated except,
in the cases laid down by Act of Parliament, by order of the
courts.
(2) The privacy of the telephone and telegraph shall not be
violated except, in the cases laid down by Act of Parliament, by
or with the authorization of those designated for the purpose by
Act of Parliament.
Article 14 [Property]
(1) Expropriation may take place only in the public interest
and on prior assurance of full compensation, in accordance with
regulations laid down by or pursuant to Act of Parliament.
(2) Prior assurance of full compensation shall not be required if
in an emergency immediate expropriation is called for.
(3) In the cases laid down by or pursuant to Act of Parliament
there shall be a right to full or partial compensation if in the
public interest the competent authority destroys property or
renders it unusable or restricts the exercise of the owner's rights
to it.
Article 15 [Personal Liberty, Arrest]
(1) Other than in the cases laid down by or pursuant to Act of
Parliament, no one may be deprived of his liberty.
(2) Anyone who has been deprived of his liberty other than by
order of a court may request a court to order his release. In
such a case he shall be heard by the court within a period to be
laid down by Act of Parliament. The court shall order his
immediate release if it considers the deprivation of liberty to be
unlawful.
(3) The trial of a person who has been deprived of his liberty
pending trial shall take place within a reasonable period.
(4) A person who has been lawfully deprived of his liberty may
be restricted in the exercise of fundamental rights in so far as
the exercise of such rights is not compatible with the
deprivation of liberty.
Article 16 [Nulla Poena Sine Lege]
No offence shall be punishable unless it was an offence under
the law at the time it was committed.
Article 17 [Right to be Heard]
No one may be prevented against his will from being heard by
the courts to which he is entitled to apply under the law.
Article 18 [Right to Counsel]
(1) Everyone may be legally represented in legal and
administrative proceedings.
(2) Rules concerning the granting of legal aid to persons of
limited means shall be laid down by Act of Parliament.
Article 19 [Work]
(1) It shall be the concern of the authorities to promote the
provision of sufficient employment.
(2) Rules concerning the legal status and protection of working
persons and concerning co-determination shall be laid down by
Act of Parliament.
(3) The right of every Dutch national to a free choice of work
shall be recognized, without prejudice to the restrictions laid
down by or pursuant to Act of Parliament.
Article 20 [Welfare]
(1) It shall be the concern of the authorities to secure the means
of subsistence of the population and to achieve the distribution
of wealth.
(2) Rules concerning entitlement to social security shall be laid
down by Act of Parliament.
(3) Dutch nationals resident in the Netherlands who are unable
to provide for themselves shall have a right, to be regulated by
Act of Parliament, to aid from the authorities.
Article 21 [Environment]
It shall be the concern of the authorities to keep the country
habitable and to protect and improve the environment.
Article 22 [Health]
(1) The authorities shall take steps to promote the health of the
population.
(2) It shall be the concern of the authorities to provide sufficient
living accommodation.
(3) The authorities shall promote social and cultural
development and leisure activities.
Article 23 [Education]
(1) Education shall be the constant concern of the Government.
(2) All persons shall be free to provide education, without
prejudice to the authorities' right of supervision and, with
regard to forms of education designated by law, its right to
examine the competence and moral integrity of teachers, to be
regulated by Act of Parliament.
(3) Education provided by public authorities shall be regulated
by Act of Parliament, paying due respect to everyone's religion
or belief.
(4) The authorities shall ensure that primary education is
provided in a sufficient number of public-authority schools in
every municipality. Deviations from this provision may be
permitted under rules to be established by Act of Parliament on
condition that there is opportunity to receive the said form of
education.
(5) The standards required of schools financed either in part or
in full from public funds shall be regulated by Act of
Parliament, with due regard, in the case of private schools, to
the freedom to provide education according to religious or other
belief.
(6) The requirements for primary education shall be such that
the standards both of private schools fully financed from public
funds and of public-authority schools are fully guaranteed. The
relevant provisions shall respect in particular the freedom of
private schools to choose their teaching aids and to appoint
teachers as they see fit.
(7) Private primary schools that satisfy the conditions laid down
by Act of Parliament shall be financed from public funds
according to the same standards as public-authority schools.
The conditions under which private secondary education and
pre-university education shall receive contributions from public
funds shall be laid down by Act of Parliament.
(8) The Government shall submit annual reports on the state of
education to the Parliament.